Power Reads: 5 Interesting Articles That Will Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in leadership and the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners": corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. Each day we can become a better version of ourselves.

1. My Years on Wall Street Showed Me Why You Can’t Make a Deal on Zoom

For all the endless bravado and gobs of money sloshing through Wall Street, at their core, banking and trading are apprenticeship businesses. They are akin to the Florentine guilds of the Renaissance, in which the subtleties and intricacies of art and science were absorbed over many years through careful observation.

In my 17 years on Wall Street advising corporate executives on restructurings, leveraged buyouts and mergers and acquisitions, I was far from God’s gift to the profession. But watching and learning from Wall Street giants such as Felix Rohatyn at Lazard and Ray McGuire at Merrill Lynch were invaluable. Sitting in their offices, I’d observe them as they romanced a potential client to win an assignment, subtly laid the groundwork to help a big shot decide whether to consummate a merger or helped negotiate the terms of a bankruptcy. I learned how the business really worked and began to understand what levers to pull to get deals done.

I was there, and I know what it’s like. So here’s my advice to you, fellow Wall Street drones: Get back to the office.

2. Exclusive survey: How the Delta variant is affecting companies' return plans

Nearly half of companies that haven’t yet returned to the office say the Covid-19 Delta variant is causing them to reconsider or scrap their return plans for now.

That was one of the big takeaways from a new survey by The Business Journals, which polled 2,404 respondents from Aug. 9-11. 

The survey largely confirmed what we reported in late July — that the rise in Covid-19 cases fueled by the Delta variant has many businesses pumping the brakes on post-Labor Day returns.

It’s a trend with high stakes not just for the businesses themselves, but for commercial real estate brokers, retailers and restaurants that are banking on a wave of employers returning to the office. 

3. Amazon Plans to Open Large Retail Locations Akin to Department Stores

Amazon.com Inc. plans to open several large physical retail locations in the U.S. that will operate akin to department stores, a step to help the tech company extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics and other areas, people familiar with the matter said.

The plan to launch large stores will mark a new expansion for the online-shopping pioneer into bricks-and-mortar retail, an area Amazon has long disrupted.

Some of the first Amazon department stores are expected to be located in Ohio and California, the people said. The new retail spaces will be around 30,000 square feet, smaller than most department stores, which typically occupy about 100,000 square feet, and will offer items from top consumer brands. The Amazon stores will dwarf many of the company’s other physical retail spaces and will have a footprint similar to scaled-down formats that Bloomingdale’s Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and other department-store chains have begun opening, the people said.

4. For Robot Trucks, Navigating Highways Is Just One Bump in the Road

The maneuvers on public roads, both short demonstration runs with no commercial cargo on board, show the potential of a technology that has drawn billions of dollars of investment. But they also show how far it has to go before it can operate safely without a human at the wheel, allowing semi trucks to haul themselves over busy interstate highways, through gnarly weather and routes lined with construction.

Most startups are pushing to achieve what is known as Level 4 automation, meaning the vehicle is capable of performing all driving functions under certain conditions. That would signal that the technology can be useful to trucking companies and shippers at commercial scale, and the startups can start earning more meaningful revenue.

In the past four months, four prominent self-driving trucking companies collectively valued at about $26 billion, including TuSimple and Plus, have rushed to tap public markets, leveraging the robust market for initial public offerings and the popularity of a vehicle known as a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, in bids to raise large sums of money.

5. Why Super Commutes Aren’t Going Anywhere

Commutes longer than 90 minutes one way, also known as super commutes, are expected to stick around despite more and more professionals transitioning to remote working arrangements.

According to a new report from Apartment List, 3.1% million U.S. workers commute over 90 minutes every day. 

While the report estimates that one in three super commuters have jobs that are fully compatible with remote working arrangements, super commuters grew by 45% between 2010 and 2019, particularly in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.

With professionals migrating to the suburbs at a fast pace and companies adopting hybrid policies that require workers to come into the office at least part of the week, the report believes this could create a “new class of part-time super commuters.”

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great and hugely impactful week!