A glimpse into the future of AR
Also: Cohort-based programs, more social audio news, and Alibaba
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Catches of the week 🐟
Facebook is working on some crazy AR stuff 🧨
I am not a big fan of Facebook. I think that they do a bad job at protecting their user’s data and I don’t think they always act in their user’s interest but rather focus on quick bucks (think Cambridge Analytica).
However, I came across a couple of interesting posts this week on what the company is developing in the AR space and I was, quite frankly, blown away.
Check out this video which was included in a series of tweets by Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer.
Also, if you are wondering how this technology can be used in real life, check out the example below, displaying a virtual keyboard that is able to capture your input by tracking the nerve signals from the smart wrist device.
To me this is mind-blowing and really got my head spinning and thinking about future applications of this software. Coming back to my initial point of saying that I am not a big fan of Facebook - looking at this research, I do think the company will be around longer and be more successful than I might hope for 😅
If you want to read the whole blog post by Facebook, check it out here. Highly recommended.
Cohort-based programs 😍
This is an overall trend that I have been following and really enjoy. So what are cohort-based programs all about?
Well, online learning is going through a transformation as users are switching from low interaction and isolated learning environments to more social and interactive experiences!
I think this shift is happening in two directions. On the one side, you have existing learning formats like MOOCs where supply is infinite and costs are low. However, MOOCs are suffering from really low completion rates (<5%) which point to a bad user experience.
On the other side you have thousands of creators that are teaching for free on platforms like Youtube and have a loyal following, however, lacked the right format and tools to turn their insights and content into a learning business.
Enter cohort-based programs. Here is how it works:
Set up a course with a clear goal and timeline. E.g. “learn to do a handstand in 2 weeks”
Structure content around this goal. This can be a combination of live sessions, recorded videos, learning material, and so on
Set a start date, a price, and a limit to the number of participants
Kick-off your first cohort and repeat
This format works really well for participants due to a high commitment (fixed start & end date), peer pressure (everyone sees and posts their progress), accountability (the coach will check-in with you personally), and social feedback (people will cheer and push each other), leading to completion rates >60%!
It works for creators as it offers them a way to monetize their content and community in a fun and repeatable manner.
A couple of companies to watch in this space:
Maven - recently launched and founded by the team behind Udemy
Disco - announced a founding round recently
Classcamp - amazing team and a company I personally invested in
Also check out my friend Thomas, who is building in this space (currently still in stealth mode)
Open-source Calendly
Just quickly want to share this, as I think it might be valuable to some of you. Calendso released an open-source alternative to the popular scheduling tool Calendly.
This is really cool as I believe it will drive innovation in the space and allows users to customize and individualize their scheduling solution 100%!
More news on Audiotech 🎧
The news around social audio does not stop. This week Facebook finally announced their own social audio room product, following weeks of speculation around it.
Further, Reddit announced “Reddit Talk”, their take on social audio and a product that I am personally super excited about.
I also remembered reading this amazing article from Matthew Ball on the entire audio space from a few months ago. It has a great historical background of how this space has evolved over time and is a very good read if you are interested in this space!
“Only Friends” show by Justin Kan
I have come across a few Youtube channels by ex Silicon Valley founders recently and really enjoy their content. One example I want to share with you is the “OnlyFriends” show by Twitch Co-Founder Justin Kan.
Justin and his friends (all of whom are successful valley entrepreneurs) discuss tech news and give some advice with regards to investing.
Trade of the week 😎
I bought some more Alibaba shares despite the recent news that the Chinese E-Commerce giant was fined a record $2.8 billion by regulators for antitrust violations.
Yes, it is bad news. But it is a lot better to have clear regulation than having uncertainty around it, a CEO that went missing, or a last-minute cancelation of an IPO (all of this happened to Alibaba in the past year).
My hypothesis is that reducing uncertainty around the company will help the company in the long term and its stock price to perform well.
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Harry’s Marketing Examples
I love this Twitter profile! It provides so much value by sharing small, but super insightful examples of how marketing is done right. Take this example on how to write a proper cold email:
I enjoy going through these tweets and learn a little more every time!
ZED Run - Horseracing NFTs 🐎
I know what you are thinking - “NFTs… not again”. But hear me out, because I think this is the next evolution of craziness around NFTs that I have seen.
Meet ZED Run, a new online game, in which you can watch and bet on digital horse racing. The twist is, that you can actually own some of these horses since they are tradable NFTs.
It works similar to other NFT sports games like NBA top shot, where you pay to buy some NFTs without knowing what exactly you will get. In this case, if you are lucky, you receive a very powerful horse that not only wins races but also allows you to make money by letting other collectors breed with your horse. That way new, more powerful horses can be created allowing the player to race even more successfully!
I had a blast watching some videos on Youtube and Twitch of people playing this game. Especially this one 😂
What does the future of Chinese education look like?
I read this article by MIT Technology Review that explains how more and more Chinese kids are using AI-enabled products to study for their exams. It also discusses some pros and cons of “AI tutors” and how we might soon see these approaches spread to Europe and the US.
I really enjoyed this read. It is so hard to gain insights into China even though it is often super interesting to see how they are leveraging technology to solve problems.
If you are interested in China - I can also highly recommend the newsletter “Chinese Characteristics” where author Lilian Li shares insights on the latest consumer tech trends from the east. Check it out.
That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter and took some inspiration away from it! Feel free to reach out with feedback, ideas, and things you would like me to write more about. Make sure you hit subscribe below, to be among the first to receive this newsletter in the future