E55: Stripe's profitability, Twitter’s new direction, Shein’s record profit, AI fast food take over

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00:29 | Stripe returns to profitability
- Stripe aims to increase its workforce by up to 12% by 2024, a move to return to profitability
- $100 million in adjusted 2023 ebitda, -$75 million in 2022

01:26 | Twitter’s new brand/direction
- Twitter rebrands to X
- X aims to be the China’s WeChat for the US market; social, messaging, payments, app store
- X has reduced advertising prices

03:35 | Shein’s record profit
- Shein reported record profits in the first half of 2023, with accelerated sales volume growth and improved profits compared to the latter half of 2022
- Expanded marketplace strategy incorporates third-party vendors, increasing revenue and attracting new customers
- Rumors of a US IPO by the end of 2024

04:24 | AI starts fast food take over
- Fast-food chains including White Castle, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Del Taco, and Checkers are increasingly using AI chatbots to take drive-through order
- Presto is one company that makes this tech
- AI is being praised for its efficiency and ability to upsell vs humans

05:28 | Big capital raises
- Musinsa | $154m Series C, $2.3b valuation
- Sky Mavis | $11m Series B, $1.9b valuation
- Thunes | $72m Series C, $802m valuation
- Hightouch | $38m Series C, $615m valuation
- Manta Network | $25m Series A, $500m valuation

06:43 | Pre-IPO +3.67% for week
- Week to gainer: Brex +71%, Flexport +23%, Klaviyo +21%, OpenAI +11%
- Week to losers: Deel -5.5%, ConsenSys -5.3%, Revolut -4.4%, Neuralink -4.1%, Chainalysis -3.9%
- Top 5 current valuation: ByteDance/TikTok $207b, SpaceX $156b, Stripe $47b, OpenAI $36b, and Databricks $32b lead in current valuation