Substack is a threat to the media, but its business prospects are threatened by the same forces threatening all of media.
Disney’s Investor Day, Disney+ as Harvester, Disney’s Optionality
Disney’s investor day showed the power of differentiated IP and optionality.
WarnerMedia to Stream Movies First Day, AT&T Versus HBO, Self-Disruption
WarnerMedia’s move to stream all of its movies on HBO Max appears to be value disruptive, but if the company is actually meaningfully responding to disruption, that was inevitable.
An Interview with BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti
An Interview with BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti about BuzzFeed’s business model, acquisition of the HuffPost, and how big tech companies can fix the news.
The Idea Adoption Curve
Mapping the technology adoption curve to ideas gives insights as to which business models work on which parts of the addressable market.
Spotify Buys Megaphone, Spotify’s Podcast Strategy, Spotify’s Megaphone Strategy
Spotify has acquired Megaphone, which brings clarity to its podcast advertising ambitions.
More on Visa-Plaid, European Commission v. Amazon, Spotify Updates
Should regulators be able to see the future, and a reminder that Aggregators are good for customers and suppliers. Then, Spotify starts selling demand, and potentially podcasts.
An Interview with Microsoft Executive Vice-President of Gaming Phil Spencer
How gaming has changed at Microsoft, Xbox’s strategy for the next generation, and what is going on with iOS
Amazon’s Hardware Event, Ring and Tesla, Luna
Amazon’s Alexa event was notable for how little it featured Amazon; perhaps that is why Tesla and Apple appear to be partners. Plus, the Luna gaming service.
Microsoft and ZeniMax, Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft and COVID
More on Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax and how it fits in with the company’s Xbox strategy, and then a review of the big themes from the company’s Ignite conference.