Chesty Puller's Profile

The biggest direct obstacle facing Boeing is the FAA. Obviously this really means they need to find a way to create a consistent product which can adhere to appropriate safety standards. From my understanding of the current technology it is difficult to ensure the needed consistency and thus would make the entire process more expensive. If Boeing can mature the technology and solve some of these problems I see it creating many advantages for them. In particular it will increase their overall output rate of parts while also making better parts that are lighter and stronger. This will impact operating costs as planes will require less fuel. Overall the technology needs time to mature in order to ensure success.

What I find most exciting about blockchains use in this process has to do with the fractional ownership shown in Figure 2. Arguably blockchain itself provides that open environment which unlocks a separate investor group. From my basic understanding, fractional ownership allows smaller investors to partake in the process which in aggregate could unlock a significant amount of money that normally would not be invested in this way. While I think the author makes a great cost savings argument I wonder if the tokenization of equity actually translates to a normal equity relationship between the company and investor. The article further reinforces my instinct that I need to learn more about the technology.

It is fascinating to hear how a “large old” bank is doing its best to stay young and with the times. I couldn’t help but think about the opening comment and how consumers don’t trust big banks for financial advice. The majority of Americans are considered financially illiterate and the nation is in desperate need of an improvement in financial education. It seems that the community the bank created could help them find ways to better encourage customers to educate themselves or providing them with a platform to learn basic financial principles. Ultimately they run the risk of losing customers but should create new products or services to help customers improve their financial lives.

The biggest concern I have for Bumble when it comes to using Machine Learning is the amount of data per user they can actually record. In order for Machine Learning to accurately predict who a user might want to connect with they need to provide the user more ways to interact with the platform. What is bumble currently optimizing for when the data only includes swipes and matches? Thus, Bumble may be forced to heavily alter their model or maybe offer a premium option which requires more information from users. This would allow more serious users to self-select into a new platform but also may dilute the product. Anecdotally, having seen some of my friends use bumble in the past it is apparent that some people “swipe right” on every person in order to save time and create more matches. This ultimately only provides useless data and perhaps demonstrates what many people are really seeking from their online dating experience, a good time.

The recent trend of commercial satellite launches taking over for the public sector is both fascinating and exciting. The fact that Rocket Labs is using 3D printing to create its engines was surprising as I didn’t realize the technology was mature enough. Decreasing the build time from months to 24 hours is especially impressive and obviously represents a key advantage for the company. One of the challenges I see facing the company is how they can create technology or a process to effectively inspect and test the engines to a safety standard. While the FAA may not be entirely prepared for the space industry Rocket Labs can get ahead of the competition by creating their own process for quality control and inspection. From my limited understanding of 3D printing, quality can vary widely with the current technology. I agree with the author that locking in long-term defense contracts is essential for success. Having an ally like the military will make weathering future policy changes easier.

Cybersecurity is already an absolutely essential part of any business. Using Artificial Intelligence as a solution seems viable in so much that it can augment a more complete security plan that would include effective training for employees as mentioned in the comment above. However, contrary to that same comment I think regulators would only make the problem worse if they attempted to create a policy that restricted AI usage. Many of the cyber threats are originated from outside the US and can include state actors. Thus state policy would do little to prevent international crime. The arms race will happen regardless and the “good guys” should seek to win it at all costs by creating effective AI-powered cybersecurity solutions.