Daily Picks
26 picked

Business & Product, picked daily

Companies, strategy, business models, platform rules and how an industry gets regulated.

Where’s Your Ed At
The world's richest companies are borrowing to buy GPUsAI data centers cost far more than they earn, so tech giants and a new crop of companies are leaning on debt — just as interest rates and chip prices climb together.
硅谷居士
He Took 100,000 Followers on X in Thirteen MonthsTreating finance writing as a long-running business, with a fixed platform, a fixed beat and a paywall, the author built 100,000 followers and 700 paying subscribers on X in just over a year.
ChinaTalk
Taiwan can build drones, but its own legislature keeps blocking the moneyTaiwan's drone industry is held back not by engineering but by a defence budget that always loses to electoral politics.
Citation Needed
The bill's back door lets the president's crypto business dock legallyThe Clarity Act's supposedly unprecedented ethics rules are drafted in exactly the shape that lets Trump's crypto ventures slip through.
Rest of World
An iPhone costs double in Turkey and 40% more in IndiaNew iPhones cost more than in the US in nearly every major market, and the premium is set by import duties, local taxes and how much of the supply chain Apple has actually moved.
Where’s Your Ed At
I'm not your dad: Broadcom bought VMware and fired half of itBroadcom grew by buying other companies' technology and patents, cut its own R&D thinner every year, and now depends on two money-losing AI firms for its future.
404 Media
WordPress boss voted into a paid leave by his own boardAutomattic's board voted founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg into a paid leave of absence and handed the interim CEO job to the CFO, while Mullenweg publicly called it a conspiracy behind his back.
Rest of World
Driven 5 years, an EV won't sell in China. Who's next?Used electric vehicles in China are depreciating sharply because battery health cannot be assessed, foreshadowing the same problem for countries that have imported Chinese EVs.
ChinaTalk
US-China Biosecurity Cooperation: Start by Screening DNA OrdersGene synthesis screening is one of the few US-China AI biosecurity measures both sides can adopt independently, see each other's commitment, and pursue without sacrificing core interests.
Pluralistic
Corporate America built a better Roach MotelBig companies no longer win by pleasing customers; they win by raising the cost of leaving and turning customers into hostages, which stifles competition, innovation, and jobs.
Pluralistic
Pluralistic: Google skates (05 Sep 2026)Despite Google losing three antitrust cases, US judges have refused to impose effective penalties, rendering antitrust law toothless while tech giants continue unchecked.
Pluralistic
Pluralistic: Amazon achieves enshittification inception (04 Sep 2026)Amazon's most profitable business isn't selling goods or cloud service but search result 'ads'; it even cheats on this bribery system, squeezing sellers even harder.
Musings on Markets
The Scaling and Profitability Trade off: Venture Capital's Weakest Link!The venture capital industry prioritizes scaling over profitability, a bias amplified by public market money, leaving many startups chasing growth without viable business models.
The Markup
Defense tech has unleashed a new weapons boom in Southern CaliforniaDefense contracts have surged in Los Angeles County, creating political tension even in the bluest districts: local Democrats criticize military spending while benefiting from it.
Rest of World
Taiwan’s six-year hunt for China’s undercover chip labsTaiwan's six-year crackdown has investigated 166 companies with suspected Chinese ties, aiming to protect its semiconductor edge, yet it also reflects how geopolitics complicates legitimate business activities.
ChinaTalk
China's Rare Earths DuopolyChina's rare-earth export leverage rests on two state-owned giants, but the patchwork consolidation of the south and mounting talent flight are eroding its long-term edge.
Citation Needed
Issue 109 – Reg CryptoThe Trump administration is rapidly deregulating cryptocurrency, bypassing Congress and invoking emergency powers, while the president's family profits from the industry, raising serious conflicts of interest.
Rest of World
Meta accepts U.S. safety rules while pitching softer tools abroadMeta is sponsoring influencers abroad to promote Teen Accounts, aiming to avert social media bans for under-16s that would threaten its user growth, even as safety features fail.
Where’s Your Ed At
Premium: The Hater's Guide To Circular Financing (Part One)Nvidia's circular financing scheme artificially props up demand for its AI chips, but the model is showing cracks.
Net Interest
Untangling GuggenheimInsurers investing policyholder money in related parties is a common industry practice, and Guggenheim is just the most extreme case.
Platformer
Meta settles with the states over child safety failuresMeta's $17.1 billion settlement may avert a larger catastrophe, but its safety measures were coerced and internally exposed as token efforts designed for litigation cover.
Klement on Investing
Knowledge and experience are what countWhether an analyst becomes a star doesn't depend on forecast accuracy; it's their knowledge and how interestingly they convey it that investors reward.
Hacker News
How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneursThe EU's new packaging rules impose disproportionate administrative burdens on micro-enterprises, potentially stifling innovation and the maker ecosystem.
硅谷居士
倒霉的清华紫光Tsinghua Unigroup collapsed from over-expansion, but its subsidiary YMTC has surged on rising memory prices and could top a trillion yuan in market value—a classic case of 'Tsinghua stumbles, Wuhan feasts.'
Musings on Markets
AI's Bar Mitzvah Moment: From Hype & Hope to Business Questions!AI has moved from hype to a business validation phase, where investors now demand actual revenues and profits rather than potential.
Rest of World
A dumpling shop becomes a poster child of AI adoption in ChinaA Beijing dumpling shop went viral for letting customers book seats with AI agents, and the owner embraces it as the 'most advanced productive force' — though actual usage remains limited.

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