🍋 Instagram Returns to its Roots

Instagram has been doing its best impression of TikTok with 'reels' and the 'discovery page', but with the recent redesign and the universally hated Shop tab, it seems they've finally hit a sour note with their users. Users want Instagram to be more like its old self, and it sounds like the platform is finally listening to them.

January 12, 2023

Together With

"You can have work-life balance. It is your job to take care of your mind, your body, your health, your soul, your family, your friends, your health. Your job, not our job." — Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan CEO)

Good Morning! Some economists have dubbed millennials the "roommate generation" - because let's face it, with sky-high real estate prices, it's cheaper to split the rent with three strangers than to buy a house. FTX may have recovered more than $5 billion in liquid assets, but they’re still not sure if they can afford to pay back their investors.  

Office owners are scrambling to diversify their portfolios, as the demand for office space remains low. And to add insult to injury, tech layoffs are leaving San Francisco and New York with more empty office space than a ghost town. To top it off, many laid-off tech workers are falling prey to fake job postings, so tech bros, beware!

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1. Story of the Day: Instagram Returns to its Roots

Instagram is finally listening to its users and simplifying its in-app navigation, after years of confusing changes that were clearly designed to push its latest products like Instagram Shop and Reels down our throats.

The company announced that starting in February, it will be returning the Compose button (the plus sign “+”) to the front and center of the navigation bar, and removing the Shop tab entirely.  As a result, the Reels button will now be kicked to the curb and moved over to the right of Compose, losing its prime real estate spot. 

The recent shift from Compose to Reels on Instagram left users feeling like they were being forced to dance to the app's new tune, at the expense of their own melodic user experience. Instagram explained that these changes were meant to give users access to their "expanded suite of products" but it seems like it only made us feel like we were wandering through a maze of menus.

Instagram has been trying to become the next TikTok, but it seems like the platform's original influencers (read: Kim and Kylie) aren't having it. Kim posted to her stories, echoing Jenner's plea for Instagram to "make Instagram Instagram again" and "stop trying to be TikTok." 

Last fall Instagram tested removing the Instagram Shop tab from some users' home screens, hiding it under Settings instead, claiming it was just an experiment with a small number of users. But according to a leaked memo, the real reason for the change was a shift in the company's priorities. 

Takeaway: Instagram has been doing its best impression of TikTok with 'reels' and the 'discovery page', but with the recent redesign and the universally hated Shop tab, it seems they've finally hit a sour note with their users. Users want Instagram to be more like its old self, and it sounds like the platform is finally listening to them.

2. Markets Rundown

If you want access to Wall Street insider interviews, industry deep-dives, premium research/resources and weekly Knowledge Drop newsletter, check out our Insiders membership.

Stocks closed higher ahead of Thursday's CPI report.

Movers & Shakers

  • (+) Bed Bath & Beyond ($BBBY) +69% after a meme stock rally pushed the stock higher.

  • (+) Expedia ($EXPE) +5% after experts say demand for online travel is still strong.

  • (–) Party City ($PRTY) -37% as the retail chain nears bankruptcy.

Private Dealmaking

  • Nuevi will buy Paya, a payments platform, for $1.3 billion

  • Monogram Health, an at-home care provider for the elderly, raised $375 million 

  • Cirba Solutions, a battery recycling facility manufacturer, raised $245 million

  • Tredence, an AI data analytics platform for companies, raised $175 million

  • Oxbotica, a developer of software for autonomous cars, raised $140 million

  • Razor Group, an e-commerce conglomerate startup, raised $70 million

  • Doorstead, a rental property management startup, raised $21.5 million

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3. Top Reads

  • What to look for in today’s inflation report (Axios)

  • 7 whopping stats from Bed Bath & Beyond’s brutal holiday quarter (YF)

  • Inflation is expected to have declined in December, but it may not be enough to stop the Fed (CNBC)

  • Venture capital may have a liability problem (Axios)

  • What Meta employees really think about their company’s brutal year (Vox)

  • Will Bed Bath & Beyond’s meme phenomenon save it from bankruptcy? (Fox)

  • FTX bankruptcy judge terminates Miami Heat naming rights deal (Fox)

  • How did tipping get so weird? (Atlantic)

  • CVS Health is on a shopping spree (Axios)

  • Apple reportedly considering touchscreen Mac laptop for 2025 (CNBC)

4. Book of the Day: The Courage to Be Disliked

Is happiness something you choose for yourself? The Courage to Be Disliked presents a simple and straightforward answer.

Using the theories of Alfred Adler, one of the three giants of nineteenth-century psychology alongside Freud and Jung, this book follows an illuminating dialogue between a philosopher and a young man. 

Over the course of five conversations, the philosopher helps his student to understand how each of us is able to determine the direction of our own life, free from the shackles of past traumas and the expectations of others.

Rich in wisdom, The Courage to Be Disliked will guide you through the concepts of self-forgiveness, self-care, and mind decluttering. It is a deeply liberating way of thinking, allowing you to develop the courage to change and ignore the limitations that you might be placing on yourself. 

This plainspoken and profoundly moving book unlocks the power within you to find lasting happiness and be the person you truly want to be. Millions have already benefited from its teachings, now you can too.

“A healthy feeling of inferiority is not something that comes from comparing oneself to others; it comes from one's comparison with one's ideal self.”

*****

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5. Short Squeez Picks

6. Daily Visual: Credit Card Interest Rates Hit Record High

Avg US commercial bank credit card interest rate

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen

Things that reduce the odds of long-term success:

A lack of focus.

Making excuses.

Staying up late.

Eating poorly.

Checking email first thing in the AM.

Working more to fix being busy.

Buying things you don't have the money for.

Focusing on yourself.

Letting other people define success for you.

The wrong relationships.

A lack of patience.

8. Job Board

  • Airgain Inc. - Senior Financial Analyst - San Diego

  • Bloomberg - Product Manager, Credit Risk & Investment Data Analytics - New York, NY

  • MUFG - VP, Sponsor Finance & Direct Lending - New York, NY

  • PayPal - Manager, Strategic Finance & Pricing - Remote

  • BNY Mellon - Senior Auditor II - Digital Assets/Cryptocurrency Specialist - New York, NY

  • Morgan Stanley - E*TRADE - Financial Service Representative - Chicago, IL

9. Memes of the Day

 

 

 

*****

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