SOCIAL MEDIA

Clubhouse's Graduation

Elon Musk tweeted yesterday that he’s going to have a conversation with Kanye West on Clubhouse, the fast-growing audio-based social media app. It’s not clear when they’ll chat, but we’ll be sure to relay the Musk-West 2024 campaign’s policy proposals as soon as we hear them. 

The backstory on Clubhouse

Clubhouse perfectly timed its April 2020 launch to coincide with a global pandemic that kept everyone in their homes and dependent on their phones for social interaction. In May, it raised $12 million from venture capital/media company Andreessen Horowitz, and raised another round last month at a $1 billion valuation. 

How big is it? With its invite-only model, Clubhouse is sacrificing viral growth for the image of “exclusivity.” But plenty of people are still finding their way on. In late January, the startup said over 2 million people used the app in one week.

It’s helped that some of those users are huge names. Elon Musk interviewed Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev about GameStop mania. Drake and Tiffany Haddish have hopped on. A few Morning Brew employees are known to dabble. 

• One other notable Clubhouse member: Mark Zuckerberg, who chatted about augmented/virtual reality. He apparently liked his time on the app a lot—Facebook is reportedly in the early stages of building a Clubhouse competitor (Twitter has already launched one, known as Spaces). 

So what do you think?

Is Clubhouse a pandemic fad or will it eventually replace all physical human interaction? 

Proponents of Clubhouse say the audio format allows for deep, spontaneous, respectful conversations—the kind existing social media platforms aren’t exactly known for. For example, before it was shut down in China, the app provided an uncensored space for residents to debate the government’s actions. 

Skeptics say, “Let’s see how many of you want to be on Clubhouse when the Foo Fighters are playing Jones Beach,” arguing that interest will level off post-pandemic. Plus, the company hasn't figured out its revenue model, and many of the conversations are simply boring. 

What’s your take? Vote here.

APPAREL

LVMH Stops Fenty’s Music

Generally speaking, pausing Rihanna is a recipe for a dance floor revolt. But in the face of disappointing sales, French luxury conglomerate LVMH has decided to do just that with the singer’s upscale fashion house, Fenty. 

The backstory: Fenty launched in May 2019 to much excitement about a beloved celebrity with innovative personal style inaugurating a new era for old-fashioned LVMH; Fenty was the conglomerate’s first original house led by a woman. But then the coronavirus showed up and clobbered the luxury sector, especially newer, more experimental brands like Fenty. 

• Fenty’s products, mostly luxury streetwear, also suffered from a minimalist distribution strategy and struggled to find a niche. 

Big picture: The winding down of Fenty only applies to RiRi’s foray into luxury fashion. Her skincare and cosmetics lines of the same name, plus the lingerie brand Savage X Fenty, are doing just fine. Savage X Fenty actually just raised $115 million in a round led by private equity firm L Catterton. 

AVIATION

Catch a Flight to the Airport, Thanks to the Latest SPAC

Yesterday, electric aircraft startup Archer said it will SPAC into the public markets in a deal that values it at $3.8 billion. 

• Companies focused on electric mobility are developing a reputation for checking the “go public via SPAC” box before the “develop a commercially viable product” one. Archer plans to unveil a prototype later this year, but consumer flights aren’t expected until 2024. 

But wait, there’s more. United Airlines said it planned to buy up to 200 of its younger, more eco-friendly cousin Archer’s flying taxis for $1 billion. It likes Archer’s pitch to whisk passengers short distances (up to 60 miles at 150 mph) across urban areas to airports, with a reduced carbon footprint. 

Zoom out: Clubhouse and SPACs are in a riveting staring contest as the business world's top pandemic trends. SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, have raised more than $38 billion so far this year. 

SPONSORED BY E*TRADE

A Sweet Suite, No Suit Needed

E*TRADE has a comprehensive suite of financial offerings beyond trading. And they want to make one thing crystal clear: You don’t need to be a Fancy Shmancy Suit-wearin’ Finance Person to put your money to work with their tools.

Lovin’ your PJs these days? No problemo. With E*TRADE, you can work on your finance goals at home while sporting your fuzziest robe.

Say you’ve wanted to start investing, but you’ve always been intimidated by terms like “options” and “ETF.” E*TRADE’s tools simplify the investing experience, teaching you all you need to know and empowering you to start managing your money with confidence.

But E*TRADE’s tools simplify things like banking and retirement planning, too—whatever your money goals (and whatever your wardrobe).

So start putting your money to work with E*TRADE’s comprehensive suite of tools today.

