Substack is a threat to the media, but its business prospects are threatened by the same forces threatening all of media.
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.
Apple’s Business Model, Privacy, and Developers; Chip Industry Structure; Stripe Sigma
Apple’s business model lets the company sell privacy, but privacy shouldn’t compromise the business model. Plus, why developers can (still) deepen Apple’s moat, and how the chip, payments, and even publishing industry are similar.
Twilio Files for IPO, Building Infrastructure, Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2016
An overview of Twilio’s IPO and the role of infrastructure, and then my favorite slides from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends deck.
Condé Nast, Hearst Form Joint Venture; Stripe Atlas; An Interview with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison
This Daily Update is about Stripe Atlas, but first a detour to discuss an interesting partnership between Condé Nast and Hearst. Then, and interview with Stripe founder and CEO Patrick Collison.
Stripe Relay, Stripe’s Differentiation and Challenges, Mobile E-Commerce and Relay
The launch of Stripe Relay gives me an occasion to cover Stripe for the first time, how it succeeded, its challenges living up to its valuation, and why Stripe Relay could be an important step in that regard