Exponent

Ben and James discuss cloud computing and why Google fell behind AWS, and how the company is taking a very wise strategy in catching up. Note: Due to a recording error Ben’s track quality is poor. Our apologies. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: How Google is Challenging AWS — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Amazon Re:Invent, Google vs AWS vs IBM vs Microsoft — Stratechery Daily Update Steve Yegge: Stevey’s Google Platforms Rant — Google Plus Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Transcript: @Chamath At StrictlyVC’s Insider Series — Semil Shah Blog Ben … Continue reading Episode 097 — Google Versus AWS

Ben and James discuss the fake news epidemic on Facebook, from its structural causes to its effects. Then, Facebook committed sins of omission; the tech industry ought not do the same. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Fake News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery How Teens In The Balkans Are Duping Trump Supporters With Fake News — BuzzFeed Facebook fake-news writer: ‘I think Donald Trump is in the White House because of me’ — Washington Post Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery Viral Fake Election News Outperformed Real News On Facebook In Final Months Of The US Election — BuzzFeed … Continue reading Episode 096 — Sins of Commission and Omission

Ben and James discuss the Trump election, filter bubbles, and the responsibility of the tech industry. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Donald Trump is the President-Elect, Tech Under Trump, The Big Picture — Stratechery Daily Update Episode 085: Ballots and Guillotines — Exponent Ben Thompson: The Brexit Possibility — Stratechery James Allworth: Brexit, Trump, and the Ultimatum Game — Medium Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery “Day One in Trump’s America” — Twitter Moments Kim-Mai Cutler: “The best way to have the stickiest and most lucrative product? Be a systematic tool for confirmation bias.” — Twitter Ben Thompson: … Continue reading Episode 095 — The Backlash Has Arrived

Ben and James discuss when acquisitions make sense, why Apple shouldn’t buy Tesla, and debate whether they should or should not buy Netflix. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Apple Shouldn’t Buy Netflix — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Best — Stratechery Ben Thompson: It’s a Tesla — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Daily Update The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content Monopoly — Hollywood Reporters Ben Thompson: Netflix’s Earnings —Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Everything as a Service — Stratechery Steve Blank: Why Tim Cook … Continue reading Episode 094 — Should Apple Buy Netflix?

Ben and James discuss the difference between the IT era and the Internet Revolution, first in the context of newspapers and then in the context of society broadly. Presented by MailChimp Links Jack Shafer: What If the Newspaper Industry Made a Colossal Mistake? — Politico Ben Thompson: The IT Era and the Internet Revolution — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Snapchat Changes Publisher Monetization — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Sports Linchpin — Stratechery Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — and Inevitable Fall — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery Barack Obama, Neural Nets, Self-Driving Cars, and the Future of the World … Continue reading Episode 093 — The Disruption of Everything

Ben and James discuss what Consumerization of IT means in the context of Workplace by Facebook, Skype Teams, and Slack. Note: This podcast originally had a dead spot at the 8:13 mark. It has been fixed. To update please delete the podcast and re-download. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Chat and the Consumerization of IT — Stratechery David Moschella, Doug Neal, Piet Opperman, John Taylor: The ‘Consumerization’ of Information Technology — CSC Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery John Gruber: Blackberry vs iPhone — Daring Fireball Peter Bright: Going all-in: Ars interviews Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer — … Continue reading Episode 092 — Defining Consumerization of IT

Ben and James discuss the history of Android and why Google’s new phone signifies such a profound shift for the company. Presented by MailChimp Links Farhad Manjoo: MailChimp and the Un-Silicon Valley Way to Make It as a Start-Up — The New York Ttimes Ben Thompson: The Android Detour — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google’s Go-to-Market Gap — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Google’s Pixel-Android Strategy is Smart, Samsung Buys Viv, Google Home — Stratechery Ben Thompson: … Continue reading Episode 091 — Google’s New Business Model

Ben and James follow-up on Facebook versus the media, and then dive into Spectacles and what makes for a compelling product. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Facebook Tweetstorm — Twitter Ben Thompson: How the Snap Spectacles Story Broke, Facebook Overestimated Video Metric — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery Warren Buffett: 1991 Letter to Shareholders — Berkshire Hathaway Ben Thompson: Snapchat Spectacles and the Future of Wearables — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Snapchat’s Ladder — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery Seth Stevenson: Snapchat Releases First Hardware Product, Spectacles … Continue reading Episode 090 — Fashionable to Be Cynical

