7 City + Tech Stories for Monday, 11/23/20 🌆
NYC's public transportation crisis, Zillow escapism, robots for drywall, and more
Good morning 🙌🏻
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7 City + Tech Stories for Monday, 11/23/20 🌆
🚇 Gothamist: MTA Prepares Budget Cuts That Would Make Transit System "Unrecognizable"
🏘 Forbes: Mortgages, Fraud Claims And 'Dumb Dolphins': A Tangled Past Haunts Better.com CEO Vishal Garg
💭 The New York Times: Zillow Surfing Is the Escape We All Need Right Now
🏢 TechCrunch: Virtual HQs race to win over a remote-work-fatigued market
🇨🇳 The Wall Street Journal: Airbnb Executive Resigned Last Year Over Chinese Request for More Data Sharing
🛠 Venturebeat: Canvas emerges from stealth with AI for drywall installation
🎈 The Information: Alphabet’s Internet Balloon Subsidiary ‘Loon’ Hit Financing Turbulence
Gothamist: MTA Prepares Budget Cuts That Would Make Transit System "Unrecognizable"
It’s not hyperbole to describe the situation The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and NYC public transportation faces due to COVID as a looming disaster.
“If the MTA fails to secure $12 billion in federal relief aid by the end of the year, which appears unlikely given Republican control of the Senate, MTA leaders said they had no choice but to pass a budget which would make public transportation in New York City unrecognizable to riders, and likely unusable for a large swath of the public that relies on it.”
Budget cuts would include:
Reduced subway and bus service by 40 percent, commuter rail service (Metro-North, NJ Transit etc.) by 50 percent
Layoffs of more than 9,000 workers across the transportation system.
Remember: MTA is the largest public transit authority in the United States.
If we can’t step up to stop cuts like these from happening, I’m not optimistic about what it says about the U.S.’s long term transportation hopes — New York City and its millions of citizens deserve better.
Forbes: Mortgages, Fraud Claims And 'Dumb Dolphins': A Tangled Past Haunts Better.com CEO Vishal Garg
Forbes reporters David Jeans and Noah Kirsch detail the complicated history of Better.com’s founder and CEO. Better.com is a venture-backed online mortgage originator that just earned a $4 billion valuation in its latest funding round.
They highlight some pretty wild stories in the piece including:
“...Better’s investors appear to be overlooking a whole lot more than Garg’s scorched-earth management style: Ongoing lawsuits accuse Garg or entities he controls of improper and even fraudulent activity at two prior business ventures, and of misappropriating “tens of millions of dollars.”
“In fact, Goldman Sachs, which has invested in three of Better’s funding rounds, spent two years accusing entities controlled by Garg of “flagrant self-dealing.” The bank, which did not invest in the most recent funding round, quietly dropped its legal claims in October. Goldman declined to comment on its relationship with Better and Garg or why it dropped its claims, but presumably, it may see more upside from its stake in Better than what it might collect in court.”
“Yet another legal battle involving Garg has dragged on for the better part of a decade. His former business partner and college friend, Raza Khan, claims that Garg improperly moved $3 million from a software company the two men started to his personal bank accounts, and then used stolen technology to help build Better. Garg denies those claims and is countersuing, in a dispute so bitter that during a deposition Garg threatened to burn his former friend alive.”
TechCrunch: Virtual HQs race to win over a remote-work-fatigued market
TechCrunch reporter Natasha Mascarenhas looks at an interesting segment of Silicon Valley working to push remote work to be even more virtual.
“The platforms are all racing to prove that the world is ready to be a part of virtual workspaces. By drawing on multiplayer gaming culture, the startups are using spatial technology, animations and productivity tools to create a metaverse dedicated to work.”
“The biggest challenge ahead? The startups need to convince venture capitalists and users alike that they’re more than Sims for Enterprise or an always-on Zoom call. The potential success could signal how the future of work will blend gaming and socialization for distributed teams.”
