Trung T. Phan
Trends , The Hustle

Spritz Society is breaking into the soon-to-be $3B+ canned cocktail market

@BoyWithNoJob has 1.6m followers on Instagram. The man behind the account -- Ben Soffer -- just launched a 100% canned wine cocktail.

Trung T. Phan • October 28, 2021

Facebook and Google are in hot water

Another round of The Facebook Papers highlight shortcomings in the platform’s safety. Meanwhile, Google’s monopolistic ad exchange model is exposed in an unredacted lawsuit.

Trung T. Phan • October 26, 2021

PayPal is eyeing a $45B acquisition of Pinterest — does it make sense?

PayPal can help Pinterest up its ecommerce game while connecting the social platform with its 30m+ merchants.

Trung T. Phan • October 25, 2021

Trump’s SPAC, explained

Donald Trump’s new venture -- Truth Social -- wants to take on CNN, Twitter, and Amazon Web Services. There are no details as to how that’ll happen.

Trung T. Phan • October 22, 2021

Electronic Arts and FIFA created a $20B video game empire. But the end is near.

Over the past 2 decades, the EA FIFA game has brought in $20B and FIFA makes $150m a year on licensing fees. Now, EA and FIFA are disagreeing on renegotiation terms.

Trung T. Phan • October 21, 2021

Why did Zillow pause its home-buying program?

Zillow is pausing its iBuying program as home sales slow and a shortage of construction workers hamper its operation.

Trung T. Phan • October 20, 2021

How Spirit Halloween became a $500m+ business

Founded in 1983 as one location, Spirit Halloween now runs 1.4k pop-stores across US and Canada.

Trung T. Phan • October 19, 2021

Bolt: The $6B ‘1-Click’ checkout startup taking on Amazon

Amazon invented the “1-Click” checkout in 1999. Now, Bolt is making it available to non-Amazon competitors.

Trung T. Phan • October 18, 2021

Who’s actually benefiting from the creator economy boom?

The top 1% of podcasters and video streamers earn the majority of revenue for those media verticals.

Trung T. Phan • October 14, 2021

NerdWallet: From Excel spreadsheet to $5B IPO

NerdWallet started with an Excel spreadsheet and $800. Today, it’s on a $360m run rate, primarily from affiliate revenue.

Trung T. Phan • October 13, 2021

US cities are putting up cash (and free coffee) to attract remote workers

To attract remote workers, US cities are offering cash incentives, subsidized housing, and other incentives (like free coffee).

Trung T. Phan • October 12, 2021

Notion notches a $10B valuation, with the help of TikTok

Notion’s user base -- powered by remote work (and some TikTok fandom) -- exploded from 4m last April to 20m today.

Trung T. Phan • October 11, 2021

The world depends on WhatsApp

WhatsApp is used by 2.5B+ people and is the most popular app in 100+ countries. When it goes down, people lose more than messaging -- they lose critical infrastructure.

Trung T. Phan • October 7, 2021

Can a brain implant cure depression?

A brain implant that zapped a patient ~300x a day helped to treat depression. Is this approach scalable?

Trung T. Phan • October 6, 2021

Amazon-backed Rivian is going public

Rivian -- the EV truck maker backed by Amazon and Ford -- is planning an IPO at a $80B valuation.

Trung T. Phan • October 5, 2021

The Ozy Media collapse, explained

Ozy Media raised $70m+ as the next great media startup. But it all collapsed after the NYT reported that its COO potentially committed securities fraud during a fundraising episode with Goldman Sachs.

Trung T. Phan • October 4, 2021

Peter Diamandis: “The world’s biggest problems are the world’s biggest business opportunities”

The XPRIZE founder breaks down the longevity opportunity, Bitcoin’s bull case and Musk vs. Bezos.

Trung T. Phan • September 29, 2021

What are Netflix’s biggest hits?

“Bridgerton” is the top series, while “Birdbox” and “Extraction” are the top films.

Trung T. Phan • September 29, 2021

Hair transplant is huge business

Barber Surgeons Guild specializes in follicular unit extraction (FUE), which uses robot tech to restore hair.

Trung T. Phan • September 28, 2021

Twitter is going all-in on crypto

New Twitter features include bitcoin tipping, NFT authentication, and more.

Trung T. Phan • September 27, 2021

New patents from Snap, Airbnb and Ford

New patents provide a glimpse into the future of Snap, Airbnb, and Ford.

Trung T. Phan • September 24, 2021

Amazon’s $30B+ ad business, explained

Amazon has America’s 3rd largest ad business, more than 2x the size of Snap, Twitter, Roku, and Pinterest combined.

Trung T. Phan • September 23, 2021

Is China about to have its own ‘Lehman Brothers’ moment?

Evergrande -- one of China’s largest property developers -- is sitting on a $300B debt bomb that could severely hamper the economy.

Trung T. Phan • September 21, 2021

‘The Facebook Files’ is not good for Facebook

The Wall Street Journal released a 5-part investigation -- from leaked documents -- showing that Facebook knows its platform is riddled with “flaws that cause harm.”

Trung T. Phan • September 20, 2021

Dr. Parik Patel, CFA: The best iPhone 13 memes

The new iPhone has a lot of cameras...

Trung T. Phan • September 16, 2021

Why Intuit just acquired Mailchimp for $12B

Intuit helps small businesses operate with QuickBooks, TurboTax and Credit Karma. Mailchimp is a tool to help acquire and retain customers to these services.

Trung T. Phan • September 16, 2021

Meet M12: Microsoft’s venture capital arm

M12 was launched in 2016 and has invested in 107 companies, including 13 unicorns.

Trung T. Phan • September 14, 2021

The Apple vs. Epic ruling, explained

A federal judge ruled that Apple is *not* a monopolist. But, now, the iPhone maker has to allow developers to steer their users to other payment options.

Trung T. Phan • September 13, 2021

Smart glasses: A brief history

Can Facebook’s new Ray-Ban smart glasses succeed where Google Glass and Snap Spectacles failed?

Trung T. Phan • September 10, 2021

Smart toilets, explained

Manufacturers are adding cameras and ML to toilets… to monitor your urine and fecal samples.

Trung T. Phan • September 9, 2021

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