Issue #2
Poor…Moderately Rich
Berlin was infamously called by its Mayor “Poor but sexy”. This was way back in 2004, fast forward to 2022 and Berlin has become the startup capital of the EU (London is not technically EU anymore). The right phrase to describe Berlin now would be “Moderately rich and sexy”
Last week Atomico released its yearly report about EU startup funding, and it showed that German startups raised 12.3 Billion euros in startup funding with Berlin leading the charge with 7.1 Billion euros. I find it mildly amusing/ironic that the communist capital of DDR ( former communist East Germany) is now the capital of VC money in Germany.
Berlin always had the ingredients for startup success - low rents, young educated population, low cost of living, high quality of life, people who want to change the status quo, artists, techno, and now it has the last one - Money.
Mr. Putin Update
In the last issue, we were wondering what Mr. Putin’s plans were in Ukraine with the whole military build-up. Now things are becoming more clearer on why he is doing it -
TLDR: Basically to get NATO out of Ukraine.
“What the U.S. is doing in Ukraine is at our doorstep... And they should understand that we have nowhere further to retreat to. Do they think we’ll just watch idly?” Putin said.
And what Russia really wants
It says it needs pledges from the West — including a promise not to conduct NATO military activity in Eastern Europe — because its security is threatened by Ukraine’s growing ties with the Western alliance and the possibility of NATO missiles being deployed against it on Ukrainian territory.
New Era of Coldwar….Economic wars?
Communism vs Capitalism - Part III (Part I Russia and II Vietnam)
China has been cracking down on Companies listed outside of China.
I don’t quite understand why? Who says no to foreign capital, higher valuations, and investors with no rights but who am I to question the wisdom of the communist party in matters of capitalism.
But it is definitely affecting the overall startup and business environment in China. And now the biggest AI company in the world, yes it’s not Google or Facebook, SenseTime has postponed its IPO. And more news here, here, and here.
Bankers now say they expect the majority of Chinese IPOs aimed for American exchanges to be suspended or diverted to other venues, eating into projected revenue for the year given the significantly lower fees in Hong Kong.
And now the USA has started cracking down on Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges. Here, here and here.
The Biden administration said on Thursday that it would put limits on doing business with a group of Chinese companies and institutions it says are involved in misusing biotechnology to surveil and repress Muslim minorities in China and advancing Beijing’s military programs.
The US government's attempts to crack down on China's high-tech sector have shown a tendency to intensify in scope and frequency in recent days, with the Biden administration on Thursday moving to ban a string of Chinese tech companies from receiving US capital and supplies, just days after Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) giant SenseTime was put on a US investment blacklist.
Like true lovers, US and China always had a love-hate (mostly love) relationship but with the Biden administration (started with Trump) it might be changing to more of an “on the verge of breakup” couple relationship. I will continue to cover this love story like a LA paparazzi.
Kids are better investors than Traders
If you think you missed the Gold, Financial instruments, Crypto train then you still have time to hop on to the Lego one.
It found that the market for secondhand Lego rises in value by 11% annually, which it says is a faster and better rate of return than gold, stocks, bonds, stamps and wine.
TLDR: You need to own some rare limited model to realize these gains otherwise you’ll end up losing your money.
The authors of the paper looked at the prices of 2,322 LEGO sets from 1987-2015. The dataset included information on primary sales and online auction transactions (only sales of new unopened sets were selected). Secondary market prices usually start to grow two or three years after a set is retired, but there is a significant variation in returns ranging from -50% to +600% annually. Prices of small and very big sets grow faster than prices of medium-sized ones, probably because small sets often contain unique parts or figures, while big ones are produced in small quantities and are more attractive to adults.
I believe that research should come with big * for clickbait people. These kinds of instruments work on a small scale ( 2,322 Lego sets in this case) and are generally illiquid. Although they make good clickbait headlines like this for click-hungry media houses.
Investing in Lego more lucrative than gold, study suggests - Gaurdian
Last Week in Elon-verse
Step 1: Open Twitter
Step 2: Follow one of the influential democratic socialist senators let’s say.. Elizabeth Warren
Step 3: Troll her by replying to her tweets and then brag about paying the highest tax in history
Step 4: Do a PR bragging about the $11 Billion taxes you’re paying
little off topic: Taxes that btw he is supposed to pay like every good/law abiding citizen or corporation. And being the richest person on planet earth, I assume, comes with large tax bill as well. But I like how Billionaires pat themselves on the back for things they are legally obliged to do. Maybe we all should do PR about paying taxes to the govt.
AND
then complain about paying those taxes.
"California used to be the land of opportunity and now it is... becoming more so the land of sort of overregulation, overlitigation, overtaxation," he said, adding that it is "increasingly difficult to get things done" in California.
Not a bad way to spend the week. Altho he is funny sometimes..
That’s it, folks.
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Interesting round up Shrey. Fun fact - This year Elon and I will pay $11 billion and change in taxes. Highest tax ever paid by a dynamic duo!