“Before the pandemic, the world was not culturally ready for widespread remote work. Then, COVID-19 forced offices closed and employees adapted. These startups are betting that with the mass adaptation will come another cultural shift, one that could bring the metaverse into mainstream.”
The New York Times: Zillow Surfing Is the Escape We All Need Right Now
As a big fan of Taylor Lorenz's reporting, I hoped for months she'd write about people's use of platforms like Zillow for escapism and how that's changed since COVID.
She delivered in a fantastic piece that highlights the aspirational nature that makes these platforms resonate so much at this moment:
“People bond over listings on Discord servers, group chats and “Zillow Twitter,” and their obsession has made many strange and obscure listings go viral. Curbed, a website covering city life, real estate and design, recently started a column called My Week in Zillow Saves, in which people (myself included) share the homes they’ve admired on the site.”
“What many are contemplating when they browse Zillow and similar home buying sites — like Redfin, Trulia and Realtor.com — is not necessarily a purchase, but an alternate life. Zillow surfing has become a primary form of escapism for those who want to flee not just their homes but the reality of 2020.”
The Wall Street Journal: Airbnb Executive Resigned Last Year Over Chinese Request for More Data Sharing
Reporters at The Wall Street Journal Dustin Volz and Kirsten Grind published a fascinating scoop confirming Airbnb hired a former deputy director of the FBI in 2019, then six months later, he quit over concerns about the company's data-sharing practices with China.
“A high-profile hire for Airbnb, Mr. Joyce grew alarmed during his tenure that the company wasn’t being fully transparent about the data it shares with the ruling Chinese Communist Party government, including for Americans traveling in the country, these people say. He also was concerned about what he viewed as Airbnb’s willingness to consider more expansive data requests from China, the people familiar said.”
“Airbnb has told users since 2016 that it shares information with Chinese authorities, according to a review of its communications. Even so, Mr. Joyce believed most people using the platform weren’t aware of the extent of the data shared, which included phone numbers, email addresses and messages between users and the company, two of these people said.”
This episode is another example showing the complicated geopolitical situation American tech companies can find when operating in China.
Venturebeat: Canvas emerges from stealth with AI for drywall installation
As I outlined in my essay on the construction industry’s massive productivity problem, robotics is one area where the building and construction trades can create much higher productivity levels through innovation.
A new startup launched from stealth is another example of the trend’s potential.
“Canvas, a company that uses machine learning to install drywall at construction sites, emerged from stealth today. Canvas was founded in 2017 and uses a modified JLG lift, robotic arm, and sensors to automate drywall installation.”
“Once that task is perfected, Canvas plans to expand into areas like painting and spray-on insulation. The company focuses on commercial construction sites larger than 10,000 square feet, and Canvas’ founders say its machines operate faster and at a higher level of quality than humans working without a robot.”
The Information: Alphabet’s Internet Balloon Subsidiary ‘Loon’ Hit Financing Turbulence
Alphabet’s bet on widespread internet access powered by balloons seems to be struggling to materialize as a business despite the hype.
“Loon, a decade long project to provide internet to rural areas and islands around the world using high-altitude helium balloons, earned the company years of fawning coverage in the press and photo-ops with government and telecom officials eager for the balloons to float over their lands. But after Loon spent all of the cash it raised from an external investor last year, Alphabet has had to float money for the project’s operations while it searched for new investors, said two people with direct knowledge of the situation. Like so many other Alphabet subsidiaries not related to online ads, Loon just didn’t turn into much of a business.”
I’ve written about Alphabet companies, like Waze and Waymo, that are innovating fast while creating significant business value within the larger Alphabet structure.
Loon seems to be the other side of the story. A big bet that shows how hard it can be to create a real business around a big idea that aims to push boundaries and innovation.
Several Interesting Tweets
Similar to a like or retweet on Twitter, inclusion in this section isn’t an endorsement of the author’s idea. Inclusion means Urban Tech found it interesting or thought-provoking.
(Emily Hamilton, one of the best at thinking about modern housing issues, did an entire thread on the Biden housing plan. Access the full thread at the link below.)
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Talk to you on Thursday,
✌️ JT