MasterClassrooms, Reliance returns, homescreen cribs, metaverse markets, and influencer industries

October 9, 2020 Edition

Happy Friday to all, and congratulations on surviving another week. This week, you’ll be particularly pleased to know that there’s a return to some OG Trillium themes, all curated just for you by Trillium’s extensive global staff. 👀

Two quick housekeeping notes: first, a few folks have asked if they can forward the newsletter to friends. The answer is yes, by all means; the 💰is in the mail. Second, I know some readers are still having an issue with Trillium winding up in their promotion/spam folders. [Ed.: I choose not to interpret this as an “I accidentally threw away your birthday invitation” moment.] One trick that has helped some readers is to add trillium@substack.com to your address book (yes, such a thing still exists).

“Still no vaccine—go back to sleep.”

Source: WARP, New Yorker, October 2020

A visit to the MasterClassroom

I enjoyed Carina Chocano’s recent Atlantic article on MasterClass, wherein she investigates the question of what MasterClass is actually selling. The pandemic has definitely been kind to MasterClass in terms of its public profile and general consumer awareness. Stuck at home with little to do except watch bread rise and contemplate esoteric new hobbies, many consumers turned to MasterClass for inspiration and the “premium, high-level learning experience” that its seemingly ubiquitous advertising promised. I must admit: I dabbled (though, through no fault of the product and more as an acknowledgment of my own dwindling attention span, I haven’t been back). I generally blame Bob Iger for being pretty boring in his.

Chocano notes that MasterClass “seems ideally suited to frustrated 30-somethings for whom education has not necessarily resulted in upward mobility or even a job.” 😬Moving right along. She also points out that, while it is possible to “learn useful things” by watching a video, formal education is generally understood to “demand some sort of participation.” The implication, which I support, is that MasterClass is less a tool for learning and more a form of entertainment disguised as a healthy vegetable. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it should be recognized as such, not as your path to become a Michelin-starred chef or Olympic gymnast. [Ed.: I could’ve gotten there, I just didn’t start early enough in life.]

Wonderfully, MasterClass defines its ideal user as CATS: “curious, aspiring 30-somethings.” [Ed.: again 😬]. These consumers, the company feels, are beset with ongoing anxiety over the state of their careers and their lives. Many wish that they had taken a different educational path, or studied something more “relevant” to whatever career or passion they want to pursue. But, as Chocano details, there has been an evolution in MasterClass’s core product from something closer to a MOOC (massive online open courses, which do have real pedagogical aims) to something more like a curated Netflix, where “a gallery of the meritocracy’s winners” share their secrets. From where I sit, it’s great if people use MasterClass as a source of inspiration (or aspiration) and as a well of high-quality content that opens eyes to what mastery in any given realm means. It’s not so great to turn to the product as a meaningful replacement for formal education of one sort or another.

As a closing note, David Rogier (co-founder & CEO of MasterClass) states that the company’s go-to metric is not course completion but “the impact we have on your life…we legitimately ask people if we changed their life.” That more or less says it all. We might better understand MasterClass as falling somewhere between the time-honored American tradition of “self-help” consumer products manifesting as educational tools and Hollywood’s globally-renowned entertainment industrial complex.

Reliance’s robust return

I do recognize that my deep spiritual commitment to news regarding Reliance Industries has become a bit of a laughing matter. Obviously, I am not deterred. Though you may be sick of reading about Ambani’s empire, I will continue to smother you with these stories. In all seriousness, I find Reliance compelling because it represents (arguably) the most powerful individual market actor in one of the world’s two most populous countries; it is the largest publicly traded company in India by market cap, the largest in India as measured by revenue, and India’s largest exporter, amongst other distinctions.

And, as multinationals in the broad tech and retail sectors pursue growth opportunities in India more aggressively, they increasingly do so in partnership—financial or otherwise—with one of Reliance’s seemingly innumerable corporate entities. Particularly for those of us interested in the global tech industry—for which India represents perhaps the largest “untapped” opportunity—Reliance is an inarguably important company to follow: a conduit for the rest of the business world into India, and an organization whose impact on Indian consumers is nearly unparalleled in both breadth and depth.

Last week, it was reported that Reliance Jio Fiber Trust—which holds Ambani’s fiber-optic assets—is raising $5.4bn through “borrowings and stake sales to units and investment firms of…Reliance Industries.” (Bloomberg) This development is separate from the $20bn raised by Jio Platforms (digital) and the recent M&A maneuvers conducted by Reliance Retail (commerce). In concert, these actions represent Reliance’s efforts to position itself for the next wave of growth in India, starting with broadband services and connectivity, and laddering up to a range of digital and consumer internet services, as well as core online and offline retail experiences.

On this last point: a few days ago, Reliance Retail raised an additional $750M from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Tech Crunch). In case you’ve lost count, that means seven separate investors have committed $5.14bn (TechinAsia) to Reliance Retail in the past month, following on the heels of Reliance Retail’s $3.4bn acquisition of much of India’s Future Group (India’s second largest retail chain). But, the plot thickens! Apparently, Amazon has “sent a legal notice to Future Group,” (Tech Crunch) claiming that the company breached the terms of its contract by selling much of itself to Reliance Retail. Long story short: Amazon acquired a 49% stake in a Future Group unit (Future Coupons) last year, which conveyed a 3.58% stake in Future Retail and, reportedly, “right of first refusal” provisions. Simultaneously, Amazon is in talks to invest several billion dollars in Reliance Retail (Tech Crunch), so this is all becoming a bit complicated. It will be interesting to watch the maneuvering between Amazon & Reliance: two giants in their own rights, albeit operating here on Reliance’s home turf.

