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In episode 2 of the Company Spotlight series we explore the world of tech companies invading the finance industry, and specifically Apple, the tech giant that's not satisfied with just dominating the smartphone market.

Apple decided to dive headfirst into the finance industry, and boy did they make a splash. With Apple Pay, you can now buy a coffee, a burrito, or even a new pair of sneakers with just a flick of your wrist. It's like magic, except it's technology.

But what's even crazier is how successful it's become. Some people even say that using Apple Pay is easier than trying to navigate the maze that is your bank's mobile app. And who can blame them? With Apple Pay, you don't need to remember your pin, your password, or even your mother's maiden name. All you need is your iPhone and a few taps, and voila, you've just made a purchase.

The Worlds most valuable company has its own Credit Card, is providing Loans, and even just announced a Savings Account! Is this the start of the tech domination within finance as well? Tune in!

Helpful Links:

• Apple and Goldman Sachs Launching Credit Card - 2019
• Apple Should Shrink its Finance Arm before it goes Bananas - 2017
• Big Tech pushes further into Finance - 2022
• Why APples Partnership with Goldman is the future of Banking - 2023
• Apple is a Hedgefund that makes iPhones - 2018
• Watchdogs take a swipe at Apple Pay - 2022
• Apple Pay and Taking over your Wallet - 2022
• Apple Pay Fees Vex Credit Card Issuers - 2021
• Goldmans Subprime Problem - 2022
• Apples Buy Now Pay Later Roll-out - 2023

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Starting and scaling a successful startup has never been easy, but in today's climate, it's more challenging than ever. With recent events, such as the collapse of SVB and the slowdown in venture capital, access to funding and resources has become increasingly difficult. For startups to survive, they must have access to the right support and resources. That's where Microsoft for Startups comes in, providing startups with a unique approach to help early-stage companies succeed.

On today's episode, we'll dive into how Microsoft for Startups is helping early-stage companies overcome the challenges of building and scaling their businesses. Microsoft is a new player in the startup accelerator game, but the company has a rich history as a startup itself. They started from humble beginnings in the 70s, with just two employees, and now they're a tech giant with a market cap of over $2 trillion.

With Microsoft for Startups, the company is making a significant investment in the startup space. Their unique approach is designed to help early-stage companies succeed by providing access to Microsoft resources, technology, and expertise. Joining us on this episode is Lahini Arunachalam, Senior Director of Platform & Growth at Microsoft for Startups. Lahini has spent a lot of time solving problems for startups and is a leader in Microsoft's efforts to invest in the startup space.

Whether you're a startup founder looking for guidance, an investor interested in the latest trends and innovations, or simply curious about the world of entrepreneurship, this episode is for you. So stay tuned as we dive into the challenges facing startups, the importance of startup accelerators, and how Microsoft for Startups is helping early-stage companies scale.

Helpful Links:

• TechCrunch Article on How Microsoft For Startups can Help
• Microsoft for Startup adds Linkedin Benefits
• Microsoft for Startups Website
• Microsoft for Startups Launch
• Hungry for Cloud Credits?
• Microsoft for Startups in the Middle East
• AWS vs Azure vs Google
• Microsoft Revamps with OpenAI

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Every minute, 990,000 Tinder profiles are swiped, 156 million emails are sent, and 16 million text messages are sent out.

Moreover, Google processes 40,000 searches a second and 1.4 billion people log into Facebook every day.

We live in a digital economy, and it runs on data!

Just think about it, every time you check your Instagram or Twitter feed, Google a new recipe, or search the web for the latest sneaker drop, you are providing tons of data that companies can then leverage to sell you personalized ads, which equals big money. The digital ad revenue business is a whopping $200 billion industry thanks to our generous data contributions.

Our guest today is Nicholas Vincent, a post-doc researcher at Northwestern University, who is studying this very interaction between technology and social behavior. Nick is leading the charge to balance the scales between data providers (us) and data brokers (the personal data industry).

Nick puts forward the concept: "What if those organizations profiting from your data had to pay you a share of that earning?" These data dividends have been getting a lot of traction, with presidential candidate Andrew Yang launching the Data Dividend Project, which is pushing tech companies to pay users for their data.

