Friday Fives
1. Siemensstadt - Siemens City of the Future
Here’s one that we’ve been watching for a while. Siemens has committed 600 million euros to the development of Siemensstadt 2.0 (Siemens City 2.0) to develop 70 hectares in western Berlin into a modern, multi-use, urban district of the future. There is a pretty ambitious vision for Siemensstadt as a city of the future, home for activities in areas such as distributed energy systems, electric vehicle technology, networked assets, IoT, artificial intelligence, data analytics and additive manufacturing, alongside up to 3000 apartments to create a new neighbourhood.
This was an interesting read from City Lab as they take a look at the history of Siemensstadt, what the development could mean for Berlin, and how Siemens is looking to approach the development differently than other big technology company urban developments.
2. Sidewalk Toronto - high tech on the waterfront
Talking of tech giants and urban developments, Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs development of a high-tech community on the Toronto waterfront has also been one to watch. Since the concept was first announced in 2017 (in response to a Waterfront Toronto RFP) it has faced wide ranging criticism and discussion on ownership, governance and data privacy. After an 18 month planning process and public consultation (and charm offensive), Sidewalk Labs released their 1500+ page Master Innovation and Development Plan for the development in late June. Sidewalk Labs is looking to invest $1.3 billion on the project with the aim of attracting a further $38 billion in investment from the private sector by 2040.
The plan is not final, and still requires a few hoops to be jumped through including public consultation process and evaluation and approval from Waterfront Toronto.
Read more about the plan: https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/24/alphabets-sidewalk-labs-unveils-1524-page-development-plan-for-torontos-waterfront/
3. WeWork’s delayed IPO
Big, but somewhat unsurprising, news this week with WeWork pushing back the date of their IPO to the end of this year. The impending IPO garnered a lot of attention, especially once they filed their S-1 IPO paperwork which provided the first in-depth look at the company’s finances and outlined an incredibly complicated governance structure. Over the subsequent weeks the company’s valuation plummeted to $20 billion - down from $47 billion in January over concerns about an inflated valuation, it’s governance, business model and ability to turn a profit while continuing to grow.
One thing in particular stood out for a lot of commentators - the influence and control of CEO Adam Neumann over the company. From taking out hundreds of millions of dollars in loans secured in part by his WeWork stock; to personally owning in parts a number of buildings that WeWork leases: through to trademarking the “We” brand and licensing it back to the company for a cool $5.9 million (which was subsequently returned to the firm), Neumann’s actions had investors worried.
“...when IPO investors scrutinised WeWork, they wanted to know not only if Mr Neumann was trustworthy but that WeWork would outlast him. A charismatic founder attracts venture capital by scaling a start-up into a business. Institutions know that inspiration has to be succeeded by discipline.” John Gapper, FT Chief Business Commentator
Read more here: https://www.ft.com/content/e9b033e2-d94e-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17
4. Nike innovation and design
Nike has recently taken out Fastcompany’s design company of the year award, and this interview with CEO Mark Parker offers some interesting insights into how the company is blending retail and technology. We were particularly interested in the community building aspect of the business, and the two way conversations driving the whole customer experience.
Read the interview here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90396588/qa-with-mark-parker-ceo-of-nike-the-2019-design-company-of-the-year
5. Listen: This is Not a Podcast
We’ve been big fans of The Hundreds for a while - in particular the way that the brand built such a strong community and hung onto it’s authenticity even as it grew (no mean feat!). We ran out to buy Bobby Hundreds book, This is Not a T-shirt, as soon as it hit the bookshelves (or the audio book files to be fair). So we were pretty excited when the books corresponding podcast was launched - which takes an even deeper dive into the themes covered in the book.
Binge listen along with us at:
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/this-is-not-a-podcast-with-bobby-hundreds/id1477682683