GM. This is Take Off. We're like that perfectly timed joke at a party - making you laugh, breaking the ice, and keeping the conversation flowing.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• No Breakfast in Bed for AirBnB 🛏️🍳

• The $1.5 trillion Car Dashboard Wars 🚗📱

• Asteroids ☄️

• Wednesday Wires 💰

No Breakfast in Bed for AirBnB 🛏️🍳

Airbnb's Q1 earnings are in, and it's a mixed bag of tricks! They reported a minor beat on revenue but shared a grim future of Q2 numbers.

This led to a dramatic stock drop – a whopping 12% in after-hours trading.

Airbnb's feeling the heat, especially since travel buddies Expedia and Booking Holdings reported solid results last week. But they're not backing down!

• They're focusing on increasing host supply and making hosting just as popular as traveling. They also recently rolled out their OG Rent-A-Room feature. Going back to basics if you may!

• As summer looms, they’re also investing in marketing to support the peak travel season. Hello Europe Trip and a looot of cleaning charges!

The irony is that AirBnB actually booked some solid numbers in Q1 with the company making a profit for the first time Eva! But alas, the wolfs will hunt anyone they can for more green paper.

• Their revenue grew 20% to $1.8B with the company showing a significant improvement in international markets with a growth of 28% to $0.9B.

• They reported their first quarterly profit of $117M with their Nights and Experiences booking increasing 19% to $121M.

Are you an AirBnB person or do ya’ prefer the good ‘ol hotels?

The $1.5 trillion Car Dashboard Wars 🚗📱

Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what’s the hottest set of real estate on your car? It’s the Dashboard!

With an estimate value of $1.5 trillion by 2030 (Yes, that trillion with a ‘t’) according to some analysts, there’s an epic showdown happening between automotive and tech giants.

As automakers struggle to profit from EVs, they're turning to digital services and subscriptions to fill the gap. From entertainment to autonomous driving, they're aiming to sell everything but the kitchen sink.

If you don’t already know, BMW started charging a monthly subscription for seat heating starting last year.

That time is not far away when you’re going to have to pay a monthly fee for every individual AC fan in your car!

But tech titans like Apple and Google aren't sitting idly by. With screens growing bigger, they're reaching deep into our cars, aiming to make the dashboard their domain with Android Auto and CarPlay.

• GM threw a curveball by ditching Android Auto and Apple CarPlay for future EVs, causing some fans to swear off GM cars forever.

• Meanwhile, Ford has practically waved the white flag, admitting they lost the content battle a decade ago. CEO Jim Farley says infotainment should be an extension of our beloved smartphones, not a separate beast to tackle.

As digital services' share of automotive revenues grows, will we see more automakers hit the brakes on smartphones in the car? Only time will tell.

A future of driving without CarPlay is a future we don’t want to be a part of!

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

Cosmonauts Discard Hardware, Earth's Atmosphere Cleans Up. Russian cosmonauts treat Earth's atmosphere like a cosmic incinerator, hurling space junk into the great beyond while experts worry about the impact on our already cluttered orbit.

OpenAI's Tool Decodes AI's Mysterious Ways. OpenAI's developing a tool to peek inside the AI black box, making GPT-4 spill the beans on its neuron buddies' secrets.

Microsoft Dives Deeper into AI Wonderland. Microsoft's betting on no-code champ Builder.ai, hoping their AI assistant Natasha will make app-building a piece of cake.rs.

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Instruqt, the Dutch startup that lets companies test-drive software in a cozy little sandbox before committing, just scored a sweet €15 million Series A, led by Blossom Capital. Now clients can keep playing "try before you buy" with even more software goodies, thanks to the funding boost!

Praktis, the Indonesian startup helping small David-like D2C brands tackle Goliath-sized challenges, just bagged a cool $20 million in Series A funding. Now these underdogs can focus on brand building and marketing while Praktis deals with pesky matters like raw materials and logistics – teamwork makes the dream work!

In the wild world of supply chains, startup Pando just hauled in a hefty $30 million Series B to keep the fulfillment management tech train chugging along. With their platform, Pando's got customers' logistics covered, making sure that supply chain party never stops. 🚂💨

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