Yahoo: Ample Signs Of Life

Hi, today we explore: (1) Yahoo's still got life left in it, (2) Novo Nordisk keeps growing, (3) Job openings fell to their lowest point in 2 years. TOGETHER WITH Today's Topics Hello! What do McDonald’s ice cream machines and US copyright law have in common? Both are kinda broken…but a tech repair firm, iFixit, wants to [amend]( the two in one fell scoop. Today we're exploring: - Yahoo!: The digital dinosaur has a lot of life left in it. - New ground for Novo: Denmark's largest company just keeps getting bigger. - Open for business: It's still a job seeker's market. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply — we'd love to hear from you! [Read this on the web instead]( A dotcom dinosaur reborn Yahoo, an early internet trailblazer, yesterday announced its acquisition of venture capital-focused media startup [StrictlyVC]( to bolster its tech news site, TechCrunch. The deal adds to Yahoo's recent shopping spree, following its acquisitions of the social investing platform CommonStock earlier this month, sports betting app Wagr in April, and “unbiased news platform”, The Factual, last year. Yahoo was big tech before big tech was the size of countries. In 1994, the company's founders launched "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" — the first version of a directory and web portal that, as Yahoo, would go on to offer search, email, shopping, news and more, propelling the company’s valuation to $125bn during the peak of the dotcom bubble. Of course, Yahoo stumbled soon after, as fierce competition — particularly from Google and nascent social media sites — ate into its user base. As the wave of “web 2.0” washed over the world, Yahoo was increasingly left behind. In 2013, the company acquired Tumblr for $1.1bn — which didn’t work out — and eventually, Yahoo itself was bought by [Verizon]( for $4.5bn. Under new management Since then, Yahoo has changed hands again, and is today owned by private equity giant Apollo after a deal in [2021](. Now, the company wants to reinvent itself. Management are looking to get competitive again in the world of search, leveraging the core profitability of its legacy businesses, and the 4 billion (!) visits that Yahoo.com still [reportedly receives]( every month. Outweighed Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma company responsible for Ozempic and Wegovy — two of the buzziest drugs in the weight loss game — has been bulking up, with its market cap. recently crossing the $400 billion threshold, surpassing [Denmark’s annual GDP](. With sales up 30%, net profit rising 43%, and [supply restrictions]( still in place for its most popular medication, Novo unsurprisingly raised its outlook for 2023 in its report earlier this month, as demand for the company’s “[wonder drugs]( continues to rise. Very good shape The drug maker’s ascent has been meteoric, especially for a company celebrating its 100th birthday in a few months. The hype around its two flagship treatments — which both trace back to the 2012 development of semaglitude, designed to tackle type 2 diabetes — has catapulted Novo Nordisk to second on the list of Europe’s most valuable public companies, only behind luxury fashion giant LVMH. For another sense of scale, Novo is now worth more than McDonald's and Netflix combined. The company's become so large, the government in Denmark — a nation of fewer than 6 million people — is considering publishing separate economic statistics that strip out the “Novo effect”. The pharma giant’s success comes at a good time for Denmark after one of the country’s other iconic brands, Lego, suffered a rare misstep and recorded its largest [profit drop]( for almost 2 decades. Go deeper: We explored the burgeoning world of weight loss in a deep dive [in July](. [Sponsored by TSIA]( Pivoting from growth-driven to profit-driven The landscape for software companies has changed. Grow-at-all-costs has become grow-if-it-makes-sense, as the industry embraces more sustainable business models and venture capital funding dries up. So, how can you navigate a world that's vastly different than it was in 2019-2022? Enter [TSIA Research Journeys]( TSIA's promise to answer the most pressing challenges plaguing the tech industry today, and their lead research topic: [The Year of Profitable SaaS](. Packed with practical and nuanced strategies for SaaS company C-Suite execs, TSIA Research Journeys are uncovering — in real time —what organizations can do to actually move the needle on SaaS profitability right now. You can [subscribe to the Journey]( before it concludes with the final report at TSIA's World ENVISION conference in September — there are podcasts, webinars, and poll insights to get you up to speed. The best bit? All Research Journey resources are 100% free, helping you navigate the new SaaS world. [Subscribe to TSIA Research Journeys: The Year of Profitable SaaS]( A little cooler As summer begins to draw to a close, America’s hot job market is showing signs of cooling, with openings for July dropping to their lowest level in over 2 years according to [yesterday’s update]( from the Labor Department. There were around 340,000 fewer job openings in comparison to June, as vacancies dipped below 9 million for the first time since [March 2021](. There’s still plenty of work out there, however: the 8.83 million openings figure from July remains elevated from pre-pandemic levels. We’re (still) hiring The narrowing gap between labor supply and demand was enough to see stocks rally, with the S&P 500 enjoying its best single-day performance [since May]( as more aggressive Fed rate raises are seen as less likely in a cooling labor market. That said, the ratio of job openings to unemployed people sits at ~1.5, still one of the highest readings in the last 20 years. More Data • The records just keep tumbling for Taylor Swift, as she becomes the [first female artist]( to break the 100 million monthly listener milestone on Spotify. • While experts [estimate]( up to 90% of online content could be AI-generated by 2026, the [Columbus Dispatch]( has halted its use, after an illegible article detailing a high school football game went [viral](. • With global VC funding down 67% since the end of 2021, there’s a new emphasis on profitability for high-growth SaaS companies. [TSIA Research Journeys]( are mapping out sustainable strategies for SaaS profitability in their incredible Research Journey: The Year of Profitable SaaS — [subscribe to the series]( • Bringing a whole new meaning to the term [‘bargain aisle’]( one Las Vegas wedding package, which includes a ceremony, photoshoot, bouquet, and live broadcast, will set you back just $15. **This is sponsored content. Hi-Viz • Looking at on-demand audio streaming data, which [weekday]( strikes a chord with listeners? • Tall gang: Plotting the [height and weight]( of NBA and WNBA stars. Off the charts: Which pop superstar has had their HBO show [canceled after just 1 season]( having received a measly 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes? [Answer below]. [Answer here](. Thanks for stopping by, and thank you to [TSIA]( for sponsoring today's Chartr, which keeps this newsletter free to read. See you Friday! 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