TECH

Yesterday’s Day of Days

It happened. Yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook were trotted out (with help from Cisco Webex) in front of the House Judiciary's antitrust subcommittee. 

So that you don’t have to experience six hours of grandstanding and bizarre interior decor, here’s the tl;dwbcihal (too long; didn’t watch because I have a life). 

No. 1. Dem lawmakers’ gloves are off 

Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, and Rep. Val Demings all asked the CEOs spiky questions. 

• Jayapal grilled Zuckerberg over whether Facebook copies competitors in order to smoke them out. She cited a quote from Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom, who expressed concern that Zuck would go into “destroy mode” if Instagram refused Facebook’s acquisition offer. 

No. 2: Tech CEOs think their markets are plenty competitive 

Or at least, that's what they tell congressional committees. The four CEOs swore up and down that their sectors are as competitive as a cheerleading championship in a teen drama. 

• “We compete hard, we compete fairly, we compete to be the best,” quoth Zuck, whom we suspect just started The Last Dance. 
• Tim Cook defended the App Store's steep fees by talking about the competition to attract developers. "Essentially, it's so competitive I'd describe it as a street fight for market share in the smartphone business." 

No. 3: Conservatives believe tech is against them 

Republicans including Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Rep. Jim Jordan, and Rep. Matt Gaetz all questioned Zuckerberg and Pichai about whether their platforms discriminate against or suppress conservative voices. 

• Rep. Jordan kicked things off in his opening statement with a fiery, “Big Tech is out to get conservatives.” 

And...congressional committees aren’t above shouting matches. At one point, Rep. Jordan interrupted Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon after Scanlon referred to Jordan’s allegations as “fringe conspiracy theories.” 

Bottom line: Contempt for Big Tech has clearly become bipartisan in the U.S. Congress, but often for very different reasons. 

Looking ahead...these companies will be out of the headlines for maybe about 25 minutes before roaring back. They all report earnings later today. 

ANTITRUST

Caption This

A few options...

• "Raise your hand if you bought Kodak yesterday"
• "Who here thinks Chick-fil-A sauce is overrated?"
• "Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by Regina George"

Think you can top those? Share your caption here.

EARNINGS

It's a Great Day to Be S_ _ _ify

If you have a green logo, are headquartered in a snowy country, and “-ify” something, chances are you had an epic Q2. 

Shopify: The Canadian e-commerce platform reported a 97% annual increase in revenue in Q2, and the total amount of spending on Shopify now exceeds rival eBay. 

• With shares up nearly 100% over the past six months, Shopify is now the most valuable company on Canada’s stock exchange by a healthy margin. 

Spotify: Overall podcast consumption more than doubled in Q2 (shoutout Business Casual) and paying subscribers grew 27% year over year. 

• Also: Michelle Obama, who signed an exclusive distribution deal with Spotify a few weeks ago, debuted her podcast yesterday. Her first guest happens to have the same last name. 

Zoom out: Shopify’s e-commerce ecosystem and Spotify’s growing podcast empire show that the COVID-crash experienced by most companies can actually be a tailwind if shifting consumer habits favor your core business. 

SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL

Is Day Trading the Best Way to Spend a Day?

The rise of day traders has been documented everywhere from Twitter to our virtual brunch with Pop Pop. As volatile markets continue, many amateur investors have looked to this strategy as a way to get rich quickly. 

And like we reminded Pop Pop over homemade crepes, investing is for the long-term. That’s why we’ve put together this handy article with our friends at The Motley Fool to discuss the possible pitfalls of day trading. 

So if you’re thinking about getting involved in some day trading, read our article first and take just a moment to think about your goals for the future. 

We’ve been saying “Decades Not Days” into the mirror every morning, but that’s not mandatory. 

Check out the article here.

SPACE

This Thing's Going to Mars

Depending on how hard you went during the antitrust hearing, you could be reading this before or after NASA launches its Perseverance rover to Mars (the launch window begins at 7:50am ET.) 

Why it matters: Because Mars, that’s why. Perseverance will collect rock and soil samples to determine whether there was ancient life on the Red Planet. 

• Fun fact: It won’t actually be taking those samples back home to Earth; another mission will collect them in 2028 at the earliest. If we’re still doing MacBook Pro giveaways then...
• Another goal of this mission is to test technology for future colonization of Mars. 

More details

Landing ETA: February 18, 2021, at Jezero Crater, Mars

Mission duration: After landing, the rover will spend at least 687 Earth days (one Mars year) on the planet.

