The history of credit cards helps explain why Plaid is valuable to Visa, and how Visa can make it significantly better.
Ben Thompson
Casper Files for IPO, Casper’s Business, Spotify Ad Targeting
Casper is a tech-enabled company, but so are its many competitors. Trying to win with brand is difficult in a market defined by infrequent purchases. Spotify, meanwhile, is seeking to expand the podcasting market beyond companies like Casper.
CES Concepts, Verizon Drops Bundles, Technology and TV
CES is boring, because no one knows what is next. Then, Verizon is dropping Internet and TV bundles, which is a rational response to the changing nature of pay-TV. It also shows how much tech disruption is still to come.
The End of the Beginning Follow-Up, Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, Venture versus Productive Capital
Examining The End of the Beginning through the lens of Carlota Perez’s Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, and what that means for venture capital.
The End of the Beginning
The beginning of technology was about the shift from batched computing in one place to continuous computing everywhere. That era of paradigm changes may be over, which means the real changes are only beginning.
Bubble Talk, Revisited; It [Wasn’t] 1999; The Big Tech Basket
While 2015 Unicorns did not meet expectations, that doesn’t mean 2015 was a bubble. Indeed, the most surprising reality is how well established big tech companies did.
AB 5 and Health Care, Project Connected Home Over IP, Ecosystem Pragmatism
A more flexibility economy would benefit from a stronger safety net. Then, a new standard that actually has real potential. It’s a win for some companies, but questionable for others.
The 2019 Stratechery Year in Review
The most popular and most important posts on Stratechery in 2019.
SBNation and AB5, Understanding SB Nation, AB 5 and the Internet
SB Nation is a publishing company that was only ever possible because of the Internet. That it has to change its model because of AB 5 shows why AB 5 is fundamentally flawed.
Cisco Sells Chips, The Conservation of Attractive Networking, Twitter MoPub Revenue
Cisco is selling chips, which is a fascinating example of the Conservation of Attractive Profits. Then, Twitter’s MoPub revenue is more than it seems.