Fred Wilson made an interesting remark in his recent post about the current "IPO bonanza" that is taking place in the tech space. He is, of course, talking about the recent IPO of Lyft, the recent S-1 filings from Pinterest and others, and the expected filings from Uber, Airbnb, and so on.

After listing the benefits of going public, he went on to say that this bonanza will surely also mean that it is going to become even more unaffordable in the Bay Area. Part of this is perhaps self-serving, since he operates a VC firm out of NYC. (Take your money and move to NYC.)

But the data suggests that there is truth to this.

When Twitter when public in 2013, it was estimated that it created some 1,600 millionaires. This is great for the local startup ecosystem as many of these beneficiaries could go on to found their own companies and create a whole new batch of jobs. The money gets recycled.

But what does it do to the local housing market -- especially a supply-constrained one like that of the Bay Area where it is difficult to build?

In 2018, Barney Hartman-Glaser, Mark Thibodeau, and Jiro Yoshida penned a paper called, Cash to Spend: IPO Wealth and House Prices. In it, they looked at the impact of IPOs on local home prices in California from 1993 through to 2017.

What they found, among other things, was a "positive and significant association between local house price changes and firms going public." The price increases were also found to be the greatest the closer you get to the headquarters of the firm that just went public.

If you'd like to download a copy of the paper, you can do that here.

Apple announced a number of new products and services this week, including Apple TV+ and a new Apple credit card, which will initially only be available in the US.

It all aligns nicely with their goal of growing their service/subscription businesses and weaning themselves off of an over-dependence on iPhone revenue.

Below is a video summary of the new Apple Card. In typical Apple fashion, it sounds and looks like an elegant solution and I already want to one.

I thought this topic would make an interesting follow-up to my recent post about whether cities should be banning cashless businesses so as to not discriminate against the "unbanked."

Because embedded in the above credit card is the following cashback reward structure:

• 3% back on Apple purchases

• 2% back on purchases made with Apple Pay (iPhone)

• 1% back on purchases made with the (optional) physical card

And so what this "card" will do is pay you to always use your phone. The cashback reward system is also instantaneous and you'll be able to spend that Daily Cash (that's the name) just like you would actual cash.

Do you think this would change how you pay for things? I think for most people it will.

Fred Wilson made an interesting remark in his recent post about the current "IPO bonanza" that is taking place in the tech space. He is, of course, talking about the recent IPO of Lyft, the recent S-1 filings from Pinterest and others, and the expected filings from Uber, Airbnb, and so on.

After listing the benefits of going public, he went on to say that this bonanza will surely also mean that it is going to become even more unaffordable in the Bay Area. Part of this is perhaps self-serving, since he operates a VC firm out of NYC. (Take your money and move to NYC.)

But the data suggests that there is truth to this.

When Twitter when public in 2013, it was estimated that it created some 1,600 millionaires. This is great for the local startup ecosystem as many of these beneficiaries could go on to found their own companies and create a whole new batch of jobs. The money gets recycled.

But what does it do to the local housing market -- especially a supply-constrained one like that of the Bay Area where it is difficult to build?

In 2018, Barney Hartman-Glaser, Mark Thibodeau, and Jiro Yoshida penned a paper called, Cash to Spend: IPO Wealth and House Prices. In it, they looked at the impact of IPOs on local home prices in California from 1993 through to 2017.

What they found, among other things, was a "positive and significant association between local house price changes and firms going public." The price increases were also found to be the greatest the closer you get to the headquarters of the firm that just went public.

If you'd like to download a copy of the paper, you can do that here.

Apple announced a number of new products and services this week, including Apple TV+ and a new Apple credit card, which will initially only be available in the US.

It all aligns nicely with their goal of growing their service/subscription businesses and weaning themselves off of an over-dependence on iPhone revenue.

Below is a video summary of the new Apple Card. In typical Apple fashion, it sounds and looks like an elegant solution and I already want to one.

I thought this topic would make an interesting follow-up to my recent post about whether cities should be banning cashless businesses so as to not discriminate against the "unbanked."

Because embedded in the above credit card is the following cashback reward structure:

• 3% back on Apple purchases

• 2% back on purchases made with Apple Pay (iPhone)

• 1% back on purchases made with the (optional) physical card

And so what this "card" will do is pay you to always use your phone. The cashback reward system is also instantaneous and you'll be able to spend that Daily Cash (that's the name) just like you would actual cash.

Do you think this would change how you pay for things? I think for most people it will.