I THINK ALL TO BE CONSIDERED

@v.tpk

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Why it worked

The video effectively uses the narrative of a company's dramatic business pivot and subsequent struggles to draw parallels with historical market bubbles and current AI hype. This narrative structure, combined with specific financial data and company milestones, makes the complex topic of business strategy and market trends accessible and engaging for a general audience interested in finance and technology.

Summary

The video chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of Allbirds, a company that transitioned from a shoe retailer to an AI infrastructure provider. It highlights their initial success, rapid expansion, and subsequent struggles with product quality, marketing, and financial performance, culminating in a pivot to AI and a significant shift in their business model and public perception.

Structure

1Introduction to Allbirds as a "canary in the AI bubble"
2Early success and expansion as a shoe retailer
3Challenges with product durability and marketing claims
4Financial struggles, lawsuits, and stock performance issues
5Pivot to AI infrastructure and rebranding as Smartbird
6Comparison to dot-com bubble and investor skepticism

Product placement

Allbirds: ACTS - sells shoes and apparel, and is transitioning into an AI infrastructure company. Removing it would change the video's topic. The video discusses its business model, funding, stock performance, and strategic shifts. The company's name appears multiple times and is the central subject of the video. The video also mentions "Smartbird" as a new name for Allbirds, and "WSG" as a buyer of Allbirds' assets. The video mentions "Nasdaq" and "Bird" as stock ticker symbols. The video mentions "Google" and its former motto "Don't be evil". The video mentions "Nvidia" and "Nvidia App" in the context of AI infrastructure and hardware. The video mentions "SpaceX" and "OpenAI" as examples of companies that investors might not fully understand. The video mentions "GPTZero" as an AI detection tool. The video mentions "Shopify", "PagePilot", "Higgsfield", and "AutoDS" in the context of e-commerce and dropshipping. The video mentions "Amazon" as a marketplace. The video mentions "Linktree", "beacons.ai", and "stan.store" as link aggregators. The video mentions "ShopMy" and "LTK" as affiliate platforms. The video mentions "CapCut" as an editing app. The video mentions "Invideo" as an AI video creation tool. The video mentions "Porsche" as an example of a luxury brand. The video mentions "AI Cloud Infrastructure" and "GPU as a service" as services.

Original caption

What's the deal with Allbirds? Why were investors mad about them selling leggings, but not about transitioning into an AI/GPUSaaS company? Was their move the beginning of the end? #aibubble #medialiteracy #investingforbeginners #economiccrisis #dotcombubble

More from @v.tpk

On-screen text

I THINK ALL TO BE CONSIDERED THE CANARY IN SO TO SPEAK, FOR THE AI BUBBLE. THE COMPANY ANNOUNCED THAT IT WOULD TRANSITION FROM BEING A SHOE RETAILER INTO AN AI INFRASTRUCTURE COMPANY, THAT SHOULD HAVE OF PEOPLE STEP BACK AND RE EVALUATE THE MARKET, TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY BETWEEN THIS AND THE DOT COM BOOM. ALL BIRDS WAS FOUNDED IN 2014 IN NEW ZEALAND, HENCE THE NAME. REALLY DOESN'T HAVE ANY NATIVE MAMMALS. RECYCLED POLYPROPYLENE AND AND WERE ABLE TO RAISE $7.25 IN THE FIRST YEAR OF BUSINESS. BY 2017, THEY WERE OPENING RETAIL THE US AND THE UK, AND BY 2021 THEY'D RAISED OVER $200 MILLION FROM FUNDING GROUNDS IN NOVEMBER. HOWEVER, BY 2022, SEEN AS PART OF THE SILICON VALLEY UNIFORM OUT THAT THEY Weren't REALLY SUPER DURABLE AND THERE WERE ARGUMENTS ABOUT WHETHER GREEN OR JUST GREEN WASHED AND SALES STARTED COMPANY WAS SUED IN MAY 2023 FOR THEIR DECLINING SALES BECAUSE INVESTORS FOUND DIVERSIFICATION INTO OTHER APPAREL WAS MISLEADING, WHICH IS INTERESTING AT HINDSIGHT. IN APRIL 2024, THEY RECEIVED A NON COMPLIANCE NOTICE FROM NASDAQ BECAUSE THEIR SHARE PRICE WAS $1 FOR 30 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. EARLY SEPTEMBER OF THAT YEAR, REVERSE STOCK SPLIT. THEY LOST $77 MILLION IN 2025 AND STATED THAT THEY HAD NEVER MADE IN JANUARY OF 26, THAT THEY WOULD BE CLOSING ALL AND THEY ANNOUNCED TO SELL ALL THEIR ASSETS AND LIABILITIES TO THE AMERICAN EXCHANGE GROUP ON MARCH 30TH. APRIL 15TH. SO TWO WEEKS THEY ANNOUNCED THEY PIVOT INTO PROVIDING AI CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE AND SOLD MORE OF THEIR ASSETS TO WSG. BY JUNE. THEIR MARKET CAP SHOT UP FROM $21 MILLION ON APRIL 14TH TO $148 MILLION ON APRIL 15TH. RECENTLY, ALL BIRDS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY KNOWN AS SMART BIRD AND REMOVED ITS PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION DESIGNATION. A PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION IS A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS THAT BOTH MAKES MONEY FOR SHAREHOLDERS WHILE ALSO AIMING TO DO POSITIVE THINGS FOR SOCIETY. SO THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY'RE DOING ANYMORE? KINDA LIKE WHEN GOOGLE REMOVES THEIR DON'T BE EVIL NOW THEY'RE SETTING OUT TO PROVIDE PERFORMANCE HARDWARE THAT'S CURRENTLY IN AIMING TO CREATE A GPU AS A SERVICE COMPANY. EVER THEY MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT AI OR CHANGING SMARTBIRDS GETS MORE FUNDING PRICE GETS A TIME BEFORE COMING BACK DOWN. THIS IS THE THING THAT WAS AT THE HEIGHT COM BOOM WITH DOT COM OR WWW IN THE NAME AN INVESTMENT FIRM AND BASICALLY PRINT MONEY. THEN INVESTORS DIDN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE OR EVEN COMPUTERS. THEY JUST KNEW BE THE NEXT AND DIDN'T WANNA THE WAVE. COULD JUST SAY WEBSITE IN MY MOM'S GARAGE AND WALK OUT WITH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. STRAIGHT. THE TIME CALLED IT TEMPORARY INSANITY. AND THOSE COMPANIES WERE LIVING BY FAST AND GROWTH OVER PROFIT MENTALITIES. TODAY, MOST INVESTORS HAVE NO IDEA HOW AI INFRASTRUCTURE ACTUALLY WORKS, WHAT AI EVEN IS, OR APPARENTLY HOW DIFFICULT AND FRANKLY RIDICULOUS TRANSITION FROM BEING A SNEAKER MANUFACTURER INTO AN AI INFRASTRUCTURE POWERHOUSE. IF THEY COULDN'T KEEP THAT BUSINESS ALIVE, HOW CAN THEY KEEP THIS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUSINESS SPANKING NEW SECTOR AFLOAT?

