Latest / What the Flux / Emirates takes on Aus Post | Thinking Machines raises $2 billion with no product | Pop Mart wins big with Labubu profits

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Emirates takes on Aus Post | Thinking Machines raises $2 billion with no product | Pop Mart wins big with Labubu profits · What the Flux

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is bot the Flux.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: I'm Brett A Justin and it's Friday, eighty eighteenth of July.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Jusey boy.
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  Speaker 3: The unemployment rate in Australia has jumped from four point
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: one percent to four point three percent. And while this
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: doesn't sound like big used, it most certainly is. That's
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: because when the RBA paused the cash rate last week,
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  Speaker 3: the stubborn unemployment rate was one of its major concerns.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: Seeing but now that this has lifted, there's hardly an
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  Speaker 3: economist in the land who believes the RBA won't drop
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  Speaker 3: rates in August.
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  Speaker 2: It would be a very brave economists be manx man.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: If you are in the process or thinking about starting
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: a family sometime down the line, there are a whole
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: lot of financial things that you need to consit out.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: The starting family isn't just a lifestyle choice, it's a
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: big financial decisions. We cover the three major financial considerations
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: to think about before you go full baby modes. Make
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: sure to download the Flex app. Could check it out.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Three monstrous stories today.
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  Speaker 3: Juzsi boy, Let's do it for our first Emirates is
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  Speaker 3: play to take on Quantus and Australia Post by launching
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  Speaker 3: its courier express service in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: So what you're telling me is, I won't need to
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  Speaker 2: wait two weeks my four dollars mobile phone case from
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  Speaker 2: tv WO anyone, BEP. Tell me what's going on here?
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  Speaker 1: All right?
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  Speaker 3: So Emirates is the Dubai based airline that's been getting
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  Speaker 3: Australians to Europe for quite a number of years now yep.
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  Speaker 2: And it has a great in flight entertainment system.
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  Speaker 3: Might I add we're talking over three thousand, six hundred
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  Speaker 3: flights per week to more than one hundred and fifty
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  Speaker 3: cities around the world.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. But Benman, Emirates announced plans to grow its revenue,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: and it's not by taking more passages.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not by jacking up their fairs either.
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  Speaker 2: They plan to launch a new Korea Express network into Australia.
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  Speaker 3: Now what that means is packages will hitch a ride
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  Speaker 3: in the belly of Emirates passenger planes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're already looking to put packages on seventy flights
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  Speaker 2: per week into Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane, even Perth.
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  Speaker 3: Now this move puts Emirates in direct competition with Quantus
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  Speaker 3: and Australia Posts.
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  Speaker 2: Even though Emirates insists there's room in the skies for everyone.
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  Speaker 2: So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 3: Airlines don't just make money from passengers and their oversized luggage.
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  Speaker 3: May I add because the cargo hold can be a
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  Speaker 3: bit of a gold mine.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, be man, Most passenger airlines earn between seven
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  Speaker 2: and fifteen percent of their total revenue from cargo operations.
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  Speaker 1: Makes sense, Jasey boy.
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  Speaker 3: They want to utilize the unused belly space on existing flights.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so instead of adding extra flights or infrastructure to
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  Speaker 2: grow revenue, they're monetizing the unused space on flights they're
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  Speaker 2: already running.
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  Speaker 3: And the timing makes sense. In the past two years,
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  Speaker 3: there has been a forty five percent rise in inbound
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  Speaker 3: small parcels to Australia. So yes, your parcel may soon
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  Speaker 3: be flying Emirates, possibly enjoying better service than you did
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  Speaker 3: in row eighty seven. For our second story, a stealth
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  Speaker 3: AI company named Thinking Machines has just raised two billion
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  Speaker 3: US dollars before even launching a product.
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  Speaker 2: All right, it's fair to say AI fever is still
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  Speaker 2: running absolutely hot. So tell me more.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we know that every investor and their dog, cat
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  Speaker 3: and turtle won a slice of the AI market right now.
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  Speaker 2: Yep. In fact, be Man Ai made up sixty four
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  Speaker 2: percent of US startup deal value in the first half
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  Speaker 2: of twenty twenty five, according to Pitchbook.
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  Speaker 3: So now a new AI startup that was founded just
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  Speaker 3: in February this year has announced itself to the market.
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  Speaker 2: Yep. It's called Thinking Machines Lab and it was founded
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  Speaker 2: by a former Open Ai exec named Mira Murti.
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  Speaker 3: And Thinking Machines Lab has just announced that it raised
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  Speaker 3: two billion US dollars at a twelve billion dollar valuation
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  Speaker 3: in what it calls a seed round.
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  Speaker 2: And be man, what exactly does this company do and
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  Speaker 2: how much revenue does it have?
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  Speaker 3: Very good questions, Jasie Boy, And the answer is it
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  Speaker 3: has no products yet and obviously no revenue.
