Raspberry Pi: Stick a finger in this pie
The initial goal of Raspberry Pi when it launched in February 2012 was to respond to a decline in the number and skill level of applicants to study computer sciences at the University of Cambridge, by creating a low-cost computer that would encourage children to learn to code. The devices flew off the shelves, selling 1-million units within about 12 months; that figure had doubled by the end of October 2013. At Christmas time, many a child will have uncovered this strange-looking device under the tree and wondered what had happened to make Santa take such cruel and unusual revenge.
The company, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2024, is keen to debunk concerns that its primary mission has become irrelevant in a world where AI systems’ proficiency in coding has surpassed that of mere mortals, drawing a distinction between programming and coding that may be some consolation to IT professionals as they use AI to polish their CVs.
Lately Raspberry Pi has been struggling to secure supplies of memory chips and has had to raise prices repeatedly, but just as AI was looking like the grim reaper, it turned into a white knight with the launch of OpenClaw.
This is a personal AI agent that acts like the world’s most efficient PA — but it gets deep into the nether regions of your personal data, so it can cause a security headache if you run it on your main computer. This is not an issue if it is purring away happily on a nice cheap Raspberry Pi, and when this was flagged on the WallStreetBets forum, Raspberry Pi’s share price suddenly shot up a cool 94%.
BrewDog: A haircut for punks
Wikipedia’s definition of punk culture includes the terms anti-authoritarian, anti-consumerist, anti-corporate greed and, for good measure, not selling out. These were the values on which BrewDog built its brand, establishing itself as a scrappy outsider in stark contrast to the bland corporate giants that make up the traditional brewing industry.
Its crowdfunding campaigns made this explicit, raising £75m from small investors it called “equity punks”, who were rewarded with discounts on beer and invitations to its Annual General Mayhem.
BrewDog founder James Watt published a book, Business for Punks: Break All the Rules — the BrewDog Way, and he certainly broke all his rules when he and co-founder Martin Dickie trousered about £50m each in 2017 when they sold a 22% stake in the business to US private equity group TSG Consumer Partners.
The deal removed investor protections for equity holders and created a new class of preference shares, which entitled TSG to a coupon offering a cheeky compound annual return of 18% in the event of a sale.
BrewDog’s momentum went rapidly into reverse during the pandemic, and it has struggled since then in a climate of cost increases and pressures on disposable income.
Five consecutive years of losses have led to the company appointing restructuring specialists AlixPartners to explore a sale or breakup, while BrewDog has already started to trim its portfolio, closing 10 bars, laying off staff, closing its distillery in Aberdeenshire and selling a “rewilding” estate in the Scottish Highlands — the Lost Forest — it bought only last year.
Unless there is some fancy financial footwork, the equity punks seem likely to be wiped out, and they are a long way from ecstatic.
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