The current rules for regulating M&A for big tech companies are inadequate due to their market share not being above 95%. A proposed rule is to allow medium tier businesses to buy payment rail payment companies to avoid monopolistic behavior from larger companies like PayPal.
The trend of companies under-investing in R&D and prioritizing share buybacks has led to strategic losses and ill positioning, as demonstrated during the pandemic. The compensation schemes and incentives for executive management are said to be contributing factors in creating these outcomes.
A company CEO fired 900 employees via Zoom in a bizarre and impersonal way instead of using a thoughtful process, with severance packages ranging from two to four weeks. The CEO acknowledged his previous experience of needing to layoff employees, stating that he cried and would try to do better this time.
The speaker shares his experience of starting a plumbing business after noticing the potential to apply PE business models to micro-sized companies. He aims to make money for themselves instead of other people and help small businesses in the process.
The recent sale of The Athletic for the same price it raised two years ago suggests a shift in SAS company valuations, and experts predict that some companies will sell for under a billion dollars. It will take a few high-profile deals to establish this new valuation level.
The importance of philanthropy and giving back is emphasized as a key lesson to success, provided often by wealthy individuals. The speaker connects this to the idea of karma, and notes a preference for charities that provide transparent statements on how donations are utilized.