Hi Everyone. This is Take Off. We're like the cheat codes to your favorite video game - empowering, game-changing, and providing an edge in the tech ecosystem.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• TikTok Made Me Buy It 🛍️

• The Redmond Revolt 🪖

• Asteroids ☄️

• Wednesday Wires 💰

TikTok Made Me Buy It 🛍️

TikTok is testing out a new feature called “Trendy Beat”. No, it’s not a new dance craze, but an in-app shopping section.

But doesn’t TikTok already have a shopping feature? Well, this one is a bit different from what we already have.

• TikTok’s current shopping feature enables third-party vendors to sell their products on the platform where TikTok takes a commission.

• The products featured in Trendy Beats will be owned and sold entirely by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

Why settle for a 2% commission when you can have the whole pie to yourself.

They’re taking out a page from Amazon’s book, hoping to replicate Amazon Basics success.

Amazon has all the data to know which items on their platform are selling like hot cakes.

They then take inspiration (ahem..copy) from the product and release their own Amazon Basics version for half the price, leading the original product to bleed dry.

TikTok has the same crystal ball, watching items that go viral on TikTok and then - Abra-Ca-Dabra! You may see that item selling on Trendy Beats!

TikTok's trying to play a game where many have tried and failed.

• Facebook’s Live Shopping - Gone. (Read More)

• Instagram’s Shop Tab - Gone. (Read More)

TikTok maybe a bit different though. It’s influence on shopping is already massive.

Ever heard of the phrase "TikTok made me buy it"? It's a phenomenon! And with a staggering 7.4 billion views on TikTok, we bet you've got at least one item in your house that you can blame on TikTok.

The Redmond Revolt 🪖

Let’s play a little quiz about Microsoft.

Question: Name one thing that’s up there?
Answer: Their stock - Duh! (NASDAQ:MSFT) which is up 39% YTD.

Question: Now, name one thing that’s down there?
Answer: Their employee morale and allegiance. Didn’t see that one coming, we bet!

Insider recently leaked some internal poll results from Microsoft that didn’t look good, to put it mildly. Only 47% of the folks who took the poll said they'd stick around if they got a competing offer.

Why the upheaval?

Well, even though things at Microsoft look all rosy from the outside with the stock sky-rocketing and the company partnering up with arguably the hottest AI company right now i.e. OpenAI, the case is a bit different for the employees.

• Microsoft decided to lay off 10,000 employees at the start of the year.

• They recently released an internal memo stating their plans on putting the brakes on raises, cutting bonuses and getting a little stingy with stock awards this year.

One employee even expressed their frustration in a company townhall questioning the pause on merit raises.

"Can you explain to us how a company that made over $18B in profit last quarter can't afford to give its employees a small annual increase in pay?"

The guy has a fair point tbh. Let us know what your morale is like if you work at Microsoft and if you would jump ship if given a chance.

Don’t worry. We’ll not tell your secrets to Satya!

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

ChatGPT Plus now surfs the web, but only via Bing. Great for current info, but some folks are raising eyebrows at the Bing-only option. But hey, at least clicking a search result takes you right there! 🏄‍♀️🌐

GitHub CEO says AI is every developer's new bestie, thanks to tools like Copilot! It's leveling up coding efficiency and could add a whopping $1.5 trillion to global GDP by 2030. 💰💡

Google is laying off employees at Waze. They’re trimming the Waze team as it shifts to Google's ad system, causing job cuts across sales, marketing, and more. 😞💔

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Unshackled Ventures just bagged a cool $35M for their third fund, dedicated to supporting immigrant founders. Despite a tough fundraising scene, they're sticking to their roots, even launching an Eighteen150 program to back entrepreneurs with visa hiccups. 🌍🚀

CalypsoAI, an AI safety net, just scored $23M in funding to ensure your AI doesn't go rogue. With 90% of businesses wary about AI risks, they're here to test and monitor AI apps for a smoother, safer AI journey. 🤖🔒

Beehiiv, a buzzing newsletter platform, just sweetened its pot with a $12.5M Series A funding! This hive is set to swarm with more writers and readers. 🐝💰

That’s it from us today folks! If you liked what you read today, please do read the message from our loving and hard-working team below:

“ We all crave the essentials in life - food 🥑🍕, shelter 🏠, and clothing 👕🩳- and we're no exception! Our must-haves? An ever-growing squad of adoring subscribers like you and for more of those lovely subs, we're counting on you to spread the word! So, blast that newsletter across the universe! ”