Episode 108: World's Best Bahn Mi, Adir Sleeps with Obama, DoorDash's Curious Acquisition, Catapult's Smart Buy, Amazon Prime Ads a Turn Off, Adairs Deep Dive and Adir's Injury
The guys discuss the world's best Bahn Mi and can restaurants have process power, Adir's five-star encounter, DoorDash gets smart, Catapult's recent acquisition, and Adir's anger at Amazon Prime ads.
The Contrarians catchup
Adir thought he was shot in the back while playing tennis last week, needing 10mg of Valium to get to sleep that night.
Adir couldn’t believe the service in Dubai and told his son, “this is what happens when the government, the airline, and the airport are basically all the same thing.”
Travelling to Boston, Adir stayed in the Presidential Suite of the Fairmont Copley Plaza, where every US President from the last hundred years has stayed: “I was very aware of some of the stuff that must have gone on in this room.”
Adir quizzes Adam on the companies with the highest annual revenue per employee. No spoilers here, but you might be surprised that hardware companies rank so highly.
When Adir considers investing in a Series A round, he wants to know: “Show me what this business would look like if you ran it profitably, then show me what an extra $10M pumped in over the next 18 months does to change that business.”
Adam quizzed Adir on the number of searches per platform, per day. (Hint: Google is in first place).
The guys disagree on the severity of Amazon Prime’s price hike, with Adir saying “Amazon’s philosophy was just making it amazing for customers. And that's how we're going to make money. And progressively things have gotten worse and worse and worse.”
Adir poses the question: “What do you think is a bigger health risk to a 16-year-old today, smoking or being on social media?”
DoorDash's curious acquisition
DoorDash has acquired retail search ad startup Symbiosys for $175M, marking a strategic move as it surpasses $1B in ad revenue over the past year.
Symbiosys, whose founder previously led Google Search Ads 360, helps brands drive traffic to major retailers through a method called “collaborative bidding.” This approach lets brands and retailers co-bid on search terms via the retailer’s Google Ads account, unlocking benefits like first-party attribution and improved placement.
DoorDash has been a long-time client, making the acquisition a natural fit as it deepens its push into retail media and performance advertising.
Adir: “Isn't it unbelievable that you have all of these businesses we can broadly call marketplaces and all of a sudden all of their profitability is coming from running ads.”
Adir: “My take on it is what Symbiosys effectively does is let the retailer and the product manufacturer collectively ascribe money to ad campaigns so that they can bid together on terms and have much more efficient acquisition. God knows what DoorDash is going to do with it. I think they're just trying to find ways to get more money from their restaurants, marketing off their own platform.”
Catapult perched on unicorn status
Catapult has acquired Perch, a strength-training tech startup from MIT, for US$18M, with an additional US$10M earn-out tied to growth targets.
Perch uses AI and 3D cameras to track gym performance, enabling real-time feedback for elite athletes. The deal strengthens Catapult’s performance & health vertical, integrating in-gym and on-field data into one seamless platform.
With over 25M reps recorded across 40,000 users, Perch boosts Catapult’s AI capabilities and expands its offering for pro sports teams. The acquisition is funded through cash and shares, with no capital raise required.
Adir: “What do we want the business to look like in 3 to 5 years? What are the bits that we should build out? What are the interesting holes that we've got that we might want to add. And we identified that this was a whole. And then the question is what's the best way to fill that hole?”
Adam: “The network's obviously hot. If you could argue the Boston Celtics players get a benefit when the New York Yankees use Catapult and if you can somehow get the data across, that help helps you interpret the data better.”
Adir’s Adairs deep dive
Adairs shares dropped 20.5% after the company forecasted a 9.2% fall in second-half EBIT, largely due to a 54.7% decline at Focus on Furniture. While Adairs and Mocka showed stronger performance, Focus’s struggles and margin pressure from promotions weighed on group earnings despite an uplift in overall sales guidance.
Adir: “They're a business with a few pieces and so their main piece is what you see in the stores, which we could broadly just call soft furnishings.”
Adir: “If you are in this kind of mid-market with undifferentiated product, and I'm not trying to be harsh to them, but I think that is a very hard place to be in the economy right now.”
Five other stories worth following:
Details emerged on Operation Midnight Hammer, where the US struck Iranian nuclear sites with 14 bunker-buster bombs. Iran warned it could unleash sleeper cells if attacked. NYC is on high alert. Officials say uranium stockpiles remain intact, and Iran reported no environmental fallout. Thoughts with those flying between Australia and Europe this week.
Tesla’s robotaxi service launched in Austin with 20 supervised Model Ys offering $4.20 rides in a geofenced area. Early reviews say it’s “smooth” and “normal.” Despite earlier promises, fully autonomous Cybercabs won’t arrive until 2026. Tesla employees verify passengers but don’t engage, keeping the service semi-silent for now.
FedEx founder Fred Smith died at 80. A Marine veteran, he revolutionised shipping with his “hub and spokes” model. Famously, he once saved FedEx by gambling its last $5,000 in Las Vegas and winning $27,000. Smith was also a quiet philanthropist who supported the Marine Corps, Yale, and Memphis causes.
Spain’s startup ecosystem is booming. Q1 saw fundraising jump 184% year-on-year, with $1B+ raised in Q2 so far—up 90%. The surge is fuelled by talent from earlier Spanish tech successes now launching new ventures. The country’s startup momentum has made Spain an increasingly attractive destination for founders and investors alike.
Oscar Health’s market cap surged from $3.6B to $5.4B last week, despite no major news. The health-tech firm saw 48% revenue growth in 2023 and 57% in 2024, with earnings hitting $0.92 per share in Q1. Strong growth, political ties, and retail investor hype are fuelling its unexpected rally.