Technology, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship
Tag: Facebook
Facebook is using AI to turn 2D photos into 3D photos. Fun for consumers. The question is to what degree can Facebook's convolutional neural net-powered technology be used to disrupt legacy geospatial/GIS offerings from companies such as Verisk (tkr: VRSK), ESRI (private), Trimble (tkr: TRMB), Garmin (tkr: GRMN), Pitney Bowes (tkr: PBI) and many others? … Continue reading Facebook Is Using AI to Turn 2D Photos into 3D Images
Examples of Technology Companies Operating at Scale Apple (ticker: AAPL): 1.4 billion active Apple devices. CoStar Group (ticker: CSGP): CoStar's platform tracks over 100 billion sqft of real estate inventory and more than $1.5 trillion of transaction activity.Facebook (ticker: FB): Facebook's messaging service - WhatsApp - has 2 billion users. Google/Alphabet (ticker: GOOG): More than … Continue reading Our Favorite Topic: Scale
The Coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the markets. Valuations have come in across the board making things interesting. Here is a screen from our CEORater database. Click HERE for our summary valuation table. Apple (tkr: AAPL), Facebook (tkr: FB) and SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC) each trade below 20x EV/LTM Operating Cash Flow. Click any table … Continue reading With Turmoil Comes Opportunity
We believe the answer is "YES". We believe that cryptocurrencies will turbocharge online marketplaces during the next 10 years. For this reason we believe companies that have planted a cryptocurrency flag will look to acquire online marketplaces which can be "crypto-enabled." Thus, we peg the probability of an EBAY sale in 2020 at 80%. Intercontinental … Continue reading Will Cryptocurrencies Turbocharge Online Marketplaces?
Hidden gems. One never knows when he or she may stumble upon such an asset. Paymode-X is one such example. Tickers mentioned in this note and/or podcast: AAPL, AMZN, AXP, BAC, EPAY, FB, FISV, GOOG, GPN, MA, PYPL, SQ, TFC, V A decade ago Bottomline Technologies (ticker: EPAY), acquired B2B payment network "Paymode-X" from Bank … Continue reading Is Bottomline Technologies (EPAY) Undervalued? A Comp to EPAY-owned Paymode-X Suggests “Yes”.Premium
Venmo - PayPal’s crown jewel - built its network on Facebook’s back. Facebook (tkr: FB) ought to move to acquire PayPal (tkr: PYPL). Venmo is perhaps the most user-friendly Peer-to-Peer ("P2P") payment service in large part due to its Facebook integration which makes it easy for users to connect and transact with each other. Connect … Continue reading Facebook + PayPal = Payments Powerhouse
With Michael Bloomberg throwing his hat into the ring for the 2020 Democratic nomination, many have speculated as to how Bloomberg would divest his equity stake in his namesake firm were he to win the Presidency. We don't expect Mr. Bloomberg to win the Office of the President nor would a sale necessarily be required … Continue reading Prospective Bloomberg LP Acquirers
PayPal (tkr: PYPL) plans to acquire e-commerce rewards company Honey Science Corporation for approximately $4 billion. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2020 and is but another Fintech deal in a year rich with Fintech transactions. PayPal plans to leverage Honey, legacy PayPal and Venmo as a payments triangle of sorts. Honey of … Continue reading Mobile Commerce – PayPal to Acquire Honey for $4 Billion
Microsoft's proof-of-concept "Project Silica" stores Warner Brothers' original Superman movie on a piece of quartz glass measuring 75x75x2 millimeters thick. It is estimated that more than 100 Zettabytes of data will be stored in the cloud by 2023 (from a data volume standpoint one Zettabyte represents as much information as there are grains of sand … Continue reading Mirosoft’s Project Silica stores ‘Superman’ movie on quartz glass using lasers and machine learning
For comic relief I watched some of the Facebook congressional hearings (video below). While Facebook's Calibra/Libra cryptocurrency initiative was the hearing's focus, clues were offered as to what may lie ahead for Facebook users and Ad buyers. At the 6:24:30 mark of the video, U.S. Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN), asked Facebook founder and CEO Mark … Continue reading Facebook to Leverage “Authentication” to Drive Ad Revenue?
