The Daily Ten – 2020’s Final Edition
The Daily Ten
It’s Christmas eve and our last Daily Ten email of 2020. It’s been an incredible year to say the least and I won’t bore you with the recap.
As we head into 2021,I want to say I appreciate you reading the Daily Ten each day, as my goal is to share with the audience stories and trends that I find interesting and that have an impact on the real estate space.
This year we planned on putting on an exciting 4 day festival of real estate innovation in Las Vegas but due to Covid 19 we had to postpone it.
The good news is that the event will be take place from Sept 7 – 10, 2021 at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and with the vaccines already out, we anticipate a great audience.
If you are working in the real estate space or a related industry and are excited to share your thoughts on all the major trends affecting the industry from future of work, to climate change and cryptocurrency and everything in between, we recommend that you apply to speak at the event.
If you have a product or service especially a tech related product that can benefit building owners and operators and would like to showcase it in Las Vegas next year then we recommend that you contact us for sponsorship opportunities.
In addition we have the startup competition ASDCup and the innovators awards called ASDAwards which recognizes the most innovative minds in the real estate space.
AnySizeDeals Week is a fantastic opportunity and we are excited to get it going in 2021.
1. China Targets Jack Ma’s Alibaba With Monopoly Investigation | Time
China kicked off an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at Alibaba Group Holding and summoned affiliate Ant Group Co. to a high-level meeting over financial regulations, escalating scrutiny over the twin pillars of billionaire Jack Ma’s internet empire.
The probe announced Thursday marks the formal start of the Communist Party’s crackdown on the crown jewel of Ma’s sprawling dominion, spanning everything from e-commerce to logistics and social media. The pressure on Ma is central to a broader effort to rein in an increasingly influential internet sphere: Draft anti-monopoly rules released November gave the government unusually wide latitude to rein in entrepreneurs like Ma who until recently enjoyed unusual freedom to expand their realms.
2. States Square Off Over Taxing Remote Workers’ Income | WSJ
Ruling by Supreme Court would have budget implications for states that have lost billions of dollars in tax revenue during pandemic
The rise of remote workers during the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court over which state gets to tax their income.
More than a dozen states submitted legal briefs this week to weigh in on a petition that New Hampshire filed with the court in October to stop Massachusetts from taxing residents working remotely. The petition says Massachusetts doesn’t have the right to tax the income of New Hampshire residents who previously commuted to their jobs in Massachusetts but now work from home.
3. The Tech That Was Fixed in 2020 and the Tech That Still Needs Fixing | The New York Times
From videoconferencing to fitness apps, the best tech helped us endure a hard year. But there were also low points.
To put it lightly, 2020 was rough. More than ever, we turned to our personal tech this year to help find respite, stay healthy and remain connected with the people we care about.
Video chat apps, like Webex and Google Meet, became crucial work tools. After gyms shut down, virtual workout apps like Peloton transformed into must-have products. Electric bikes and scooters, once a source of frustration, found their moment when people sought alternatives to public transportation and ride hailing.
4. Miami’s commercial real estate boom picks up steam as pandemic pushes companies to seek new digs | CNBC
MIAMI — Move over, Texas. The Lone Star state has grabbed headlines as tech companies like Oracle, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and billionaire Elon Musk are planning to move major operations from California for its greener pastures and — lower taxes.
But now, Miami is becoming a magnet for companies trying to escape from high taxes and over-crowding.
5. For Public Transit, the Stimulus Is a Lifeline — But a Short One | Bloomberg
The $900 billion Covid relief bill includes $14 billion in aid for U.S. transit agencies, with a bigger share heading to the cities that need it most. That’s not enough to plug funding gaps.
The $900 billion pandemic stimulus package that the U.S. Congress passed on Monday night includes $14 billion of aid for public transit — enough to halt the sweeping service and staffing cuts that several of the nation’s largest transit agencies had said could be imminent.
But it’s not enough to close the pandemic-sized holes blown through agency budgets.
6. Rome’s Colosseum to get $12M stage upgrade with retractable floor | Fox Business Network
Project is being financed for $12.1M
The Roman Colosseum could be getting a makeover into the 21st century.
Almost 2,000 years after the amphitheater was built, Italian officials are looking for an architect to remake its stage floor, according to recent reports.
The project, which is being financed by the Italian culture ministry for 10 million euros (about $12.1 million), is expected to include some of the Colosseum’s original features such as trapdoors and lifts, according to The Times.
7. California clears Nuro’s driverless cars to start making commercial deliveries | Engadget
The startup is the first to secure an AV deployment permit from the state’s DMV.
It was only earlier this year that delivery service Nuro became the second company to get permission to test fully driverless vehicles in California, and now it can claim another milestone. California’s DMV has granted the state’s first Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Permit to the company. With the regulatory approval in hand, Nuro can begin operating a commercial autonomous vehicle service in California.
Nuro says it will start making deliveries “soon” in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, with an announcement on a partnership with an “established” retail partner to follow. If you hope to see one of its adorable R2 delivery vehicles (pictured above) in action, you’ll have to wait; the startup will first begin shuttling goods with its fleet of autonomous Toyota Prius cars before pressing the R2 into action.
8. Bitcoin’s Rally Has Already Outlasted 2017’s Epic Run | WSJ
As prices continue to sink, buyers will have more options than ever
Bitcoin approached $20,000 in 2017 and finally topped the mark in 2020. What drove the rallies, and what happened in the days following the peaks, show how much the market has changed in three years.
The digital currency, which has more than tripled in price this year, hit its first record of the year 24 days ago and has continued climbing, trading as high as $24,273 on Sunday. On Wednesday, it closed at $23,299. In previous rallies, such gains have quickly reversed course.
Bitcoin bulls say the money fueling this year’s rally is coming from more reliable sources than past rallies. Since September, big new investors have collectively bought about half a million bitcoins, worth about $11.5 billion, according to analytics firm Chainalysis, which tracked the holdings of investors with at least 1,000 bitcoins in wallets that are less than a year old.
9. Tech-tonic shift: Top tech trends that enabled India’s real estate to cope with pandemic | Express Computer
The Indian real estate sector – in both commercial and residential segments – has been increasingly adopting technology to deliver superior customer experiences for some time now. Even before the viral outbreak disrupted the global business ecosystem, the proptech market had already forayed beyond enabling online property discovery to provide end-to-end solutions to consumers. Besides matching customers with the right property deals, new-age real estate platforms had begun offering a range of services including apartment management solutions, digital payments integration, etc.
In the wake of the COVID-19, this digital transition has only accelerated. More importantly, 2020 might have laid the foundations of a more tech-driven real estate model that focuses on leveraging digital solutions to deliver superior, end-to-end customer experiences.
10. Apartment List raises $50M venture round –– IPO on the horizon? | Real Estate Daily Beat
Apartment List, a rental platform, has raised a $50 million equity round led by Janus Henderson Investors, Bloomberg first reported. The startup has benefited from a surge in usage, as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more people to move. The fresh round doubled its prior valuation to more than $600 million.