Wall Street's tech transformation, Amazon vs Roku, and a Silicon Valley healthcare startup in hot water

Matt Turner

May 12, 2019, 21:24 IST

Wall Street's tech transformation, Amazon vs Roku, and a Silicon Valley healthcare startup in hot water

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Hello!

Wall Street firms are looking to Silicon Valley for inspiration.

As we've previously reported, Goldman Sachs is exploring a service that's like Netflix but for data. And JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has mentioned Amazon Prime as a model for its banking efforts.

But it doesn't stop there. From trillion dollar investment giants BlackRock and Pimco focusing on data science to Citigroup looking to supercharge its technology via an innovation lab, just about every firm in finance is getting in on the act.

As we reported this week:

BlackRock is quietly building a team of 30 data scientists to create a next-generation stock-lending platform.
Pimco, the $1.7 trillion asset manager, is trying to turn every employee into a "citizen data scientist."
Hedge-fund investors are getting excited about the possibilities of machine learning, even though there's a good chance they don't understand it.
Citigroup is looking for a global head of its innovation labs in an effort to supercharge its banking and markets tech.
Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley are among the large US corporate bond dealers actively working with clients to allow them to electronically trade on prices sent directly to them from the banks.
And PayPal's CFO believes AI can save the company $25 million a year by automating one area of customer service.

What did we miss? Let me know. You can reach me at mturner@businessinsider.com if you have any questions, ideas, or requests.

-Matt

Quote of the week

"I've heard stories of other guys literally taking a couple hundred thousand dollars, walking into the dealership, buying a Porsche, and then taking the money, throwing it in a bag and going to Vegas." -Evan Rothstein, who manages wealth for more than 20 professional athletes, on the biggest money mistakes pro athletes make.

In conversation

Joe Ciolli talked to Chris Ailman, the chief investment officer of the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the second-largest pension fund in the US, about how markets are overlooking the risks posed by climate change.
Rob Price talked to Facebook Messenger boss Stan Chudnovsky about the company's big "privacy" and "interoperability" plans.
Charlie Wood talked to Ron Gula, a former hacker for the National Security Agency who now invests millions in security startups, about what he looks for in a partner.
Rosalie Chan talked to David Wilson, senior director of infrastructure and architecture at Paychex, about why it's betting on Microsoft's cloud, which it says "far exceeded" its rivals.
Lucia Moses talked to Bob Pittman, the chairman and CEO of iHeart, about the company's plan to work around Apple's domination of podcast listening.
Mark Matousek talked to RJ Scaringe, the CEO of EV startup Rivian, about why he thinks it will beat Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW with its first two electric vehicles.
Tanya Dua talked to Shake Shack's first CMO Jay Livingston about his plans to steer the brand through its next phase.
Kate Taylor talked to Brett Schulman, CEO of Mediterranean chain Cava, about how it's upending the fast-casual dining industry with a focus on "value for calories."

Finance and Investing

TPG just raised $1.6 billion for a tech-focused fund after bets on Uber, Spotify, and other private companies paid off big - and shows some of the problems with current funding models

TPG has made big money off of technology bets on companies like Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, and Box. Now, it's raised a new fund to profit from private companies in a different way from its traditional private-equity roots.

An investment chief overseeing $100 billion at Pimco says beware of the 'riskiest corporate market we've ever had' - and offers these strategies for surviving the next recession

Scott Mather doesn't want to put a time frame on the next recession.

Billionaire real-estate investor Sam Zell says now is 'the time to accumulate capital' for future real-estate buys as a glut approaches

The billionaire real-estate investor Sam Zell is building up his pool of cash, planning to put it to use in a couple of years.

Tech, Media, Telecoms

Carta, the startup building a stock exchange for startups, says its own valuation increased nearly $1 billion in 5 months

Carta, a service for buying and selling shares in private companies, has built its business around the surging valuations of startups.

Employees at NPM, a startup that provides a crucial service for 11 million software developers, have signed an open letter demanding better working conditions

More than a dozen employees at NPM, a startup that provides crucial services for some 11 million software developers, have signed an open letter calling on management to improve working conditions at the company, Business Insider has learned.

Amazon wants to take on OTT heavyweights like Roku for advertising dollars. Here's the pitch deck it's using to sell marketers video ads.

Amazon is on a crusade to build a video advertising business that rivals Roku, Hulu, and others.

Healthcare, Retail, Transportation

Silicon Valley startup uBiome raised $105 million on the promise of exploring a 'forgotten organ.' After an FBI raid, ex-employees say it cut corners in its quest for growth.

The Silicon Valley healthcare startup uBiome is in hot water over its reportedly questionable billing practices, but insiders say problems at the company extend beyond issues tied to insurance claims.

Why insurers are beginning to embrace billion-dollar healthcare startups like SmileDirectClub and Warby Parker

In the beginning, the pitch was simple. Warby Parker would offer glasses at a lower price than you might find in your doctor's office. The frames were trendy and rarely set you back more than $130.

Church's Chicken CEO reveals his turnaround game plan to win back customers and introduce the world to a new version of the iconic chain

Church's Chicken is ready for a comeback.