The rover itself: It’ll come with 13 onboard computers, 23 cameras, seven onboard experiments, and, with a top speed of one-tenth of one mile/hour, it’s three times faster than any other Mars rover out there.

THE FED

How Diverse Is the Federal Reserve?

The Federal Reserve can feel distant from our day-to-day lives. In fact, we’re betting you have a better chance of naming the Survivor Season 13 winner than the president of the Reserve Bank of New York. But in the end, it’s the Fed’s nitty-gritty work (not Yul Kwon’s) that keeps our economy functioning, especially during these times of economic crisis. 

And as the body responsible for crafting monetary policy, the Fed employs some of the most powerful economic leaders in the country. So how do they reflect the broader U.S. population? 

The Brew analyzed the race, gender, and educational background of Federal Reserve leadership, from the chair down to the regional banks. 

What we found: At the national level, Federal Reserve leadership remains predominantly white, male, and Ivy-educated. But as you spread out across the 12 regional reserve banks, a more diverse portrait emerges.

Here's a little taste...

Now go read the whole thing. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Boeing lost $2.4 billion last quarter and revenue fell 25%.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said federal officers would be leaving Portland, but the Department of Homeland Security said it would keep federal personnel on the ground.   
• Eastman Kodak shares gained 318% a day after it was awarded a government loan to produce drug ingredients. Its value tripled on Tuesday. 
• Qualcomm stock soared after it revealed bullish earnings and a settlement with Chinese tech giant Huawei.
• U.S. energy use dropped to a more than 30-year low during the pandemic, per the government.

SPONSORED BY DOCUSIGN

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BREW'S BETS

Last Chance U: And by that we mean today is the LAST DAY to register for our Brew U Campus Ambassador program. You'll connect with college students all around the country, gain first-hand business experience, and help spread the word of the Brew to your community. The deadline is 5pm today...so sign up here. 

Got real estate questions? Like how to get started buying property? Check out the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast. They did a live, Q&A-style podcast episode to help you “hack your housing” and build equity. Get smart about real estate.

Modern day Monopoly: We made a Big Tech version of Monopoly for this week’s House Judiciary hearing. One change: Players collect $200m in tax breaks when they pass Go. See the entire board. 

The 50 best...

• U.S. colleges for earning your investment back in 2020
• Restaurants in the world in 2019 

FROM THE CREW

Brew's Bookshelf

Every other week, we’ll bring you a few of our favorite business-related reads. Tomorrow marks the end of Disability Pride Month, but conversations around disabled identities, disability justice, and inclusion shouldn’t stop there.

Disability Visibility is a collection of stories, essays, and other texts curated and edited by activist Alice Wong that celebrates and documents the lived experiences, power, and culture of the disabled community. 

Being Heumann is the memoir of renowned disability rights activist Judy Heumann, who became a national figure in the ‘70s after suing NYC for denying her a teacher’s license. In the decades since, she has championed disabled rights in the U.S. and around the world. 

A Disability History of the United States by Kim Nielsen retells American history with disabled people at the center, tracing how ideas of disability have influenced American identity from Native American tribes pre-European settlement to the late 20th century. 

You can check out the full list of our reading recommendations at the Brew's Bookshelf homepage.

PODCAST

So You Want to Hit 4 Million Listens?

You’ve come to the right place: The Brew's podcast Business Casual just hit that milestone. With 4m downloads under our belt, I want to share some of what we’ve learned.

• Never be afraid to hear the word “no.” I’ve been after guests like Barbara Corcoran and Ray Dalio for months. Sometimes you just have to aim big and ask—what’s the worst that could happen?
• This pandemic has made all of us more meta. Since the crisis began, I’ve listened to business experts become increasingly aware of the world around them. 
• Trust your gut. Grappling with unpredictable listener behavior, our team decided to double down on what we do best: make fun of VCs make sick episodes. It worked.
• Famous people are people too. Andrew Yang does the dishes. Mark Cuban’s kids make fun of him for his TikTok dances. Quibi CEO Meg Whitman struggles with teleconferencing. 

Thanks again for helping us hit 4 million. Got 30 seconds before diving into work today? Subscribe to Business Casual and drop us a review.

—Kinsey

INTERNATIONAL TRIVIA

Here’s a fun trivia question posed by our friends at Statista:

Which country's prison population consists of 100% foreigners?

1. Monaco
2. Qatar
3. Andorra
4. Luxembourg

INTERNATIONAL TRIVIA ANSWER

That would be Monaco.