From snack to rich
Vending machines may seem like an unlikely candidate for a 2020s investment trend, but the idea has captured the imagination of Americans dreaming of making money easier. Some people pursue potato chips and soda as a side hustle because their regular paycheck isn’t enough to live on. Others are betting on vending machines as a ticket to upward mobility: quitting their jobs and becoming their own boss. There’s also quite a bit of competition. According to the National Vending Association, there are 3 million vending machines in America, an $18.2 billion industry, and the average vending machine earns about $525 a month. Social media has accelerated the idea of achieving financial freedom through vending machines. According to social media management platform Sprinklr, from 2019 to 2023, the number of posts and comments mentioning passive income and vending machines increased by more than three times on X and six times on Instagram. Over the same period, Google search interest in passive income increased by approximately 75%.
(Excerpt from “Americans Turn to Vending Machines for Passive Income” by Joe Pinsker, published in The Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2024)
marketplace fraud
Users of Facebook Marketplace in the US say the once easy buying and selling process there is now completely gone. Buyers say they’ve encountered counterfeit listings, payment fraud, or items that don’t match what’s promised. When sellers get scammed, it’s often because the “buyer” provides a fake payment confirmation or is bombarded with “Is this still available?” messages. The Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker database is filled with hundreds of reports from Facebook Marketplace users in the US who claim to have fallen prey to scams on the platform. Marketplaces serve a purpose for people selling their belongings, and while great deals can be found on a regular basis, users, financial institutions, and online shopping professionals have noted that the quality of the experience has been poor since its launch in 2016. states that it is declining. Facebook’s parent company, Metaplatforms, says it is investing. It provides tools to detect fraud and provides measures people can take to protect themselves from fraud.
(Excerpt from “Banks and users warn of Facebook Marketplace scammers” by Dalvin Brown, published in the Wall Street Journal on March 11, 2024)
the gap between men and women
The widening gap between young men and women in developed countries is remarkable. Polling data from 20 such countries shows that 20 years ago there was little difference in the proportion of men and women aged 18 to 29 who described themselves as liberal rather than conservative; This increased to 25 percentage points. Young men also appear to be more anti-feminist than older men, bucking the trend of each generation becoming more liberal than the previous. A poll in 27 European countries found that men under 30 are more likely than men over 65 to agree that promoting the rights of women and girls has gone too far because it threatens opportunities for men and boys. was found to be high. Similar results are seen in the UK, South Korea and China. Young women are more likely to believe the opposite, in part because young women are making leaps and bounds ahead of men academically.
(Excerpt from “Making Sense Of The Gulf Between Young Men And Women” published by The Economist on March 14, 2024)
Learn from VCs
Venture investors (backers of early-stage, high-growth companies) need to think differently to survive and succeed. The companies they invest in take longer to mature than typical corporate projects and are definitely riskier, with up to 4 out of 5 companies burning out and only 5% becoming huge successes. Needless to say, successful VC investors are not desperate to minimize their loss rate. Despite its high failure rate, its returns are the envy of the financial world. However, most companies do not tolerate much risk. As we often tell business leaders, if at least 30% of your portfolio companies don’t fail, you may be investing too conservatively. A memorable argument is that in the venture capital world, mistakes of omission are far more painful than mistakes of commission.
(Excerpt from Steer Clear of Corporate Venture Capital Pitfalls by Ilya A. Strebulaev and Amanda Wang, published by MIT Soan School of Management)
Published in The Business and Finance Weekly Dawn on March 25, 2024