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  Speaker 2: Yet, not a single chatbot to speak of.
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  Speaker 3: The capital was raised off the back of its potential,
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  Speaker 3: as well as the talent that the CEO has in
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  Speaker 3: the team.
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  Speaker 2: And a whole lot of hip. But it ain't every
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  Speaker 2: day investors buying into Thinking Machines Lab. We're talking some
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  Speaker 2: of the biggest venture capital firms in the whole wide world.
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  Speaker 2: So what's the key learning here? In traditional business? A
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  Speaker 2: company's valuation reflects its earnings or its assets.
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  Speaker 3: That in emerging tech like AI, talent is a key
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  Speaker 3: part of the products right now.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's because vcs often taking into account what the
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  Speaker 2: team could build and how big the market could be
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  Speaker 2: for the eventual product. And be Man, a startup by
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  Speaker 2: Thinking Machines can be valued at twelve billion dollars with
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  Speaker 2: no revenue because of who's involved ie x open Ai leaders. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: almost two thirds of Thinking Machines team is made up
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  Speaker 2: of former open ai employees. But b Man, other AI
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  Speaker 2: labs formed by open ai alumni have a pretty good
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  Speaker 2: track record as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yep, look at Anthropic, which was also founded by former
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  Speaker 3: open ai employees.
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  Speaker 2: Currently in the process of raising capital at one hundred
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  Speaker 2: billion US dollar valuation. So be man at the vcs
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  Speaker 2: are betting that if Thinking Machine captures even a small
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  Speaker 2: slice of the future AI market, the return could be massive.
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  Speaker 3: For our third and final story, Popmart's profits are popping
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  Speaker 3: off thanks to its elf doll named La Booboo.
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  Speaker 2: Move over Pokemon cards and frbies. There is a new
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  Speaker 2: hype training town and it's a gremlin looking thing. So
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  Speaker 2: what is going on here? All right?
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  Speaker 3: So PopMart is a Chinese toy company known for it's
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  Speaker 3: blind box toys.
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  Speaker 2: That's collectible toys wrapped in mystery packaging.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you don't know what you're getting until you open it.
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  Speaker 2: It's a dope mean here wrapped in plastic.
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  Speaker 1: And Juzzi Boy. They've sold the whole range of collectible
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  Speaker 1: toys in blind boxes.
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  Speaker 2: But nothing has hit quite like Lea Booboo.
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  Speaker 3: Yep, these little elf creatures with jagged teeth have become
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  Speaker 3: an international obsession.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking cues forming at PopMart stores around the world.
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  Speaker 3: Riyana, Djua Lipa, They've all got their hands on them
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  Speaker 3: to Juzy Boy, which only boosts their popularity even more.
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  Speaker 2: Now me man. PopMart is actually listed on the Hong
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  Speaker 2: Kong Stock Exchange and it's seen at share price jump
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  Speaker 2: by almost six hundred percent in the last twelve months alone.
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  Speaker 3: And now PopMart has said its profits are expected to
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  Speaker 3: jump by three hundred and fifty percent on the first
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  Speaker 3: half of this year thanks to its international expansion. But
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  Speaker 3: it ain't just a toy company Juzzy Boy, it's pretty
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  Speaker 3: much a hype machine with limited edition toys and severe
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: fomo for gen z is that miss out.
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  Speaker 2: Nothing like a bit of artificial scarcity.
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  Speaker 1: So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 2: Artificial scarcity is when companies intentionally limit access to a product,
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  Speaker 2: not because they have to, because it makes us want
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  Speaker 2: it more.
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  Speaker 3: When marketers make things look rare, our brains go banana
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  Speaker 3: milkshakes for it.
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  Speaker 2: Get this be man. Nearly sixty percent of gen z
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  Speaker 2: have bought something purely because they're afraid of missing out.
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  Speaker 2: According to YouGov, and unboxing of le Boo Boos has
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  Speaker 2: not only become a three or four A collector, it's
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  Speaker 2: become a TikTok trend. Yeah, there are more than one
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  Speaker 2: point two million videos on TikTok with the hashtag which
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  Speaker 2: the hashtag Labuobu.
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  Speaker 1: So Jazi boy.
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  Speaker 3: This artificial scarcity of the lab Boo Boo doesn't just
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  Speaker 3: sell products, it sells a feeling.
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  Speaker 2: And that feeling has turned the popmark founder into the
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: tenth richest person in China. Crazies plucks out. If you're
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: starting to enter into your parenting era, there are three
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: major financial considerations to think about before we go full
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: baby mood, and we have listed them out step by
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: step in the Flux Out this week. So if you
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: want to learn a little bit more, make sure to
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: check it out in
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: The Flux out Thanks for listening, and we'll see you
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  Speaker 1: on Monday.