Good Monday Morning. First thing this morning, Blue Nile sold to Bain for a 34 percent premium.
Daylight – The markets are rallying all over the world today, so investors are betting on Clinton. Here are two issues closer to home that can directly impact our business. First, should we give our people time off to go vote? Yes, as long as it takes – even if it means taking off the entire day. Next, what about the breakroom Clinton/Trump debates? No, as nothing good comes out of it, and it certainly will not change the outcome Tuesday night the way one person exercising his or her vote can.
In the Monday morning huddle – a nice reminder for everyone to stay focused this week.
M&A – Delta Airlines struck a deal with Airbnb, so frequent flyers can earn skymiles credit through bookings with the online home rental company. Travelers will also be able to book Airbnb through the Delta website, but this arrangement is more like a prelude to a double-date than a potential M&A partnership, as the deal does not allow Delta customers to pay for Airbnb stays using skymiles points – a big miss by Delta, who was trying to attract Millennial travelers. Score one for Airbnb, as Delta really didn’t get anything. Their IT folks folded after listening to the costs of skymile code integration with Airbnb payment system. Big IT providers, like IBM, get handsomely rewarded to sell software and make things more complicated. Links and landing pages go a long way today. By the way, this business dating trend is real and our member companies should be reaching out to traditional brands for engagements – walk on the double dates like Delta should have done in this case.
Economics – The new Federal overtime rules for salaried workers go into effect December 1. The new rules are harsh, but straightforward – the regulations about double to $913 a week from $455 being the threshold under which salaried workers must be paid overtime. It is not a total blanket, because the new law specifically exempts some key roles, such as office workers and computer programmers, but at the same time is also rigid in requiring overtime for restaurants and retail. Don’t let HR hire a team of consultants for compliance. If you are in doubt, a good option is to keep everyone under 40 hours or give Joe English a call over at Taylor English about some special circumstances you may have. A multi-chain Restaurant owner asked me last week if his assistant managers could “clock out from 2 to 5 and resume work from 5 to 8 and call it even.” I would say no, but call Joe.
Live Rounds – Either way, who has the most to win and lose in business tomorrow? If Trump wins, his biggest business supporter, Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, will politically and emotionally own Silicon Valley. Trump will give him the keys to just about anything he wants. If Hillary wins, her biggest business supporter, Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, will get invited to a couple of state dinners. If Trump loses, Thiel has established himself as a Silicon Valley outlier, right where he wants to be. If Hillary loses, Meg Whitman will probably jump off a cliff. Thiel thought this thing through – strategically, it’s a business bet he can’t lose. He is also sincerely thinking the only way to fix the country is to disrupt it, otherwise it is like putting Meg Whitman in charge of HP.
Buzzard’s Roost – Samsung, after being stung by its Galaxy 7 recall last month, did the same thing Friday with a recall of three million washing machines, following the discovery that the lids of the machines were at risk of blowing off while in use. What else is new – don’t they all sound that way?
Hot – Real and simple cinnamon toast is an underrepresented and undervalued item on menus today across the country. You cannot find it, but can you imagine the profit margin on that product.
Culture – In October, CNN beat Fox for the first time in nearly two decades as the most watched cable news network in the coveted age group of 18 to 54-years-old. People in retirement, stop spending money. Two big breaks for CNN. Fox fired Ailes, and CNN stole his formula – be blatantly biased to one side. Don’t count on any let-up in Trump coverage after tomorrow.
Adobe announced a new piece of software, called VoCo, that will allow you to edit a speech, keeping the same voice tone as you edit text on a page. Fake news is the next cyber crisis. Think short-sellers.
Spotlight – Thanks to Eric French and his team at IDR last week for hosting the Entrepreneur Briefing V at the “best venue ever” in the US. By the way, Andrew Rudd of Da Vinci’s Doughnuts is an Entrepreneur stud – watch them grow. Also, did any of you notice Joe Buck wearing the QALO ring while announcing the World Series or the winning Cleveland pitcher wearing the QALO shirt? Ted Baker and team are bringing it home, passing Human Scale.
Deal Stream>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
IPO – One of the last out of the 2016 gates. Smart Sand, a producer of sand used for hydraulic fracturing, will raise $129 million by offering 11.7 million shares at $11, below its range of $15 to $18 a share.
Here is one that snuck in – Google Capital, now called CapitalG, disclosed over the weekend it just made a bridge loan to Snapchat and now will get the big payday on Snapchat IPO.
Exits – CenturyLink said it will sell its data centers and colocation business to a consortium for $2.3 billion.
New Mountain Capital has agreed to sell Camber, a government services company, to Huntington Ingalls Industries for $380 million.
Sophos has acquired Barricade, a cybersecurity company.
Intel has acquired Voke, a company that makes technology for virtual reality.
Venture Capital – Apartment List, an app for apartment rentals, has raised $30 million.
Anuvia Plant Nutrients, a plant nutrition company, has raised $23 million.
Cohero Health, a digital health company, has raised $9 million.
Nurx, an on-demand birth control app, has raised $5.3 million.
PetCoach, a telemedicine startup for pets, has raised $2 million.
Private Equity – Serent Capital has invested in Digarc, a provider of catalog and curriculum management software to higher education institutions.
BC Partners and Medina Capital have agreed to buy Catbird, a cybersecurity company, and Easy Solutions, a provider of fraud-protection software.
And that’s what’s ahead, Cliff
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The post Delta Double Dates Airbnb, Thiel Wins the Deal, Samsung Stung Twice, QALO Brings it Home, Human Scale Baby appeared first on Oxford Entrepreneurs.