Additionally, Nick and colleague Hanlin Li are suggesting new ways to address the power imbalance:

🔸 Data Strikes: withholding or deleting your data so a tech firm cannot use it - Leaving a platform or installing privacy tools.
🔸 Data poisoning: contributing meaningless or harmful data - You play music that you dislike on your device and then walk away, thereby confusing the algorithm.
🔸 Conscious data contribution: Giving data to the competitor, such as switching to a new search engine or transferring photos to a new platform.

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Governments are going BIG on batteries! As the world transitions towards cleaner energy sources, Governments have recognized the importance of securing battery supply chains in the transition towards a more sustainable future!

Some of the biggest government spending packages on battery production incentives include:

1. The US Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, which provides up to $25 billion in loan guarantees to support the development and production of fuel-efficient vehicles and related components, including batteries.
2. The European Union's Horizon 2020 program, which includes funding for research and development of batteries and related technologies as part of its Clean Energy for All Europeans package.
3. China's National New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan, which includes significant government subsidies and incentives for the development and production of electric vehicles and batteries.
4. The UK's Faraday Battery Challenge, which includes £274 million in government funding to support the development of battery technology and promote the growth of the UK's battery manufacturing sector.
5. South Korea's Electric Vehicle Battery Industry Cultivation Plan, which includes government funding and support for the development of the country's electric vehicle and battery manufacturing industries.

These government spending packages reflect a growing global commitment to supporting the development and production of battery technology, which is seen as essential for achieving a more sustainable future. By providing incentives and funding for battery technology research and development, these packages are helping to drive innovation and accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies.

In Ep 2 with Gavin White, Co-Founder and CEO of About: Energy, we explore the various initiatives and policies implemented by countries to encourage the production of batteries.

So whether you're interested in clean energy, electric vehicles, or the future of sustainability, this episode is for you! So, let's dive in!

Helpful Links:

• https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/20/1062000/billions-in-funding-could-kick-start-the-us-battery-materials-industry/
• 2022 was a record year for EV battery factories in the U.S. - NPR
• CATL plans Europe's biggest battery gigafactory - C&EN

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It seems like every electronic device these days involves some type of battery - your phone, your laptop, and even your CAR! We had another year of SuperBowls boasting new EV production cars from traditional manufacturers like GM, Honda, and Hyundai. The consumers have spoken and the demand for EV's cannot be stopped!

But what's taking so long to get to an electrified future? Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to create battery technology? Traditionally, battery research has been a slow and expensive process, with many iterations of trial and error required to find the optimal combination of materials and design. About:Energy aims to change this!

Today, on Things Have Changed, we chat with Gavin White, Co-Founder & CEO of About:Energy, revolutionizing the battery industry by building a software platform that helps researchers & institutions design and optimize batteries more efficiently.

Gavin discusses in detail the process of building a battery tech company in the age of sustainability:

🤔 Concept & Prototyping during his PhD

⭐️ Commercialization & Building “The Voltt” Software Platform

💊 Pain points & Tradeoffs in the Battery Development Cycle

The Voltt platform speeds up the research process while allowing for a much broader exploration of the design space, potentially unlocking new breakthroughs in battery technology.
The THC team are super excited to see how Gavin & Kieran’s team, continue to innovate  towards a sustainable and better future.

Helpful LInks:

• About:Energy
• Faraday Battery Challenge
• Gavin White, ICL
• Novel methods for measuring the thermal diffusivity and the thermal conductivity of a lithium-ion battery
• University of Birmingham and Imperial College London aims to speed up battery development

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In the past 2 years, inflation has been making headlines all over the world! To add to the higher grocery and utility bills, payments processing companies added on higher fees in 2022.

Now, as an average consumer, you may not notice these increases so much! But small businesses, the backbone of the economy, is once-again feeling the squeeze. 

For a business, it's almost impossible to succeed in today's world without accepting Credit cards. Merchants hand over $138bn in fees each year; according to the National Retail Federation, it is their second-biggest cost after wages.

So how is this impacting you as a consumer?

Today on Things Have Changed, we dive into why your Credit Card is getting more expensive to use, and how those Swipe Fees are crippling small business owners.