Transcript

I think all to be considered the canary in, so to speak, for the AI bubble. The company announced earlier this year that it would transition from being a shoe retailer into an AI infrastructure company, which should have a lot of people step back and reevaluate the market. Let's talk about what happened and why between this and the dot com boom. Allbirds was founded in 2014 in New Zealand, hence the name. Really doesn't have any native mammals. Launched their recycled polypropylene and wool shoes and were able to raise $7.25 million in the first year of business. By 2017, they were opening retail stores in both the US and the UK, and by 2021, they'd raised over $200 million from funding grounds in November. However, by 2022, the shoes were seen as part of the Silicon Valley uniform. People figured out that they weren't really super durable, and there were arguments about whether the shoes were green or just green washed. And sales started to decline. The company was sued in May 2023 for their declining sales because investors found Allbirds' diversification into other apparel was misleading, which is interesting in hindsight. In April 2024, they received a non-compliance notice from Nasdaq because their share price was $1 for 30 consecutive days. Early September of that year, they underwent a reverse stock split. They lost $77 million in 2025 and stated that they had never made a profit. In January of '26, Allbirds announced that they would be closing all their stores and they announced they were going to sell all their assets and liabilities to the American Exchange Group on March 30th, April 15th. So two weeks later, they announced they were going to pivot into providing AI cloud infrastructure and sold more of their assets to WSG by June. Their market cap shot up from $21 million on April 14th to $148 million on April 15th. Recently, Allbirds announced that they would henceforth be known as Smartbird and removed its public benefit corporation designation. A public benefit corporation is a for-profit business that both makes money for shareholders while also aiming to do positive things for society. So that's not what they're doing anymore? Kinda like when Google removes their "Don't be evil" mission statement. Now they're setting out to provide performance hardware that's currently in aiming to create a GPU as a service company. Every time they make an announcement about AI or changing their name, Smartbirds gets more funding, stock price gets a bump for a time before coming back down. This is the same thing that was going on at the height of the dot com boom. Any company with dot com or www in the name could walk into an investment firm and basically print money. Then investors didn't really understand internet infrastructure or even computers. They just knew it was going to be the next big thing and didn't wanna miss out on the wave. You could just say I built a website in my mom's garage and walk out with millions of dollars straight. The time called it "temporary insanity." And those companies were living by "get big fast" and "growth over profit" mentalities. Today, most investors have no idea how AI infrastructure actually works, what AI even is, or apparently how difficult and frankly ridiculous the transition from being a sneaker manufacturer into an AI infrastructure powerhouse. If they couldn't keep that business alive, how can they keep this completely different business, spanking new sector afloat?