PLUS: Sweetgreen goes robotic. August 30, 2021
[The Hustle]
[The Hustle]( Kanye West had a busy past few days. His new album âDondaâ came out on Sunday and -- oh yeah -- he lit himself on fire during a listening party at Chicagoâs Soldier Field Thursday night. Todayâs rundown: - Appleâs lawsuit: The iPhone maker will pay $100m to developers who paid âexcessive commissionsâ in the App Store.
- Sweetgreen: The ~$1.8B salad-making giant acquired Spyce, a startup known for its salad-making machines.
- Digits: Interesting stats on dating nomads, pumpkin spice, robocalls, and more. Letâs do it. THE BIG IDEA
[Apple logo]( Apple settles an App Store lawsuit. Whatâs next? Itâs a full-time job keeping up with Appleâs corporate beefs. The iPhone maker is facing legal heat from Epic Games (âFortniteâ maker), Match Group (Tinder owner), Facebook, and others for how it runs the App Store. At least one battle is almost over Last week, Apple settled a federal case -- launched in 2019 -- that charged the tech giant with monopoly power over its App Store. The company agreed to pay $100m to US developers who paid âexcessive commissionsâ on their apps between June 2015 and April 2021, per [The Wall Street Journal](. The settlement is only for developers making less than $1m per year, and the headline number is sad when you break it down: Some may receive up to $30k, but 74% will get $500 or less. Apple will also have to loosen restrictions⦠⦠on âanti-steering rules,â which dictate what developers can do with user data. One big change: Developers can email users about alternative and (typically) cheaper payment methods outside of the walled iOS garden. Apple still won't let developers post those cheaper options inside the app, though. Also unchanged: the App Storeâs take rate on subscriptions (Year 1 = 30%, Year 2 = 15%) and in-app purchases (15% for <$1m and 30% for >$1m). The App Store has 30m registered developers And 1B+ customers spent $72B+ on apps in 2020, per WSJ. (Translation: $100m is a drop in the bucket.) The settlement awaits court approval and developers can opt out. Many might, as accepting the terms means waiving any future legal action for similar App Store complaints. Next up: Epic Games -- which sued Apple over its in-app purchase system -- is awaiting judgment. Theyâre probably hoping for a slightly better outcome. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Apple+settles+an+App+Store+lawsuit.+What%E2%80%99s+next%3F%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08302021-App-Store-lawsuit%3Futm_campaign%3D%26utm_content%3D08302021-App-Store-lawsuit%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. (It takes less than 30 seconds!) With Hurricane Ida headed to the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies have shut down [91%]( of production ahead of the storm hitting the region. Buy and hold: Twilio and Asana [will]( be the first 2 companies to dual list on the Long-Term Stock Exchange. Chips going up: TSMC [announced]( plans to increase prices (advanced chips by ~10%; less advanced chips by ~20%). Amazon partnered with Affirm, the âbuy now, pay laterâ company that lets customers buy products on installment. Affirmâs shares jumped [48%]( on the news. Electric truck maker Rivian filed for an IPO. The Jeff Bezos-backed startup is eyeing a wild [$80B]( valuation (it says it will deliver its 1st vehicles in September). Join the 93,048 others who are now enjoying extra, personalized snippets. Click the buttonð to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrowâs email. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Food Tech
[robot salad bar]( Sweetgreen bought another salad eatery known for its robot cooks Lunchtime favorite Sweetgreen might be getting a robot or 2. The salad chain just purchased Spyce -- a restaurant startup known for its automated kitchen -- for an unknown sum, [per]( CNBC. A tale of 2 salad spinners Both fast-casual eateries specialize in salads and bowls, but Sweetgreen is a salad behemoth. - Sweetgreen has grown to 130+ US locations since [launching]( in DC in 2007. Itâs currently valued at ~$1.8B and [filed]( for its IPO in June.
- Spyce has 2 locations in Boston and has raised $24.9m. But Spyce also has robots Spyce was founded by a group of MIT students in 2015. It uses [recipes]( from acclaimed chef Daniel Boulud, though the cooking process has always been automated. - An [earlier iteration]( used rotating woks that tumbled and cooked ingredients. Human employees then added toppings and garnishes.
- Now, Spyce uses an â[Infinite Kitchen](â that sears, steams, and assembles meals by itself in [~2-3 minutes]( -- a plus as customers seek contact-free options amid the pandemic. Allie Weinstock, Sweetgreenâs PR and communications manager, called the acquisition an âinvestment in our future.â For now, Sweetgreen is focusing on updating Spyceâs tech and developing a new product and concept that will work with Sweetgreen as it scales. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Sweetgreen+bought+another+salad+eatery+known+for+its+robot+cooks%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08302021-Sweetgreen%3Futm_campaign%3D%26utm_content%3D08302021-Sweetgreen%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource
What makes or breaks long business docs? The first 2 pages. AKA the executive summary. AKA the Cliffs Notes people will thank you for. A crisp overview at the start of lengthy reports or plans gives people the context to see what you see. It also helps ease the room into all that chunky data. Fill in these [executive summary template]( blanks This is how you write a synopsis that people read all the way through. We have a feeling youâll use it more than once. One common sense deduction says this HubSpot template leads to nods across the room. [Knock âem dead â]( By The Numbers
[Pumpkin Spice]( Pumpkin spice really should be a year-round thing (Source: George Dolgikh / Getty Images) Digits: Nomads are in love, and apparently itâs pumpkin spice season 1) Nomads are feeling the love. Between Feb. 1 and July 1, [Tinder mentions of ânomadâ increased by 23% in profiles](, with âRVâ and âvanâ seeing 8% upticks. 2) PSL season already? Morning Consult found [25% of US adults think late August]( is the perfect time to sell pumpkin spice products, up from 19% in 2020. 3) By law, the US government oversees the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest to decide on the image for the stamp, which waterfowl hunters must purchase for hunting. Since 1934, [the annual contest has generated $1.1B+]( for conservation efforts. 4) The FCC [issued a $5.1m+ fine]( against John Burkman and Jacob Wohl for making 1.1k+ robocalls spreading misinformation during the 2020 election. 5) Brace for impact (AKA upset children). Consumers should anticipate [price increases of 5%-10% for toys](this holiday season, according to industry experts. 6) Cazoo, Britainâs Carvana, [raised $1B+ in a SPAC merger]( on a quest to grow throughout Europe. Serious question: Do they retrofit their car horns to sound like kazoos? [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Digits%3A+Nomads+are+in+love%2C+and+apparently+it%E2%80%99s+pumpkin+spice+season%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08302021-digits%3Futm_campaign%3D%26utm_content%3D08302021-digits%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB ðOn this day: In 1983, US Air Force Lt. Col. [Guion S. Bluford]( became the 1st Black person to travel to space as an astronaut aboard the 3rd Challenger mission. â°ï¸Wow: Alicia Williams has amassed 2.4m TikTok followers by showing how she [cleans old graves](, revealing the unique histories hidden beneath years of grime. ð¦
Wild story: Hey, who would win in a [fight]( between an eagle and a drone? (Itâs the eagle.) ð´Chill out: Need a break? This [website]( challenges you to sit still and do absolutely nothing for 2 minutes. ðUseful: Whether youâve got a goal in mind, an idea you want to save for later, or just some random thoughts, you can use this [site]( to send an email to future you. ð±How to: Should you upgrade to the latest model of your phone or wait? The New York Times has some [tips]( to decide. Meme of the day
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