Subject: For 1776 CC Members: Axios Login, Monday, May 22
From: "Ina Fried" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 22 May 2017 08:50:06 -0400 (EDT)

More seniors go online, teens flock to horror fiction told via texts, an= a look inside the "Uber for Pot"

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By Ina Fried = ·May 22, 2017

Hi, Ina Fried here, Chief Technology Correspondent for Axios. Thanks for le=ting me in your inbox. (Wow kinda crowded in here.) Anyway, each Monday th=ough Friday my colleagues and I aim to deliver a fun, smart read on the da=’s tech news. If you want to keep getting Login, though, you have to=click here to subscribe.

Eaze's Patterson talks about America's fastest-growing business

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser / Axios

The cannabis industry is seen as the fastest-growing business in America and a number of tec= companies are looking to cash in on the trend. One of the leaders is Eaze= the San Francisco-based startup that is often described as the "Uber for =ot."

With $23 million in funding and just 67 employees, Eaze focuses=on creating logistical software, rather than growing or delivering anythin= itself. Instead, the company partners with seven medical marijuana dispen=aries around California who actual handle and sell the pot.

Eaze CEO=Jim Patterson talked with Login for our Monday morning interview and here =re some of his key points:

The demographics:
Right now it's two-thirds male, one-third female. That's definite=y changing. Last year it was a quarter female. Our fastest growing segment= are women and baby boomers. They were the smallest before. It's very clea= cannabis cuts across all ages, all sexes, all socio-economics...I think i= a few years the average cannabis user is going to look like the average A=erican.

Growth of the business:=/p>
We're effectively a fast-growing startup as it is. Our enti=e business is growing 20-25% month over month. We're anticipating that to =ven be accelerated next year so a lot of what we are doing is hiring. Last=year, in 2016, we did a little over 500,000 transactions...What we will do=this year is probably more than double that.

On kee=ing things safe:

If you look at the sheer numb=r of transactions we are doing and then the incident rate, it's pretty in =ine with any kind of business, even if you look at, like, ride sharing. We=do quite a bit to give safety to a driver. For example, in the app the use= sees, we don't actually show [the] driver's real time location, unlike ot=er delivery services. We just show an ETA.

The busiest days:

4/20 is definitely number =ne. No. 2 is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. New Year's Eve is No. 3.

<=mg width="32" height="32" style="border: none" target="_blank" src=3D"https://static.axios.com/img-email/twitter-circle.png" alt="Tweet thi= Story">

Tech adoption skyrockets among older adults

Reproduced from "Tech Adoption Climbs Among Older Adults" Pew Report

Over 40 percent of American adults ages 65+ own a smartphone, more than =ouble the amount since 2013, according to the latest survey from Pew Research Cent=r, Sara reports. At the same time, more than two-thirds=of seniors use the internet — a 55 percent increase from 2000. And=for the first time, half of seniors have broadband at home.

Despite these milestones, seniors still report fe=ling disconnected from the internet and digital culture. As more aspects o= daily life become dependent on technology, particularly health care, seni=r adoption of new technologies will become increasingly important.

<=trong>More report details:

Roughly one-third of older =nternet users say they have little to no confidence in their ability to us= electronic devices to perform online tasks.

About half of seniors=say they usually need someone else to set up a new electronic device for t=em or show them how to use it.

Aging population: Don't forget the average population of seniors is on =he rise in the U.S. The Census Bureau projects that the number of 65+ peop=e will rise from 15 percent to 22 percent by 2050.

Hooked tells 6-minute horror stories through texts

Meanwhile, at the other end of the age spectrum, millennials are flockin= to read fiction told entirely through text messages. An app called Hooked is pulling in millions of millennials with its 6-minute horror fiction s=ories told entirely by text message. The app's slogan "Fiction for the Sna=chat Generation" embodies the founders' goals: revive fiction from being l=st in the social media generation.

"Our goal was engagement, getting=teenagers and millennials spend time in a narrative and complete that stor= and not get distracted," Hooked co-founder and CEO Prerna Gupta =old CNBC.

And that's just what Hooked has done. For more, check =ut Alayna Treene's story here.

Why it's a great time to be a telecom company again

Lazaro Gamio / Axios

A busy season of regulation-slashing in Washington has big upside for on= major industry anyway: phone and cable companies.

The chang=: For the past eight years, tech firms like Google, Facebook, Net=lix and Amazon have been seen as having a leg up in Washington over the ph=ne and cable companies that run the nation's broadband networks. But that'= changing under the Trump administration. The country's biggest telecom pr=viders — Comcast, Charter Communications, AT&T and Verizon �=80� have already racked up some major policy victories. (Kim and David t=ke a closer look here.)

Why it matters:
The other s=de: The administration's early days haven't been terri=le for the tech industry, despite the ugly fight over net neutrality. =rump and FCC chairman Ajit Pai have met with Silicon Valley companies. And=web companies stand to benefit if efforts to expand broadband =o unserved areas are successful — more people hooked up to high-sp=ed broadband means more potential users for their services.

Take note

On tap: Startup incubator 1776 kicks off its 75-city Ch=llenge Cup competition in Washington...Monday is also the 44th birthday of=Ethernet, as inve=tor Bob Metcalfe noted on Twitter.

Trading places: Twitter VP Ross Hoffman, who has been heading media partnerships, is leaving the company, Recode reported, citing sources...Ford CEO Ma=k Fields is being ousted=/a> and replaced with Jim Hackett, head of the company's autonomous vehicl= unit.

ICYMI: Bloomberg has a look at how Etsy is <= href="http://link.axios.com/click/9669930.25566/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmxvb21=ZXJnLmNvbS9uZXdzL2ZlYXR1cmVzLzIwMTctMDUtMTgvdGhlLWJhcmJhcmlhbnMtYXJlLWF0LW=0c3ktcy1oYW5kLWhld24tcmVzcG9uc2libHktc291cmNlZC1nYXRlcz91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld=NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2xv=2lu/5922d7d13f92a4689d5edf3aBa5629429" target="_blank">under pressure fr=m investors to behave more like a conventional public company...Uber C=O Travis Kalanick has been more active again on social media of late, Recode notes, positing family photos and=a new smiling profile picture — quite literally trying to present = friendlier face...Microsoft clarified that Linux distributions and comman=-line shells won't be able to=run in its streamlined Windows 10 S operating system even if they are =vailable from the Windows store.

After you Login

I'll leave you with from David Cohn.

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