🕶e8: Bumble’s Buzzin’ Hot into Their IPO! Amazon Bets Big on Electric Truck Startup Rivian!

Feb 7, 2021

👋 Good Morning and Happy Sunday! Welcome to the e8 newsletter, a hand-picked collection of business and start-up news, resources for entrepreneurs, job/internship postings, and noteworthy trends that are happening this week! I hope you find this weekly newsletter informative and engaging!

Business/Start-Up News

🧑🏿‍🤝‍🧑🏼 Bumble’s Buzzin’ Hot into Their IPO

I think by now almost every young adult has tried a dating app. From older platforms such as Hot or Not, OkCupid, and Plenty of Fish to more recent ones such as Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge - they all basically work on the same premise… Swiping right to match with an “algorithmically selected person.” Now I know most of y'all are familiar, but for the ones that don’t know, this is where Bumble distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack. The app aims to empower females, by placing the messaging power in their hands. Women, instead of men, have the option to make the first move within the first 24 hours of matching with someone. Bumble also provides services such as Bumble BFF/Bumble Bizz for people who just want to expand their personal and professional networks. Let’s take a closer look at the honey that's coming out of the hive and if the bear investors are willing to bite!

Sum Facts

Trailing Tinder as the number #2 dating app, Bumble is currently valued at $6-8 billion
OC&C Strategy Consultants reported that Bumble’s users convert to paying subscriptions models above the average market across dating apps
The app currently has 12.3 million MAU (Monthly Active Users) and out of that, 9% turn into paying customers
Interestingly enough, OC&C also reported that the app has around 30% more female users for every male user, compared to their competitors

Good Start But An Uphill Battle

Bumble’s business model is solid but it lacks in popularity compared to Big Brother Tinder…Bumble is slacking in terms of revenue growth. Although Bumble grew around 70% in revenue back in pre-pandemic 2019, Tinder grew 2x as fast when it was roughly the same age as Bumble (in 2017). Bumble needs to focus on gaining more traction overseas. As of year-end 2019, Bumble’s world-wide revenue was just under 24% of Tinder’s.

Ev’s Take

I’m seeing many similarities to the Lyft vs. Uber situation - a younger underdog company biting at the heels of it’s older sibling. PitchBook has reported that the pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on female entrepreneurs, with deal flow down 31%, as compared with the average of 18% across the board. I love seeing Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO, making moves and showing resilience throughout the pandemic.

Further, I think big market players will start to incorporate diversity standards for start-up boards. For instance, Goldman Sachs had announced it would not consider taking companies public unless they have at least one director from an underrepresented group.Nasdaq is also now requiring all companies to disclose the diversity of their board members (and if they don’t have at least two diverse directors they have to explain why). Bumble is already setting a precedent in the industry, with around 70% of their board members being females. And clearly something is working right for them.

*An interesting note: A research study by McKinsey found that gender equity improves a company’s bottom line, boosts the global economy, and if achieved correctly could unlock up to $28 trillion in global GDP.

All in all, Bumble has high expectations to live up to, and now being a public company we all know who they have to please...The shareholders. With this comes a focus on innovation and further development on features such as Bumble BFF and Bumble Biz. I personally have never found myself using these, so I’m curious to see if they will find a way to entice users such as myself to give it a shot.

🚚 Amazon Bets Big on Electric Truck Startup Rivian!

Oooooh man! USPS fleet members that drive the old Grumman LLVs around are going to be super jealous soon! Amazon recently announced that they will be ordering 100,000 delivery trucks from electric truck startup, Rivian. This move aims to help their last mile delivery drivers by adding custom features to help assist on the daily routes as well as cut down on their carbon emissions to achieve their net-zero goal by 2040. Let’s take a closer look at the sweet new Amazon whip!

Some Facts

The vans are already making deliveries to customers in Los Angeles. Amazon plans to expand its testing to 15 more cities this year as it continues to build toward a fleet of 10,000 vehicles by 2022
Since coming out, Rivian has hauled in a series of enormous investments from several major players. Amazon led a $700 million round in February 2019, followed by $500 million from Ford in April 2019. Most recently, Rivian landed $2.65 billion from T. Rowe Price and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund.

Ev’s Take

As a Los Angeles native, I am super hyped to see these Rivian trucks rolling down my street soon! This partnership looks immensely promising for both companies. I admire Rivian as their aim is to disrupt the automotive space with redefined technology and innovation which consumers have not seen previously. One cool feature Rivian built upon is their “skateboard” platform that can be used to build a wide variety of fleets.

This partnership with Amazon has not only provided Rivian with a positive outlook, in addition President Biden’’s “Buy America” plan has pushed efforts to replace federal government fleets that have combustion engines, with cleaner, electric alternatives. According to data from the General Services Agency, that federal fleet includes more than 400,000 trucks, many of them for use by the U.S. postal service. With that being said, if Rivian can prove success in the early stages of deployment, they could set themselves up to be a market leader in the upcoming years.

This partnership with Amazon has not only provided Rivian with a positive outlook - it could have some pretty amazing downstream effects. President Biden’s “Buy America” plan includes efforts to replace federal government fleets that have combustion engines with cleaner, electric alternatives. According to data from the General Services Agency, the federal fleet includes more than 400,000 trucks, many of them in use for the U.S. postal service. As such, if Rivian is able to prove successful in the early stages of deployment, it could set itself up as the ideal candidate for the program in the upcoming years.

Maybe those USPS drivers won’t have to be so sad after all :)

👀 Interesting Follows

🚀How China Could Win 2021’s Space Race And Take Mars As Its Prize

💬Everything You Need To Know About Clubhouse, The Invite-Only Audio Chat App

👨‍💻Tesla vs WeWork. A Decade of Leadership Difference

🏥The Future of Healthcare Is in the Cloud

🔎The Key to Thriving In 2021: Focus on What You Can Control

💼 Jobs/Internships

New York

Portfolio Management Intern (Santander Bank)
Summer Intern (Rockefeller Group)
Business Development - Wearables (Spotify)

Los Angeles

Business & Legal Affairs Internship (BBC Worldwide)
Deals Capital Markets Intern (PwC)
Finance Intern (EY)

San Francisco

Software Engineer, Intern/Co-op (Facebook)
Summer 2021 Intern - Analyst, People Analytics Research (Salesforce)
Software Engineer (Bolt)
Finance Intern (Airbnb)
Data Analyst Intern (Paypal)

Chicago

Asset Intern (Avnet)
Wealth Management Summer Intern (Morgan Stanley)
Trading Intern (Akuna Capital)

Remote

Talent Acquisition Intern (Axios)

🎷 Fresh Finds

💯Thank You For Reading, See You Next Week!

What's up, my name is Evan Hiltunen! I am a recent finance grad from Indiana University and financial analyst @ Goldman Sachs. I have a strong passion for start-ups, finance, and technology, and I hope you find this newsletter informative!
I’d love your feedback - feel free to email me at thee8newsletter@gmail.com
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