Snacks Daily

Straight from the fitness tech pioneer’s IPO, we sit down with Peloton co-founder and COO Tom Cortese to talk about how they pitched investors, what drives customer loyalty, and if the stock ticker symbol should’ve been “SWET” or “SPIN” instead of "PTON".

Facebook’s virtual reality arm, Oculus, just cooked up “Horizons” — a virtual world at a whole new level. Amazon released a huge number of Alexa-packed products, including a finger ring, copy-cat AirPods, and a high-end speaker. And fresh after WeWork and Juul just lost both their CEOs this week, eBay’s leader is stepping down.

After a crazy week, WeWork’s co-founder and CEO stepped down. Nike’s earnings reveal its next opportunity is really with guys wearing athleisure. And Nio, the Tesla of China, plummeted 22% after another rough quarter that forced it to shockingly cancel its earnings call.

Literally while some people were in the air, British travel agency Thomas Cook shut down, so we look at the millions affected by a big corporate bankruptcy. Fitbit’s fought hard  to survive since Apple unveiled the Watch, but it’s now offering to sell itself. And Bloomingdale’s launched “My List,” a 10-item per month clothing rental for $149/month as “clothing as a service.”

J. Crew’s legendary denim brand is outperforming J. Crew — so it filed to IPO itself. Tinder-owner Match Group is getting an interactive TV show (welcome to “Swipe Night”) in a unique convergence of tech and media. And Juul’s e-cigarette issues keep piling up, which is a bigger pain for its latest investor: regular cigarette-maker Altria.

Bezos kicked things up a notch by announcing a carbon neutrality pledge for Amazon that shockingly even beats the Paris Climate Accords. Alphabet’s drone division, Wing, just partnered up with Walgreens, FedEx, and a local gift store to make drone delivery happen next month in Virginia. And Stripe just passed Airbnb with a $35B valuation that earns it our “Unicorn of the Day.”

Facebook just announced a $149 Portal TV device to let you video chat while binge TV-watching. Corning Glass is located in a small town in upstate New York, making the glass on your iPhone — it just snagged a $250M investment from Apple. And FedEx fell 13% on its worries about the global economy, which makes it a “leading indicator.”

LinkedIn just revealed a new “skills” feature that we consider its most strategic move since Microsoft acquired it. General Motors is experiencing its biggest strike in a decade and that’ll cost it up to $100M a day. And Shopify just became Earth’s #2 biggest ecommerce platform, but we’re looking into its cannabis-supporting moves into CBD.

Oil prices just surged after an attack in Saudi Arabia, so we break down why it’s not as big a deal as Wall Street made it seem. Netflix is treating itself to $500M of Seinfeld reruns from Sony because sitcoms earn your loyalty. The WSJ reported that Amazon’s secretive A9 search office made a change to its algorithm with huge implications for your online shopping life.

Pepsi and Venmo teamed up for a spending partnership they’re calling “PepCoin” — it highlights the behavioral challenges of Fintech. Walmart’s $98/month Grocery Club is taking on Amazon with something Amazon can’t do. And our “Nearly-Unicorn of the Day” is Voyage, whose self-driving cars are turning the elderly into early-adopters.

SmileDirectClub (uncreative ticker symbol, FYI) falls 28% on its IPO day, but we look at whether it was really a bad IPO when you look at the valuation. Under Armour is going anti-athleisure with its new strategy, but it’s actually copying Lululemon. And General Electric is selling $38B of itself to survive, which highlights its greatest disadvantage: Pensions.

Wendy’s is trying to jump into the fast food breakfast wars, but shares fell 10% because it’s too late — again. A Snacker asked us to jump into Monster Beverage, so we found out what it’s up to. And California’s new gig worker law hits right at Lyft and Uber, so they hit right back.

Everyone’s looking at the new iPhone 11 unveiled at Apple’s big product unveil (spoiler alert: new colors), but we’re focused on its strategic moves with Apple TV+. Ford’s bonds just hit junk status, so we’re looking at the decade that led to this. And Next Door is our “Unicorn of the Day” for its latest fundraise and focus on accountability.

Uber is already deeply unprofitable, but whipped up $200M to invest annually in its fastest-growing business: Uber Freight. Starbucks will launch its 1st pick-up only store in New York this fall, but it’s the early sign of American companies copying Chinese ones. And AT&T was smacked with a 23-page letter by a new major hedge fund investor, and it’s calling for huge change.

Glossier just snagged a new COO from Amazon, highlighting the company’s growth hacking success. DocuSign surged 22% as the e-signature pioneer’s anti-friction strategy pays off. And Beyond Meat drops as plant-based protein competition kicks up four notches.