Legendary investor Warren Buffet once famously said: “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” In the last few years, it is only after the stream of easy credit dried up that a wave of Chinese ”unicorn” start-ups were found out to be nothing more than lame ducks.
Recently, one bubble after another has burst within China’s share bike economy. Ofo, once China’s largest share bike company, went through nearly 10 rounds of fundraising and, in 2017, when it was riding the crest of a wave, the company was valued at over US$2 billion. However, when alarm bells began to ring last year over the company’s financial health, more than 10 million users lined up to retrieve their deposits.
Then there is the case of Luckin Coffee, which operates an app-based ordering system and has been burning through cash to subsidize marketing. In the short space of one year the company opened more than 2,000 outlets as it declared its intention to take on and defeat Starbucks in China. Last year, praise was heaped on the company as China’s first lifestyle beverage “unicorn,” and speculation and investment in Luckin Coffee reached astonishing levels. Following two fundraising rounds, the company’s value was pushed up to US$ 2.2 billion, but after it published its financial reports, by the first three quarters of last year Luckin Coffee was racking up losses to the tune of 850 million yuan (US$123 million). As the company continues to expand its operations, losses are forecast to worsen.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
Taiwan is also home to a unicorn whose growth models echo its Chinese counterparts. M17 Entertainment, a streaming service co-founded by entertainer Jeffrey Huang, was originally pumped up as a Taiwanese “quasi-unicorn” start-up. However, after a failed attempt at an initial public offering in the US in June, the company suffered losses and began to burn through cash faster than it could sustain revenue growth. At the end of last year, M17 Entertainment delivered the shock announcement that it would be laying off 20 percent of its workforce.
While Chinese unicorn start-ups are in reality half-baked facsimiles of their US counterparts, they have mastered the dream-producing, money-making antics of Wall Street. As such, they are able to attract investment faster than anyone else and burn through cash at such a high rate that their competitors, unable to keep pace, fall by the wayside. Once these companies’ valuations have been pushed up to stratospheric levels, they go public, listing on the stock exchange. Large investors then bail out of the stock. However, Chinese start-ups lack the creativity and founding skills of established US unicorns such as Google, Facebook or YouTube and — to borrow a phrase — are only able to continue swimming naked when the tide is high.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
股神巴菲特有句名言:「海水退潮就知誰在裸游」;近年來,中國有一群獨角獸,當資金潮水退後,才知道是隻跛腳獸。
近一年來,中國共享單車泡沫一一破裂,曾是中國最大共享單車品牌的Ofo,歷經近十輪募資,二○一七年最風光時,估值超過二十億美元,但去年財務拉警報,超過千萬人排隊退押金。
靠著app點單、砸錢補貼行銷,短短一年多開了逾兩千家門市的瑞幸咖啡,挑明要打敗星巴克,去年才被吹捧為中國第一家休閒飲品獨角獸,炒作吸金能力驚人,經過二輪募資,估值被吹脹到二十二億美元;但財報一揭露,去年前三季大虧八億五千萬人民幣(一億兩千三百萬美元),且隨著據點擴張,預期會越虧越大。
Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
照片:取自網路
台灣也有隻獨角獸,成長模式很中國。由藝人黃立成創辦的M17娛樂集團,原被吹捧為台灣準新創獨角獸,但自從去年六月赴美上市失利後,因營收成長追不上燒錢速度,去年底也驚傳裁員二成。
中式新創獨角獸只是跟美國學半套,但華爾街的造夢吸金手法卻是學足了,比誰吸金速度快、燒錢手筆大,燒到對手不支倒地、估值不斷推高後,再拚掛牌釋股,投資大咖閃人退場,反正市場永遠不缺最後一隻老鼠!但卻缺乏Google、臉書、YouTube等美國老牌獨角獸的原創與開創本事,只能在漲潮時裸游。
(自由時報記者高嘉和)
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Unicorns
A unicorn refers to a privately held start up company (i.e. not floated on the stock exchange) which is valued at US$1 billion or above. The term was coined by Aileen Lee, founder of venture capitalist fund CowboyVC. Lee analyzed software start-ups from the early 2000s and discovered that only a tiny number — estimated by Lee to be 0.07 percent — ever grow to become a US$1 billion company. Given their scarcity, finding one of these companies in its infancy is compared by Lee to be as difficult as finding the mythical unicorn.
Notable examples of unicorns include Google, Facebook, Airbnb and SpaceX from the US and Didi Chuxing and Xiaomi from China.
(Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
There are several methods to prevent or slow down enzymatic browning in fruit. __3__ This lowers the pH level of the fruit tissue, causing the PPO to be far less active. Another method is to store the fruit in an airtight container or to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Doing this will reduce its exposure to oxygen. __4__ Although fruit that has undergone enzymatic browning may look less appealing, it is still safe to eat. However, by using one of these simple methods, you can enjoy fresh-looking fruit for a longer period. 有一些方法能避免或減緩水果的酶促褐變。其中一個有效的方式就是在切片水果的表面塗上酸性物質,像是檸檬汁或醋。這樣做能降低水果組織的酸鹼值,讓 PPO 更不為活躍。另一個方式是將水果存放在密封的容器內,或用保鮮膜將其緊緊包住。這樣做會減少水果與氧氣的接觸。快速蒸一下切片水果或將其短暫浸泡在滾水中也能使PPO失去活性,並終止 PPO 與空氣的作用。 雖然經歷酶促褐變的水果可能看起來較不吸引人,但仍然可以安全食用。然而,藉由採用這些簡單方法中的其中一個,你就能在更長的一段時間享用看起來新鮮的水果。 What Did You