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Concepts

Distribution and Transaction Costs

The key economic change introduced by the Internet is the effective elimination of marginal distribution and transaction costs.

  • What Is a Tech Company?

    The question of “What is a tech company” comes down to how much software and its unique characteristics affects the company’s core business.

  • Why WeWork Isn’t AWS and the CEO Problem, Cloudflare’s S-1, Contrasting S-1s

    The comparison of WeWork to AWS shouldn’t be taken too far, because software is different. Look no further than Cloudflare’s IPO. Plus, leadership matters.

  • The Problem with “Aggregation Theory”, Demand at Scale, Supplier Power and Value

    A response to The Problem with Ben Thompson’s ‘Aggregation Theory’, and why the Internet really is different (this Daily Update is freely accessible)

  • Disney and the Future of TV

    TV is moving from a world where distribution dictates business models to one where business models need to fit the jobs consumers want done. That is the best way to understand Disney’s latest announcement.

  • A Framework for Regulating Content on the Internet

    Regulators need to stop blindly regulating “the Internet” and instead understand that every part of the Internet stack is different, and only one part is suffering from market failure.

  • Where Warren’s Wrong

    Senator Warren’s proposal about how to regulate tech is wrong about history, the source of tech giant’s power, and the fundamental nature of technology itself. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real problems — and potential solutions — though.

  • Spotify’s Podcast Aggregation Play

    Spotify is making a major move into podcasts, where it appears to have clear designs to be the sort of Aggregator it cannot be when it comes to music.

  • BuzzFeed Followup, The Future is Niche, Atlassian and Bing

    BuzzFeed’s relative scale problem, and why venture capital doesn’t make sense for content, because the future is niche. Plus, important follow-up on Bing and Atlassian.

  • The BuzzFeed Lesson

    The lesson of BuzzFeed is that dominant Aggregators like Facebook have no incentive to act against their self interest and support suppliers.

  • Distinguishing Regulation, Is the Internet Different?, Reasons for Skepticism

    Follow-up on The State of Technology in 2018: the different types of regulation, whether or not the Internet is different, and why consumer tech companies may be weaker than they seem.