Data Sheet—Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Now comes another new “economy” to think about: the experience economy. IfOnly, a web site started by well-connected San Francisco entrepreneur Trevor Traina, is building a business by selling customers the opportunity to do unique things rather than to own them. The site offers everything from pedaling up Marin County’s Mt. Tam with inventors of the mountain bike to baking with the creators of San Francisco’s Kara’s Cupcakes. “Every trend and every research report points to the fact that people want to live experientially,” Traina says. “People’s lives are pointing to experiences, not things. This is as true for wealthy people as millennials. The goal of IfOnly is to power the experience economy using our technology platform.”

IfOnly offers experiences for as little as $20 and as much as $5 million. The latter, a ballooning expedition over Mt. Everest, “comes with a 70% chance of living,” Traina reports.

Traina started IfOnly by leveraging his own impressive social network. Now the company is adding local marketplaces, starting with San Francisco, that will emphasize user-generated experiences. Traina says he plans to roll out other local marketplaces across the U.S. next year.

IfOnly, whose billboards and on-the-side-of-bus ads have become a fixture in San Francisco, is also expanding in a different way. It will announce Tuesday that former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is joining its board. Costolo said he was attracted to IfOnly in part by its philanthropic mission. The company donates a portion of each sale to charity, and Traina says megastars like Madonna have used the platform to arrange gigs whose proceeds go to their philanthropies of choice.

Twenty years ago, eBay revolutionized the process of trading used stuff by creating an online bazaar for it. IfOnly is using software to sell one-of-a-kind experiences. It’s unclear if things you do can scale as well as things you own. But it’s no less revolutionary.

BITS AND BYTES

Qualcomm faces European antitrust wrath. After a formal investigation initiated last summer, the European Commission Tuesday accused the world's largest maker of mobile chips of pricing its products below cost and shutting rivals out of accounts illegally. The company, which refutes the allegations, has several months to respond officially. (Reuters)

Here's the official name for Alphabet's life sciences group. Verily, spun out of Google X just a few months ago, has big plans for connected medical devices and analytics software that help with research and treatment for chronic conditions. These include diabetes, cardiovascular ailments, neurodegenerative diseases, and mental health. One of its projects includes smart contact lenses that track blood sugar levels. (New York Times)

Facebook shutters experimental apps group. ​The social media company's internal incubator called Creative Labs has shut down​. The group created new software such as Slingshot, a clone of the Snapshot video app, and Rooms, an anonymous messaging service. The team was set up to encourage rapid innovation, but now these app experiments will happen within the core business. (Fortune)

Cybersecurity company Blue Coat may go public again. Blue Coat, which sells Internet security software, went private about four years ago for $1.3 billion. It changed ownership again nine months ago at a price of $2.4 billion. Now, Bloomberg reports, the company may be considering an initial public offering for the second quarter of next year. (Bloomberg)

PC sales may stabilize next year. Worldwide shipments of desktop and notebook computers will probably be off 10.3% this year, according to projections from research group IDC. On a more positive note, demand for hybrid systems with detachable touchscreens should reverse that trend in 2016. (Fortune)

Dropbox backpedals, kills two apps. The cloud software company's Mailbox email service and Carousel photo organizer fell victim Tuesday to its mad scramble to build credibility as a collaboration software company. The Mailbox decision was especially notable, given that Dropbox reportedly spent up to $100 million to buy it two years ago. (Fortune)

THE DOWNLOAD

Here's why Netflix investors are getting nervous. Netflix’s stock price has soared over the past year, and it’s easy to see why. The streaming video company has several of the most popular shows around—including Jessica Jones and Narcos—and has disrupted the traditional television industry to the point where many “cord cutters” have given up cable altogether.

That’s the good news. But often when there’s a lot of good news, there’s also potential bad news lurking around the corner. On Monday, the two fears that sent Netflix shares tumbling more than 5% in a matter of hours were as follows: 1) That Netflix is going to see its costs dramatically increase, as it takes on more and more of its own original programming; and 2) that the company’s revenues might also be under pressure for a number of other reasons, including an ongoing battle with TV networks over licensing of their shows. (Fortune)

MORE FORTUNE TECH COVERAGE

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by Jeff John Roberts

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Tech startups have a big problem by Erin Griffith

This big data specialist shortcuts business analysis by Heather Clancy

Digital ad sales will pass TV spending very soon by Tom Huddleston, Jr.

The smartphone is eating the television, Nielsen admits by Mathew Ingram

Atlassian boosts its IPO pricing range. Again. by Heather Clancy

ONE MORE THING

Hack your hair dryer, seriously? IBM pulled a misguided social media campaign meant to get women interested in computer science careers. The effort drew criticism for being sexist. (Fortune)

This edition of Data Sheet was curated by Heather Clancy: