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Latest Podcast

Concepts

Incentives

  • Apple’s Run, Apple Earnings and the iPhone Upgrade Cycle, The iPhone in China

    Apple had an amazing run, but now there are very real questions about the iPhone, in no small part because Apple itself doesn’t seem sure what is going on.

  • Prince, Bowie, and Beyoncé; Google’s Margin Squeeze; Microsoft’s Miss

    Prince and David Bowie both understood the Internet, but took drastically different approaches. Then, Google’s business is fine, but it has almost certainly peaked, and the company could learn something from Microsoft about managing expectations.

  • Services and Apple’s Strategy, The Power of a P&L, Intel Restructures

    First, a follow-up on Apple’s Organizational Crossroads including why a focus on services could make more strategic sense than one might think, and why P&L responsibility can be a powerful tool. Then, Intel is restructuring in the face of increased margin pressure and in pursuit of a vision that is, from the company’s perspective, more radical…

  • Apple’s Organizational Crossroads

    A core part of what makes Apple Apple is its organization structure; Tim Cook has said it will never change. However, if Apple is serious about being a services company, change it must.

  • Snapchat Follow-up; WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage; Microsoft’s Bot Parade

    Some follow-up on Snapchat, where it fits alongside Facebook Messenger and iMessage, then a discussion of where all the “bot” talk is coming from. Then, Microsoft jumped all in on bots: what does it mean, and what should they do next.

  • Snapchat’s Ladder

    Snapchat is on the verge of conquering the toughest messaging market in the world: the United States. The way they did it is by laddering-up.

  • Andy Grove and the iPhone SE

    Andy Grove passed away the same day that Apple announced the iPhone SE. One of Grove’s best decisions reminds me of this launch.

  • Instagram’s Algorithmic Feed, Apple and the Cloud, Microsoft and Okta

    Instagram is changing the feed, and even though users say they don’t like it it’s the right decision. Plus, why Snapchat may be a threat. Then, two pieces of news about Apple and the cloud, both good and bad. Plus, Microsoft is still competitive, and rightly so.

  • The Amazon Tax

    Amazon is building a lot of businesses that look like AWS: taxes on major industries that work to everyone’s benefit. The reason, though, is that AWS is a lot like Amazon itself.

  • More on Bitcoin, Samsung and Designing Software, The Problem with Holacracy

    More on Bitcoin and the fundamental problem with the project, plus my thoughts on the blocksize question. Then, Samsung still can’t nail software, and the problems with Holacracy.