Facebook and Twitter represent the v1 of Social Networking; it’s a bad copy of the analog world, whereas v2 is something unique to digital, and a lot more promising.
Ben Thompson
Disney’s Investor Day, Disney+ as Harvester, Disney’s Optionality
Disney’s investor day showed the power of differentiated IP and optionality.
Facebook Sued by FTC and States, The FTC’s Case, Antitrust and Politics
Facebook clearly tried to eliminate competition by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, but it’s not clear they were successful, which is the question that matters in a case that is ultimately about politics and power.
Privacy Labels and Lookalike Audiences
Apple’s position on privacy seems unimpeachable, but it ignores trade-offs, and risks a bad outcome for the Internet as a whole.
WarnerMedia to Stream Movies First Day, AT&T Versus HBO, Self-Disruption
WarnerMedia’s move to stream all of its movies on HBO Max appears to be value disruptive, but if the company is actually meaningfully responding to disruption, that was inevitable.
Stripe: Platform of Platforms
Stripe’s announcement of Treasury — banking-as-a-service — manifests the breadth of the company’s ambition.
An Interview With Stripe President John Collison
An interview with Stripe President John Collison about Stripe Treasury, Stripe Capital, going public (or not), Stripe’s investments, and ambition.
Salesforce Acquires Slack, Salesforce’s Reasoning, Salesforce’s Opportunity
Salesforce’s purchase of Slack is a great outcome for the latter, and has huge upside for the former. There is, though, commensurate risk.
A Sixth Lesson from Dave Chappelle; Facebook and Apple, Continued; Facebook Acquires Kustomer
One more lesson from Dave Chappelle, this time about how the old order are all playing the same game. Apple seems to prefer that game, even if Facebook has helped them win at the new one.
Five Lessons From Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle has a new special about his old show that includes fundamental lessons about how the Internet has changed the content business.