Trailblazing #10 (01/01/2024)

What I recently found interesting:

This past month the following three unrelated pieces of antitrust news caught my attention:

• Epic Games winning the case against Google (after previously losing a similar case to Apple),
• Adobe unwillingly breaking up its $20B Figma acquisition (due to expecting a long regulatory battle),
• European courts ruling against UEFA (potentially clearing the way for a non-UEFA-blessed football super league).

Taking a step back, from the business perspective every organization’s goal is not only to continuously increase its core market share and expand into new markets. But also build the moat to fend off the ever-rising threats of new entrants by either:

• constantly innovating,
• preventing them from getting started (UEFA & Super League),
• acquiring them early on (Adobe & Figma), or
• replicating their success (cases like Instagram copying Snapchat’s stories).

But from the consumer perspective, a monopoly (with the exceptions existing in the industries where economies of scale translate into significant benefits for an end consumer) might evolve into high prices & corporate complacency (resulting in a slow pace of innovation). Therefore, when a company becomes too big (usually defined as owning 50%+ market share), the government will intervene and promote the ideal competitive balance to ensure that consumer’s interests (and not company’s profits) are always put first.

• Now, what do phrases like ‘too big’ or an ‘ideal competitive balance’ really mean? As with almost anything in economics, the definitions are quite vague and depend on a multitude of ever-changing factors, eventually coming down to the interpretation of people in charge.

That being said, to me the quoted antitrust rulings indicate that we are currently witnessing a strengthened tendency to support new entrants across industries in an effort to stir up the competition. Consequently, from the standpoint of innovation and startups there are two contradicting ways to look at that:

• this is a great time to build because regulators are encouraging it at the very top (which may have regulatory snowball effects at the earliest venture stages),
• frequently blocked M&As due to anti-competitive concerns mean that an important (strategic) exit path for startups is put on hold, potentially tightening up the already strict VC investment criteria.

To conclude, while everything said above pertains to a specific set of events (i.e. antitrust court rulings), this particular observation re-highlighted to me how critical it is to regularly find time to take a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the world, as understanding where it is headed on a macro-level helps us adjust our micro activities accordingly in an effort to maximize the wanted outcomes in any situation we are facing.

Miscellaneous

Personal

December was busy, but ‘very good’ busy:

• I wrapped up a wonderful 3.5 months in Singapore,
• made a short but eventful & unforgettable stop in India to attend a grandiose college teammate’s wedding in Goa, accompanied by a long-yearned-for visit to Bollywood,
• rekindled my family bonds during the Holidays ??
• and lastly, managed to ski into 2024 with my brother & friends.

Now, as I reflected on my time in South East Asia, I thought of it as an experience that I had missed out on in the Past, like:

• a post-high-school backpacking trip, the idea of which did not cross my mind at a time, given my life before college had really just been about tennis & school,
• a global (i.e. non-Polish & non-US) college internship which, albeit very appealing, I willingly deprioritized to facilitate my tennis training,
• a pre-MBA world travel (e.g. China, SEA, Australia, Africa, South America), which I had to cancel back in 2020 because of the Covid Pandemic.

Having said the above, ‘my Singapore’ adventure reminded me (and for the first time, actually made me believe) that everyone has their own timeline (and path) to fulfill their plans, dreams & aspirations.

On a flip side, as a society, we have norms, customs & traditions which, by default, pressure us to act accordingly in both personal and professional settings.

• Moreover, because of the higher uncertainty going off the ‘beaten path’ also has a higher risk which may translate into meaningful future costs (e.g. one might never be able to buy a house or raise a family). On the bright side, it can be argued that the higher the risk the higher the potential reward (e.g. one might be able to have a portfolio of houses worldwide or experience the unfathomable love). That said, because we only have one life (thus limiting our chances of failing, learning and getting back up stronger), growing the confidence (& skillset) to think independently to define & then taking a leap of faith to actually pursue one’s own life path is a huge challenge and requires a ton of courage...

Concluding, as I referred to in my August post, my move to Singapore marked the first time that I felt free & mature enough to make the decision without a fear of disappointing or alienating someone, and I couldn’t be happier I did that. Don’t get me wrong; I have continued to (and will continue to) solicit advice and listen to others and I very much cherish that support and guidance. But I have finally taken full responsibility for my life and stopped being childishly naive about the world. Don’t worry, I have retained my superpower to live passionately & with a belief that ‘if there is a will there is a way” ??

1-min Video Recommendation

“This is Poland” -> Christmas is the biggest Holiday in Poland and it always brings a bit of nostalgia in me; and this promotional video about Poland simply made me smile!