Facebook is like the Real Housewives of Tech Drama. This Wednesday, 48 attorneys general that reside in 46 US states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook for being a monopolistic jacka** who secretly suppresses competition with their business practices and algorithms. The suit has allegations of Facebook illegally buying competitors with a real “hunting to kill” vibe about it… aka “we’re big, you’re small, do what we say cause we’re Facebook”.
They’re using WhatsApp and Instagram as examples of this.
What’s the ask? For the District of Columbia’s US District court to “restrain Facebook from making further acquisitions valued at or in excess of $10 million”. That’s without giving notice to plaintiff states first. They’re also asking for companies acquired illegally to receive relief, potential restructuring, or access to Facebook assets.
This is all happening in the same week as the FTC’s vote to move forward with their own, separate antitrust lawsuit against the ‘book. The FTC wants to see Insta and WhatsApp spun back out of Facebook’s web to become independent entities again.
We’ll keep you posted on what happens, but tell us what your opinion is on Facebook and these antitrust lawsuits. Hit reply and share!
Who Has Time to Do Laundry?
You’d think everyone staying at home would mean they had plenty of time to catch up on their laundry, but apparently customer demand for professional cleaning services has skyrocketed since the pandemic hit. You might be thinking otherwise considering we saw startup Washio wash up dry (aka fail) in the US this year. But Laundryheap, a six year old startup based in the UK has done incredibly well with their on demand, door-to-door dry cleaning and laundry delivery service.
Their B2B side of business has booked because hygiene and safety standards are critical to stay open, and on the consumer side, everyone is so focused on their hygiene, why not outsource it? We’re busy working longer hours and juggling cats, dogs, other humans, and children (they don’t count as humans) while working from our kitchen tables all day.
Laundryheap launched their services in San Fran, NYC, Boston, LA and did a few soft launches in some smaller East Coast cities in September. Smart move considering by the end of 2020, the US laundry care market will hit about $12.3 billion in revenue and is currently the world’s most powerful market for laundry.
Double the good news for Laundryheap is there aren’t any major players leading the way for this in the US.
Do you use a laundry service like this or are you friends with your washer and dryer? Hit reply and tell us!
Developer and Founder Don’t Go in the Same Sentence
Usually.
Sure, it may seem like if you’re a developer and you want to become a founder, you’ve got one common love: building things. If you’re a developer with an idea for a business, know that it isn’t “the building” that will get you to success and unfortunately, you’re gonna have to take your dev hat off and put the business one on (which you might not like).
With your business, don’t spend hours and days doing what you want to do, which is building out the code for your idea and refining it. You have to focus on understanding what problem you’re trying to solve. That means putting your future customers first. Test your idea and run with it instead of waiting until it’s perfect.
You have to find the right focus, too. Think of your code as a commodity that anyone can write for you (yes, cringeworthy, but deal with it) and (more cringing) take time away from coding. You have to put in the hours and due diligence to actually build your business. That means less coding and more talking to people (cue heart attack). Research competitors, pricing, write sales emails, or hire all that sh*t out, which we wouldn’t recommend for a first time founder.
If we haven’t put a bullet through your heart just yet, make sure you’re becoming a founder for the right reasons. Want to make bucko bucks? Just get a fancier developer job. Want to truly solve this problem and don’t mind taking a massive pay cut? You’re on the right journey.