Helpful Links:

• Average Credit Card Processing Fees
• Retailers call out VISA and Mastercard for fee hikes that could make inflation worse
• Credit Card Marketshare in the US
• Understanding Credit Card Swipe Fees
• How VISA became the TOP DOG in Finance

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In the previous episodes, we’ve chatted about currencies and how cash was increasingly playing a smaller role, even in fast growing countries like China & India! The disruptor, that helped transition countries into cashless economies: Credit Cards and Debit Cards.

In 2021, transactions on these plastic cards hit $6.7 TRILLION USD. Like many other technology industries, COVID helped accelerate the shift from cash to cashless. For the average American, more than half of their transactions were done using a credit or debit card!

My first thought on the largest benefactor is the banking industry but there is an even larger player in this field that caught our attention… Payment processing companies like VISA surpassed JP Morgan Chase as the biggest financial services company in America in 2020, boasting operating margins of up to 65%.

Today, on Things Have Changed, we’re going to tackle a question of: How did VISA become the most valuable payment card company in the world?

Helpful Links:

• Average Credit Card Processing Fees
• Retailers call out VISA and Mastercard for fee hikes that could make inflation worse
• Credit Card Marketshare in the US
• Understanding Credit Card Swipe Fees
• How VISA became the TOP DOG in Finance
• Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?
• As merchants complain of Visa’s high swipe fees, experts weigh in on the company’s role in the retail market
• How Visa Makes Money

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Technology is changing finance in developing countries. The Pandemic turbocharged it. With a staggering 650 million Internet users, India has been one of the biggest winners of digitization and by some degree!

Just a decade ago, India’s millions of small business owners used only cash to transact. Now they use phones. This has been nothing short of a financial revolution, as Mobile payments, powered by a technology called the UPI, have more than doubled to a staggering $1 trillion in 2021 from the year before!

Similar accounts of financial transformations across the globe have taken decades! So how did India’s cash heavy economy manage to turn, in the matter of years, to a more inclusive digital economy from the bottom up?

The Indian digital payments story is one of success when it comes to financial inclusion and immense growth. It’s been so successful, Google had suggested our own Federal Reserve adopt something similar - so we’ll hear a lot more about FedNow in 2023, something that will be our version of UPI. Although UPI has brought financial inclusion to India, it also opens the door for an extra level of control of the government, which has a whole new set of risks for an institution with access to, in the future, 1.2B peoples biometric information.

This has been really fun to learn about the Indian story of Financial inclusion and we hope to see initiatives like this grow around the world to reduce friction in transacting! Until next time, stay curious!

Helpful Links:

• UPI supercharged mobile payments in India. It’s now gearing up for next phase of growth
• Indians living in the US, UK, and Gulf can now use UPI - Quartz
• Fintech: India's UPI is beating blockchain in the payments
• UPI, the Made-in-India Payments System, is Rocking Not .
• What is UPI?
• India is likely to be the world’s fastest-growing big economy this year
• India UPI Wiki
• India Digital Payments Win Praise
• Indias Digital Platforms
• Zero MDR the Price

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The dollar tumbled to a nine-month low against the euro this past week, after data showed U.S. inflation was easing, prompting bets that the Federal Reserve will be less aggressive with rate hikes going forward. But this isn’t new.. The greenback’s share of global foreign-exchange reserves has extended a two-decade decline, but it’s still used more than all other currencies combined. 

For decades, the dollar has been the worlds most important currency. You buy energy in dollars, you pay back debts in dollars, and most of world trade is done in dollars. This gives the United States a unique amount of influence which some countries acknowledge is a challenge. 

Recently, developing countries including Brazil, Russia, India & China have been steering away from the surging US Dollar, in their global transactions. China, the worlds biggest trading partner, could also start demanding “Yuan” for it’s exports instead of dollars - I mean they’re starting to do that already! 

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, Inida, China, and South Africa) recently hinted at a plan to “dethrone” the dollar. A system of trade between the countries that could reduce the importance of the dollar for more than 40% of the world population. 

The dollar will remain the worlds reserve currency for a while but as the United States sanction countries that do not align with its political agenda, it becomes increasingly clear that dollar dominance comes at the risk of US policy alignment. Will we see the US dollar become less relevant? 

So today, on Things Have Changed, we’re going to talk about the US Dollar declines, why the rest of the world celebrates when this happens & the possibility of the US Dollar becoming less dominant as new contenders around the globe emerge! 

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