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This week we have Wheels Off for Peloton’s CEO; Made in India; and Roblox’s latest metaverse vision.
Also, quick favor from us! We are launching a design-focused podcast series, and would love for you to contribute questions related to this topic. Kindly fill out this survey (super quick!): SURVEY.
Analytics, Digital, Design In Action
Wheels Off
Peloton Co-founder John Foley has fully stepped down as executive chair and from the company. This follows the fitness subscription company’s tumultuous ride. In February, Foley stepped down as CEO alongside a massive 2,800 person layoff.
Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy stepped into the leadership role, before appointing a number of new members to the executive team, in a bid to defend the company and morale.
Recent news show that Peloton has begun to outsource production on its bikes and treadmills, despite prior plans for a massive production facility. It also began selling product on Amazon, a major shift for a company formerly completely focused on first-party channel sales.
Perhaps we could see Peloton portrayed in a better light going forward?
Made in India
Indian conglomerate Vedanta and global manufacturing giant Foxconn have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian state of Gujarat to set up a $20B semiconductor and display unit in the coastal state that is home of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tuesday’s move is the latest step in India’s growing ambition to expand its hardware manufacturing prowess as the world’s second most populated nation works to become self-reliant. New Delhi has launched several incentive programs worth over $10B to attract global giants to locally manufacture in India.
Meanwhile, Google is eyeing moving some production of its Pixel smartphone lineup to India, according to the Information, the latest in a series of phonemakers with growing ambitions to locally assemble their handsets in the world’s second largest market.
This is on the heels of the ongoing geopolitical shake-up where a lot of Western-based companies are eyeing to diversify their supply chains out of China.
Roblox’s Metaverse
Roblox unveiled its vision for the Metaverse in its latest Developer Conference. Some new experiences, like interactive video billboard ads and portals that transport the user into a branded experience, will be limited to the oldest age group.
Other new features, like proximity-based voice chat, are also closed off to kids below the age of 13 for safety reasons. Roblox previously announced an age verification system that would make experiences geared toward older audiences possible. Roblox says that experiences designed for users over the age of 13 could include moderate violence and realistic blood, while games intended for younger users are limited to “light” violence.
Meanwhile, Roblox will give $10M more toward a handful of select projects that it believes symbolize what the platform is all about. Some game developers could receive ~$500K in projects.
We’re also recruiting for our ABD Team!
This week, we want to highlight a new BizOps position. ABD team has increasing needs for cross-functional collaborations, strategic alignment, and project management. We are looking for results-oriented individuals to drive organizational changes and push forward some of our strategic initiatives.
Also, check out our other positions that we are actively hiring.
Don’t forget that nominations are open for our Expert Circle! We’re on our Third Cohort!
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