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Latest Podcast

Concepts

Owning Customer Relationship

Companies that win in the Internet era do so by owning the customer relationship, which gives them power over suppliers.

  • Amazon Health

    Amazon Health

    Amazon Health doesn’t seem like much now, but there are hints it could be the ultimate application of Aggregation Theory.

  • Disney and Fox

    Disney and Fox

    Disney’s rumored acquisition of 21st Century Fox is all about competing with Netflix; whether or not that is a good thing depends on your frame of reference.

  • The Funnel Framework

    The Internet has removed scarcity, meaning business models based on controlling distribution are no longer viable. Instead, the key to success is controlling access to the best customers — and that means being the best.

  • Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK

    An increasing number of questions are being raised about the future of the pay-TV bundle, and of ESPN. The former may indeed be doomed, but that doesn’t mean the latter is in as much trouble as people think: after all, Disney is the master of differentiated content.

  • German Automaker Consortium Buys Here Maps, Don’t Dismiss Apple MVNO Rumors

    As expected a consortium of German automakers has acquired Here Maps. It’s hard to see this as anything other than defense of the status quo, particularly against Uber. What, though, will the latter do now? Then, the usual skepticism surround rumors that Apple will launch an MVNO. However, I think that Apple has more leverage than…

  • Facebook’s Impressive Consistency, Yelp’s Employee Problem

    Facebook consistently delivers good results, which is why they get a lot of leeway from investors. Perhaps the latter aren’t as irrational as everyone thinks. Plus, Yelp’s big problem, and why it might affect Twitter.

  • In Defense of Markets, The Qualcomm Mess, Uber and de Blasio

    I think that the stock market tends to get a bad rap amongst tech pundits and executives; in fact, it is a critical part of how new companies defeat incumbents. Still, sometimes markets get it wrong and I think that is the case with Qualcomm. Plus, what Uber’s episode with New York City mayor Bill de…

  • Aggregation Theory

    The disruption caused by the Internet in industry after industry has a common theoretical basis described by Aggregation Theory.

  • Google’s Impressive Earnings, Ebay’s Uncertain Future

    Google had great results that were impressive not just from a dollars and cents perspective, but also from a strategic perspective. Plus, brief thoughts on Ebay as it spins off Paypal.

  • Google’s Integration of Retail and Hotels, Facebook Page Shops, Netflix’s Earnings

    Google’s “buy button” for ads and experiments in hotels fit the pattern of Internet-based disruption. Facebook, meanwhile, is meeting needs it itself created, and Netflix has started a virtuous cycle.

  • Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits

    Netflix has a lot more in common with Uber and Airbnb than you might think: it all comes back to the Law of Conservation of Attractive Profits, a core principle of disruption

  • The Funnel Framework

    The Internet has removed scarcity, meaning business models based on controlling distribution are no longer viable. Instead, the key to success is controlling access to the best customers — and that means being the best.

  • Why Uber Fights

    Ride-sharing is a winner-take-all market that depends on controlling demand more than it does supply.