🚙 Ford’s $100B pivot

PLUS: Morgan Housel explains the crazy housing market. January 14, 2022 [The Hustle] Today, we have a special guest — Morgan Housel — from Collaborative Fund. You may know Morgan from his bestselling book, The Psychology of Money, or from Twitter, where he regularly shares finance wisdom. We’re pumped to have him on board to help us unpack these turbulent times. Today’s rundown: - Ford: How an EV pivot is turning around one of America’s oldest companies. - Future fans: Sports leagues are trying everything to reach Gen Z. - Morgan’s musings: Morgan Housel explains this crazy housing market. - Around the web: A new tree, eagle cams, vinyl mixtapes, and more cool internet finds. Let’s do it. The big idea [Ford EV]( Ford’s EV progress pushes the carmaker past $100B One of corporate America’s favorite quotes is from Henry Ford, who founded Ford Motor Company in 1903. Speaking about his product development process, Ford said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Yesterday, Ford passed the $100B mark for the 1st time, per [CNBC](. Somewhat ironically, it did so by listening to what the market wants: electric vehicles (EVs). Ford’s stock price is up 146% over the past year And it has outpaced its main US competitors: - Tesla gained 22% (market cap = $1T+) - General Motors (GM) is up 20% (~$90B) The global chip shortage has hampered all automakers, but Ford managed well in Q4 2021: It sold [508k]( vehicles, a 27% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase vs. a 3% decline for the entire industry. More importantly for its long-term prospects… … Ford is now America’s No. 2 EV maker It shipped 27k+ Mustang Mach-E vehicles in 2021, passing the 24k+  Chevy Bolts and Hummer EVs that GM sold. While both companies lag far behind Tesla — which sold ~1m EVs — Ford has one giant rabbit to pull out of its carmaking hat. Since [1981](, the bestselling car in America is the Ford F-150 pickup truck. Every single year. Demand for Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning is huge Due to significant consumer interest, Ford announced it will make [150k]( of the trucks a year by 2023 at a Michigan plant (~4x its initial output estimate). The company’s turnaround has happened under CEO Jim Farley, who took over the top spot in October 2020. If Ford keeps trending up, we’d love to hear this quote from Farley: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said electric F-150s… and we delivered.” [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=Ford%E2%80%99s+EV+progress+pushes+the+carmaker+past+%24100B%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F01142022-Ford-EV%3Futm_campaign%3DFord%2BEV%26utm_content%3D01142022-Ford-EV%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 Health care pivot: Magic Leap, makers of one of the 1st AR headsets, [announced]( it will focus its new model, the Magic Leap 2, on medical customers. Crypto acquisition: Coinbase announced it [acquired]( FairX, a futures exchange that could allow Coinbase to launch a derivatives exchange. Don’t get your hopes up: Tesla [removed]( any mention of “2022” as it relates to its Cybertruck model, meaning we’ll likely have to wait another year before the futuristic EVs are available to consumers. Scientists vs. Joe Rogan: 260+ doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals have [signed]( an open letter to Spotify to “implement a misinformation policy” after an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast promoted an anti-vaccine rally. Big raise: Envoy, a workplace management platform, [raised]( $111m to help companies address a hybrid workforce. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey — enjoy getting quick updates on what you care about? Take [20 seconds]( to personalize your Snippets. Pick your preferences👇 and we’ll send you more of what you love. Boom. [Personalize my Email →]( Future of Fandom [sports cartoon]( Pro sports leagues are doing whatever they can to engage Gen Z While cord-cutting has been on the rise for years, Gen Z is the 1st generation to grow up as true [digital natives](, per Mic. As a result, they’re far [less likely]( to watch live sports than previous generations. This finding isn’t lost on professional sports leagues, who are [finding]( new ways to engage with young sports fans. Examples include: - The NFL [partnering]( with livestreamer Ninja in 2018 to co-stream a game on Thursday Night Football - The MLB running a [contest]( where budding TikTok influencers could win the chance to be ambassadors - The NBA [partnering]( with Take-Two Interactive to launch the NBA 2k esports league However the leagues reach Gen Z, one thing seems clear — the future of fandom will be decentralized. [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=Pro+sports+leagues+are+doing+whatever+they+can+to+engage+Gen+Z%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F01142022-sports-gen-z%3Futm_campaign%3DFord%2BEV%26utm_content%3D01142022-sports-gen-z%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]( It’s Time to Build [homes built per 1k Americans]( Data Source: Federal Reserve They don’t build ’em like