Home, screen home

Rest of World published a fun article this week featuring snapshots of the smartphone homescreens of healthcare workers in seven different countries. As they note, homescreens are “intimate spaces” that we “rarely get to see.” It might feel like a bit of an over-reach to declare that “how we design our homescreens is how we design our lives,” but, nonetheless, it’s an interesting and novel concept for a piece. [Ed.: if you were to look at my homescreen, you would probably envision someone who spends most of his time listening to music, working, reading, or exercising, and who has perhaps a smidge of OCD. So, maybe it’s not such a flawed approach.]

Here is an example from the 24 year old Indian “medical intern who wants to drive trucks.” Shout out to Heavy Truck Simulator.

Source: Rest of World

Roblox is ready for its close-up

Source: Sunset Boulevard (1950)

In weeks past, I’ve written numerous snippets about artists who are using video games as a replacement for traditional stages and mediating live performances through virtual avatars. Often, the foundation for these new digital creative experiences is Roblox, the ongoing gaming platform with a (reported) private market valuation of $4bn. This valuation comes from Roblox’s recent $150M fundraise from Andreessen Horowitz and others; this round happened in February and was Roblox’s Series G (as in “Game On”). The platform has 115M monthly active users, which makes it roughly equivalent to Trillium in scope.

Now, there are reports that Roblox has engaged investment banks (Reuters) to prepare for a U.S. stock market listing in 2021, with the goal of doubling that $4bn valuation either through a traditional IPO or a direct listing. My interest in Roblox is primarily as a piece of infrastructure and a distribution platform for the next-gen creator, but I realize that its primary value to the rest of the world is as a game-unto-itself. You will be shocked to learn that the vast increase in time spent at home this year—and for the foreseeable future in rudderless countries like the United States—has accrued positively to the size and import of the video gaming industry. Indeed, research firm NPD has indicated that “U.S. consumer spending on video games is up 30% year-on-year,” reaching $11.6bn in 2Q20.

I’ll be interested to see if Roblox tells a bigger story about itself as more than just a video game. Does the company gesture at the platform’s role as a container for new types of artistic expression, or even for novel learning experiences (as Minecraft has in the past)? Will the mainstream market place any value on the trendy but very niche notion of games as the canvas for the “metaverse,” and as the likely magnet for an increasingly broad array of social and creative interactions in the future? Personally, I believe that the answer will be “yes” on all counts.

On this topic, it’s now been reported that Ava Max’s “virtual fan meetup”/album release party was attended by over 1.1M users (Verge), with 166,620 individuals representing the peak concurrent viewership. That’s insanity! Keep in mind that the Super Bowl often has between 60,000-70,000 fans in attendance. Relatedly, a new Music 360 report released by MRC Data shows that 47% of music listeners “feel it is important for the industry to offer livestream performances or virtual concerts” even beyond the pandemic, and that 1 in 4 music listeners has “already tuned into one of these shows.” We’re only at the beginning of this trend.

I just wasn’t made for these times

Taylor Lorenz, the NYT writer who does an excellent job keeping her finger on the pulse of the global tween empire, wrote a very enjoyable piece on TikTok arch-rival Triller, titled “Fancy Cars, Fine Dining, Creator Mansions, Cash: Triller is Shelling Out for Talent.” The piece is worth reading (partially for the tremendous photographs), although it most certainly made me question whether I believe the world as we know it will (or should) still exist by the end of 2021. Where’s the MasterClass on becoming a teenage Triller mogul?

My favorite part of the story is that Lorenz describes a group of TikTok influencers known as the Sway Boys who decided to defect from TikTok after the #Bandemic became a concern earlier this summer. I like to imagine the Sway Boys having deep, thoughtful strategic dialogue about their collective futures: sort of a Bretton Woods type situation, except in Beverly Hills and not New Hampshire, and with substantially fewer heads of state in attendance and minimal geopolitical consequences at stake. Corncob pipes and fedoras optional.

Apparently, the Sway Boys decided to join Triller, in exchange for cash, equity in the company, and various leadership or advisory roles in the business. Two of them are now advisors, while one of them (an 18 year old) is Triller’s “chief strategy officer.” Tune in next week for an announcement that dog-walking app Wag! has appointed a rottweiler to be its CDO. [Ed.: the D is for data.] 🐶♟

If you really want to commit yourself to the notion of imminent civilizational collapse, check out Lorenz’s other articles on the influencer houses that TikTok, Triller, and others are offering to creators (building on a trend catalyzed by YouTubers earlier in the 2010s). Typically in LA, the houses are intended to facilitate “collab” behavior, which probably means one thing to corporate types and another thing to teenagers. Witness:

Source: Michelle Groskopf, New York Times

For your ears only

Last week, I happened across a KCRW article about a fantastically titled music festival called “Fandango Fronterizo,” subsequently described as a “giant jam session, with musicians in San Diego and Tijuana together performing old [Mexican] folk music.” Specifically, the festival focuses on a form of Mexican music called son jarocho: a style that originated on the Gulf Coast of Mexico (specifically in Veracruz) and represents a blend of Spanish, indigenous, and African traditions. I’ve always enjoyed the genre and its blend of polyrhythms and different melodic elements. It turns out that this festival, which takes place along the U.S.-Mexico border, inspired a film called “Fandango at the Wall.” You can see the trailer below:

In this vein, I thought I’d share one of my favorite son jarocho tracks, and one that I (along with several Trilliuminati) used to perform in our mariachi days: “El Cascabel.” Enjoy.

See you all next week.

N