*Paid Advertisement

CANNABIS

Cannabis Stocks Are Growing Like a Weed

Cannabis stocks blazed higher yesterday, powered in part by increased interest from retail traders who maybe got tired of pumping dogecoin for a brief moment. Canadian cannabis company Tilray was the biggest winner, closing the day up 51%. Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth gained 21% and 6%, respectively. 

Before you ask...

It’s not really a GameStop situation. Yes, cannabis stocks are getting attention on Reddit forums (one post with over 100k upvotes said, “Weed about to make me a millionaire in 2021”), but the epic short squeeze that helped fuel GameStop’s rise isn’t happening on the same scale this time around.

• Short interest in Tilray currently stands at around 23% of shares outstanding, compared to the 114% GameStop was dealing with at one point. 
• Plus, a pending merger between Tilray and another major Canadian pot company helps explain some of the investor optimism.  

Zoom out: Outside of message boards or M&A hype, the common drumbeat behind weed stocks’ recent surge has been the Democratic party’s intention to legalize it at a national level.

VIDEO GAMES

Unreal Is Unreal

Yesterday, Fortnite creator Epic Games debuted its latest development tool that can help video game makers create hyper-realistic faces, facial animations, and body movements. 

• Powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine 5, “MetaHuman Creator” is basically a supercharged customize-your-avatar software for developers. 

It’s a big deal

Anyone who’s played NBA2K or FIFA knows that developers haven’t quite nailed a truly believable human avatar. And it’s not for lack of trying: “Even the most experienced artists require significant amounts of time, effort, and equipment, just for one character,” Vladimir Mastilovic, the VP of Digital Humans Technology at Epic, said in a statement. But with MetaHuman, characters that used to take months to design can now be created and customized in a matter of minutes. 

Bottom line: For decades, Epic has been leading the charge to build a virtual meta-reality, especially in its most popular game, Fortnite. This latest advancement, which will be available to developers as a free sample for now, will help bring other studios along with it. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• President Biden held his first call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The White House said Biden brought up China’s tightening control of Hong Kong and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
• The NBA will require all teams to play the national anthem before games, one day after Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he stopped playing the anthem before Mavs games. 
• Uber’s net loss narrowed 20% last year, and its surging delivery business is continuing to save the day after gross bookings for ride-hailing plunged 50% in Q4. 
• TikTok’s forced sale to Oracle/Walmart was put on hold indefinitely by the Biden administration, according to the WSJ.
• GM earnings highlights: a strong Q4, but it warned that the chip shortage would knock this year’s profits by up to $2 billion. It has no plans to follow Tesla and invest in bitcoin.

SPONSORED BY E*TRADE

Let’s talk tools. E*TRADE has a lot of them, and they all help you do way more than just trade. We’re talking banking, retirement solutions, and all kinds of online investing options made easy to understand and access all in one place. Put your money to work with E*TRADE today.

*Paid Advertisement

BREW'S BETS

Second monitor ideas: If you don’t need two screens full of Excel to function at work, we recommend filling your second (or third?) monitor with 1) hours of swimming squids or a live jellyfish cam from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 2) footage of Earth from space, or the classic 3) lofi study buddy.

Self-plagiarism: These Disney scenes seem a little too similar to be coincidental; here's a longer list of Disney's recycled animation. 

FROM THE CREW

Brew's Bookshelf

Today, Brew’s Bookshelf is following NASA, the UAE, and China on some interstellar exploration. Join us on the final frontier with one of these books:

1. Being an astronaut sounds glamorous...but Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars will leave you laughing and, at times, cringing at the reality of human space exploration. 
2. How to Make a Spaceship by Julian Guthrie looks at the innovators who raced to develop reusable rockets for Peter Diamandis’s X Prize competition, which dangled a $10 million prize to spur commercial interest in space travel in the 1990s. 
3. Christian Davenport’s The Space Barons profiles billionaires including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk who have trained their sights on the stars. 

Check out more of our favorite biz-related reads here. 

GAMES

Three Headlines and a Lie

We’ve got killer dolls, bird poop, and much more in today’s headline quiz. You know the drill: Three of these crazy headlines come from real news stories, and one we made up. Can you spot the fake? 

1. “No, Chucky the killer doll isn’t on the loose, Texas officials say after Amber Alert”
2. “Seabird poop is worth more than $1 billion annually”
3. “Wilbur Ross sees future in a SPAC, and ‘Trump Condos on the Moon’”
4. “Inventor of ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ launches new product, ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Vodka’”

ANSWER

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as "I Can't Beleive It's Not Vodka"