GenZ Tea ☕️
Let’s take a look at how it is going now. As reported in the Urban Wire survey Genz and millennials were worried about the effects the pandemic has had on their finances. It has lead to worries about an increase in debt, and there is the uncertainty of being able to pay it back.
Hey Tea Sippers,👋
We hope everyone had a good week and did some productive things! We have one major news story: Google is being sued for violating anti-trust laws within the google play store. 😳 If you are interested, read more about it here.
Tea Pods ☕️:
In this week’s rendition of Tea Pods ☕️, I would like to introduce Tom Bilyeu’s podcast, Impact Theory. Here he talks with famous and successful people from different walks of life and he captures their stories and teaches people how to develop a better mindset and think practically in life. If you have time I recommend you listen to this one here.
This is the story of a janitor named Richard Montanez. He was able to transform his future and become a multi-millionaire and creator of the famous Flaming Hot-Cheetos.
Hope you enjoy it, cheers!
What’s the Tea Today? 🤔
Ready for this week’s tea?☕️ Today, we are talking about American Expresses’ initiative to disrupt the status quo 😅, and Daniel Simon, a new household name you should become familiar with. 👨💻
Anyways, short and big stories ahead, get your tea ready and start sipping. ☕️
Also, before you get reading, don't forget to join our waitlist! Thanks. 😝
Disrupting the Status Quo ❌
Some are calling this one of the best acquisitions of the year. We have your favorite financial services company American Express, and Kabbage your favorite small business lender combining forces. They are both big in the small business space and now they are using their powers to capitalize on this opportunity. What are they offering?
Kabbage has:
A free checkings account
No overdraft checking account
Kabbage debit card
Personal finance management wallets
Electronic bill pay
And now… they are going to offer a line of credit as well. They are targeting an untapped market by competitors currently going after those very small businesses and entrepreneurs, who want to get some runway.
American Express has:
A risk-tolerant team
Connections to small businesses and mid-sized businesses
The capital and connections to handle all the regulatory hurdles
The Big Gulp ☕️: What we are seeing here is that companies are teaming up and using their strengths to destroy the competition. American Express has the connections and the team, while Kabbage has the technology, but they both have the same vision. They want to capitalize on the small business ecosystem and be a part of the growing culture of startups and small businesses trying to grow because you only need one or two startups to blow up to become the leading bank nationwide. 💡
The Addiction 💊
Daniel Simon 👔
Some people do something extraordinary and take time off to reflect and enjoy. Others do something extraordinary and continue working to do it again. Daniel Simon sold his consumer and payments product to Alliance Data systems for 500 million dollars in 2020. What is he doing now?
He has now founded a new company with the former executive of Lyft called Coast.
Coast is a financial platform for transportation vehicles such as fleets.
They have just raised $6 million in a seed round and are on a mission.
Simon has big plans for this company as well. He wants to create a similar system he was able to do with Bread. He writes:
“same sort of ease of use and transparency that Bread brought to e-commerce consumers and retailers to a category of business and employee that is often overlooked in tech.”
The Big Gulp ☕️: What we see here is an example of an entrepreneur seeing a problem in the market that isn’t being addressed, and creating a solution. This a prime example of taking the initiative and stepping up. Simon exemplifies to be a visionary and he is moving with the current times. Everything is switching to digitalization and it all being done with quick speed. He is now creating a product that is quick and easy to use by those fleet operators and is also more appealing for the users. More and more companies are shifting from the traditional way of things, and this could get really interesting in the future. 🍿
Extra Tea ☕️:
Chime: Chime is receiving some hate because of some closed accounts and potential fraud cases
Neobanks: Neobanks are targeting young consumers and Gen Z
Blend Labs: The digital lending platform is set to IPO and raise $360 Million
LoanPro: LoanPro gets a $100 Million investment
Sencha “Tea” Fact of the Day 🍃:
The typical life span of $1 dollar bill is 18 months.
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Cheers! ☕️