The Dropbox Opportunity

Benedict Evans, in Glass, Home and solipsism, one of the most insightful posts I’ve read in some time: Your customers’ relationships with you are the only relationships you have as a business and you think a lot about them. But you’re one of a thousand things your customer thinks about in a week, and one […]

Friction

The Internet has removed friction: that means a whole new set of possibilities; it doesn’t mean they are all good.

Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store?

This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]

Additional Notes on Casual Games

This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]

Casual Gaming is a Sustainable Business, but Not a Platform Differentiator

This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]

Papering Over App Store Problems

This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]

Strategy Credit

A strategy credit is the opposite of a strategy tax: it is when a hard decision for other companies is easy because of business model.

When Apple Moves Fast

In October 1999, Steve Jobs announced that the future of the Mac was video. In January 2001, Jobs laid out a new strategy: the Mac would be a digital hub, and their first focus would be music. In 15 months, the entire strategy shifted, and the company along with it. “I felt like a dope,” […]

Waze Winners and Losers

Google acquired Waze earlier this week for a reported $1.03 billion. This is an interesting deal for a few different reasons with a clear set of winners and losers. Big Winner: Waze This is an incredible exit for a company with only ~17 million active users and negligible revenues. Waze is a great product – […]

Tim Cook is a Great CEO

Perhaps my favorite Steve Jobs keynote moment was one of his last, at the iPad 2 introduction in March 2011. The last demo of the day, just before Jobs introduced the idea that Apple existed at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, was GarageBand for iPad. The demo was truly spectacular, and it clearly […]