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Latest Podcast

Concepts

Disruption Theory

  • Selling Feelings

    Distribution being free may have ruined old business models, but it allows businesses to get much closer to their customers and make money by meeting needs.

  • Amazon Opens Physical Bookstore, The iPad Pro’s Half Launch

    Amazon’s physical bookstore is first and foremost an experiment. However, it’s worth considering how it fits into Amazon’s measurement of success. Then, the iPad Pro launched, but not its accessories. It’s part of a worrying trend.

  • Activision Blizzard Buys King Digital, EA and the Disruption Narrative, Apple TV Gaming

    Activision Blizzard is buying King, the makers of Candy Crush Saga; the mobile games maker is probably worth more to a company like Activision Blizzard than they are by themselves. Plus, both EA and Activision Blizzard beat earnings expectations — does that mean the gaming disruption narrative is wrong?

  • Chase Pay and the Payments Stack, Apple Pay and Opportunity Cost, Applying Aggregation Theory

    There’s another new payments solution coming — Chase Pay. The punchline is easy: it will fail. Why it will fail, though, is interesting, and it shows the opportunities and challenges for Apple Pay specifically and the usefulness of Aggregation Theory.

  • YouTube Red, Yahoo Stumbles

    YouTube Red doesn’t make much sense at first glance, but there might be something there if Google goes all in. Plus, the sad end of Yahoo.

  • Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact

    Venture Capital has been transformed by a surprising source: Amazon. Ultimately, no industry is safe from the impact of the Internet.

  • Twitter Suspends Accounts Over GIFs, SnapChat Shuts Down Snap Channel, More on Moments

    Twitter suspended a couple of accounts for tweeting sports highlights GIFs. First a bit about the issue at hand, and then a bigger picture look at what this says about Moments, if anything. Then, Snapchat is getting out of original programming, which is a great sign. Finally, what the future of Moments should look like.

  • The Web-App Tradeoff, Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages Project, A Win for the Web

    Some follow-up on Twitter, and then a deep dive on Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages project. Why is it necessary, what does it do, and is it to be applauded or feared?

  • Twitter’s Moment

    Twitter has had a rough stretch, and most are pessimistic about its chances. I was previously, but I think the upside is looking much brighter than it did before this week.

  • Onshape and Disruption, Office 365 and Sustaining Innovation

    Onshape is CAD software making a bet that starting with the cloud is fundamentally disruptive. However, disruption includes an economic component, and as Office 365 v Google Apps suggests, if that doesn’t exist the incumbents will respond