Rudolf Vakker

🔥🔥🔥 AWS is back on the solid growth track - $25b revenue in Q1 with 38% operating margin! That makes it officially on track for $100b annualized revenue runrate. With highest operating margin ever, it makes it also a cashcow segment for Amazon - contributing 1.5x operating income that Amazon core e-commerce business contributes. Overall we saw a healthy growth in the cloud market in the last quarter - could be partially driven by AI but IMO it is mostly effect on constantly ongoing cloud migration and rising cloud usage, alongside growing data volumes. This market just won't stop growing so easily :) #aws #cloud #ai

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Very good podcast episode with my good friend Ilya Sakharov. He really nailed three good, and eerily not-so-obvious points about the role of the CTO in a startup and things to consider before throwing the title at someone. https://lnkd.in/epY_QMUr 1. Strategically Align the CTO Role with the Company Type   Ilya categorizes companies into four types based on their technological reliance—tech-enabled, tech-driven, pure tech, and deep tech. His distinction underscores that the CTO's responsibilities vary significantly among these categories. “... there are at least four types of organizations that I believe are worthy of looking at and defined by tech-enabled, tech-driven, pure tech, and deep tech." This insight is crucial as it suggests that a CTO in a tech-enabled company like a bank might focus more on operational efficiency and internal systems, whereas in a pure tech company, the CTO would drive product innovation and development; finally, in deep-tech, for which the CTO is the center of the universe, the story is different again. Understanding this alignment helps define the CTO’s role tailored to the company's core business, ensuring the right fit and strategic direction. 2. Consider the Timing of Assigning the CTO Title in Startups   Highlighting a common pitfall in startups, Ilya advises against the premature designation of the CTO title. He states, "early stage startups are making a fundamental mistake of assigning the CTO title too early." This rarely followed, and admittedly hard-to-follow wisdom teaches that early-stage companies often need a 'magician' to develop initial versions of a product more than they need a CTO who is expected to focus on broader strategic issues and scalability. By differentiating between the immediate technical needs and the long-term strategic role of a CTO, startups can avoid placing undue burden on a role that might be too expansive for a hands-on developer or engineer focused on initial product development. 3. Realize the Full Scope of the CTO's Strategic Importance   Ilya also discusses the evolving nature of the CTO’s role as the company grows, emphasizing the need for a broad view of what it entails. He remarks, "CTO, when you name that role as a CTO, you imply not only the potential expansion with the company... But I believe that CTO responsibilities are being ignored in this case." This comment should alert companies to the fact that a CTO’s job isn’t merely about overseeing technology development but also about integrating technology strategy with business goals, participating in executive decision-making, and potentially leading digital transformation efforts. It’s a call to appreciate and plan for the broadening scope of a CTO's responsibilities as the company scales. #CTOLeadership #TechStrategy #StartupLeadership

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Delivery Hero currently has a market cap of about $6.5 billion with a revenue multiple hovering around 0.5. If we compare this with its direct competitors or international players in the same space, Delivery Hero seems extremely undervalued right now. They made nearly $11 billion in total revenue in 2023, up 20 percent YoY from $9.2 billion in 2022. Here are some examples. 1/ Jahez, which Delivery Hero directly competes with, in Saudi, made $476 million in revenue in 2023, up 11.4 percent YoY. It currently has a market cap of $1.3 billion with the revenue multiple at ~2.8. (It has btw lost almost 50 percent of its value from its peak in March earlier this year, more on that soon). 2/ Doordash brought $8.36 billion in revenue in 2023, growing 27 percent YoY. It currently has a market cap of ~$46 billion. Revenue multiple is around 5.5. 3/ Zomato which has become the biggest internet company of India made $1.45 billion revenue in 2023 (calendar year), up 54 percent YoY. Its market cap is at $23 billion, with revenue multiple at 17. Doordash and Zomato are obv. in different geographies with so many other things at play. Jahez has been profitable for years now. Zomato also turned its first quarterly profit last year. Delivery Hero, on the other hand, has been making huge losses at the group level. It made a net loss of over $2.5 billion in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was about $280 million and expected to grow three times in 2024. The company has been profitable in some of its markets with with the Middle East & North Africa (including) Turkey as one of its best-performing regions. Both in terms of profits and growth. There's also another way to look at it. Instead of comparing DH with international players or local competitors, we ungroup it. For example, if Delivery Hero Saudi (which is basically HungerStation) was an independent firm, it could have a market cap of $2.3 billion, based on 2023 revenue and using Jahez's revenue multiple (as a proxy). Let's take this a step further. Delivery Hero MENA made nearly $3 billion in revenue in 2023 (excluding dark store sales), up 26 percent YoY. If we use the same Jahez multiple as a proxy, Delivery Hero MENA alone should be worth $8.4 billion (which is more than the group's actual current market cap). The biggest risk it faces though is increasing competition from the local players. Jahez, for example, has been eating its share in Saudi, and could do the same in the rest of the region. The local players in other markets could also replicate that and there are also threats of other international large players like Meituan entering DH markets. But even with all those risks, Delivery Hero, with the track record it has, seems extremely undervalued. PS. This is not investment advice. PPS/Update. Yadgar has added a lot more context on what's going on with Delivery Hero in different markets in the comments below.

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we invested in the infrastructure for quick commerce - Wherehouse & Blitz (both founding stage rounds) - with the picks and shovels argument well before we believed in the wider potential of the the quick commerce rails. sometimes investing in the picks & shovels helps you understand the gold rush better :)

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Really sick episode. My favorite parts: 1. The discussion on Lyft’s mentorship program, rental program, and other interesting ways they were able to boost driver supply while also supporting other aspects of the business. 2. The call-out of behavioral econ as a useful lense to look at markets and problems(I’m biased because it was my major). 3. The discussion on how a lack of labor mobility in Europe manipulates the incentives of startups. Probably one of my favorite episodes so far.

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