they used to Inflation is now at the [highest level in 40 years](. Nowhere is that more apparent than in housing, where nationwide home prices [are now nearly 50% above]( the levels seen during the 2006 housing bubble. If you’re in the market for a new home, you know how crazy it’s gotten. Perhaps you’ve been outbid on a home to somebody offering [double the asking price](. What’s happening? All big problems like this are complicated, caused by dozens of different variables. But here’s a big one, and it’s simple: We just don’t build enough homes. - Millennials are [now the largest cohort]( of working Americans. Many are now approaching 40 years old, and are eager to finally buy a home. When baby boomers were in a similar spot in the 1970s and 1980s, we were building, on average, about 60% more homes relative to the size of the population. - The housing bust of the mid-2000s shattered the homebuilding industry, and it simply never recovered. There are a quarter fewer carpenters in America today [than there were 20 years ago](. Here’s a quirk of surging housing prices that’s easy to overlook: If you already own a home, the surge is probably a wash for you, because if you sell a house that’s gone up in value you probably use the proceeds to purchase another house that’s gone up in value. But if you’re a 1st-time homebuyer, oof. It’s brutal. Rising home prices mean you have to come up with a higher and higher down payment — if you can find a house at all. It’s time to build. [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=They+don%E2%80%99t+build+%E2%80%99em+like+they+used+to%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F01142022-homes%3Futm_campaign%3DFord%2BEV%26utm_content%3D01142022-homes%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]( TRENDS Pro copywriting tips for high-performing ads It’s not easy finding marketing writers who slap… That’s why many small-to-mid sized business professionals learn to do it themselves. Trendster Bobby (Boston Beer Company’s direct response copywriter) can help. He dropped his [top 3 keys to captivating copywriting](. The rundown: - Be interesting or useful. Preferably both. While being specific enough to pique your target audience and weed out the flakers. - Forward-thinking formatting. Copy narratives are journeys that propel readers forward. Tasteful line breaks make all the difference. - Dig into client psychology. Great copywriters hit what matters most to the target audience. You just have to know where to look. That’s just the “what”. [Read the Trends article]( for the “how”. Join Trends for market signals, business ideas, and the community of 17k+ professionals. [Your first week is $1 →]( AROUND THE WEB 🏈 On this day: In 1973, the Miami Dolphins [won]( Super Bowl VII, becoming the only NFL team in history to play a perfect season. 🔎 Useful: Sometimes, you just need a good meme. Memegine is a [search engine]( for finding them. 🎵 That’s cool: A company called [Freestyle Vinyl](will put whatever tracks you like on a record, like a Spotify playlist, but old-school. 🌲 That’s interesting: Scientists [discovered]( a new evergreen tree in Cameroon. They named it Uvariopsis dicaprio after Leonardo DiCaprio, whose activism has helped save the Ebo Forest. 👨‍💻 How to: Some people can be shy in virtual meetings. Here are [some tips]( to encourage participation from everyone. 🦅 Aww: Check out the Wildlife Rescue of Dade County’s “[Nest Cam](,” where eagles Ron and Rita are taking care of their tiny chicks. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (A roundup of our best reads from the last couple weeks…) 🕶️ [The con artist]( who sold rich investors a fake country 🌿 States are [making bank]( off weed taxes 🎧 There are more podcasts [being created]( than ears to listen to them 🧒 How a [10-year-old](became the king of toys, and YouTube 🍆 The world is using [fewer condoms]( than expected Shower Thoughts - [“You could destroy your entire life in less than 10 texts if you wanted to.”]( - [“Water never really belongs to you, it’s just your turn to use it.”]( - [“A sleepwalking bed-wetter is a threat to everyone.”]( - [“Every person cremated is one less zombie we’ll have to worry about.”]( - [“Every child is trained by their parents for a world that is one generation out of date.”]( - [“Harry Potter was way too emotionally stable for a kid raised by people who hated him.”]( [via Reddit]( SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Stop keeping us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we’ll start to send some goodies as a thank you. [My First Million ebook]( Spread the news. Help us grow 🌱 [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Trung Phan](, [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, [Rob Litterst](. Editing by: Mark “F-150 or bust” Dent. [PODCAST]( [JOBS]( [CONTACT US](mailto:news@thehustle.co) [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Trends]( 25 FIRST ST. 2ND FLOOR, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02141, UNITED STATES  +1 888 482 7768 Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and [unsubscribe](list=thehustle). [The Hustle](