Ben and James discuss Oracle’s prospects in the crowd and how the Internet has changed the enterprise. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Oracle’s Cloudy Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Is AWS a Commodity? — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Ben and James discuss Facebook’s latest run-in with the media: both are wrong but for different reasons. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Facebook Versus the Media — Stratechery Espen Egil Hansen: Dear Mark. I am writing this to inform you that I shall not comply with your requirement to remove this picture. — Aftenposten Ben Thompson: What the Media Misses About Facebook, Facebook’s Missing Humans — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Ben and James discuss James’ adventurous summer and the recent Apple event and what it says about the future of Apple. Presented by MailChimp Links Wolverine Misses Exponent — Twitter James Allworth: So You’re Thinking About Doing a 10 Day Silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat? — Medium Naked People — Exponent Ben Thompson: Beyond the iPhone — Stratechery Farhad Manjoo: What’s Really Missing From the New iPhone: Cutting-Edge Design — New York Times Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’ — The Washington Post Ben Thompson: Apple’s PR Push, Maps and … Continue reading Episode 087 — Meditations on Courage

Ben and James discuss Facebook Live and Pokémon Go. Please note that this episode was podcast five days ago, on Saturday, July 16. Links Ben Thompson: A Technical Glitch — Stratechery The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed — Wired Mat Honan: Why Facebook And Mark Zuckerberg Went All In On Live Video — BuzzFeed Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Feed — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Pokémon Go Phenomonan, Nintendo’s Pivot, Additional Notes on Pokémon Go — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Activision Blizzard Buys King Digital — Stratechery Daily Update Aaron Levie: Nintendo’s … Continue reading Episode 086 — Following a Pokémon Off a Cliff

Ben and James discuss why the sociopolitical factors underlying the Brexit vote and their relationship to technology and a system of the future. Links Ben Thompson: The Brexit Possibility — Stratechery Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — And Inevitable Fall — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Follow-up: The Big Picture — Stratechery James Allworth: Brexit, Trump, and the Ultimatum Game — Medium Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Sponsorship Inquiry

Ben and James discuss how the TV industry and the companies that advertise on TV are interconnected, and how they will rise and fall together. Links Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — and Inevitable Fall — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Cord Cutting Fantasy — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Old-Fashioned Snapchat — Stratechery Ben Thompson: How Technology is Changing the World (P&G Edition) — Stratechery Ken Doctor: The Macy’s Factor — Politico Ben Thompson: Cars and the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Publishers and the Smiling Curve — Stratechery Ben … Continue reading Episode 084 — The Old World Order

Ben and James discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn and Apple’s WWDC announcements, and figure out why they feel so differently about the two of them. Links James Allworth: Who’s going to be having sleepless nights after Microsoft’s LinkedIn deal? — Medium Ben Thompson: Microsoft and Apple Double Down — Stratechery Ben Thompson: How Satya Nadella Killed Windows Phone — Stratechery Microsoft’s Nadella Manages Legacy of Ballmer-Board Split — Bloomberg Ben Thompson: The Deal That Makes No Sense — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure … Continue reading Episode 083 — Microsoft & LinkedIn versus Apple & WWDC

Ben and James discuss the present and future of podcasts, and how media companies need to take a holistic approach to their businesses. Links Ben Thompson: The Future of Podcasts — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Web Pages Suck — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Publishers and the Smiling Curve — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Grantland and the (Surprising) Future of Publishing — Stratechery Ezra Klein Show: Ben Thompson on How to Make it in the Media in 2016 — Vox Marco Arment: Apple’s Actual Role in Podcasting: Be Careful What You Wish For — Marco.org Podcasts Surge, but Producers Fear Apple Isn’t Listening … Continue reading Episode 082 — A Podcast About Podcasts

Ben and James explain why Alexa is an even bigger deal than it seems, and why both Apple and Google should fear Amazon. Plus, why Microsoft’s challenges are only beginning. Links Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Jeff Bezos at the Code Conference — Stratechery Daily Update Jeff Bezos Intervew at the Code Conference: Video, Podcast, Live Blog Now We’re Talking: Amazon Alexa Comes to Pebble Core — Pebble Ben Thompson: Twilio Files for IPO — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google’s Go-to-Market Gap — Stratechery James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook … Continue reading Episode 081 — We Have Always Been at War with Amazon

Ben and James discuss briefly revisit last week’s discussion on Facebook, then discuss the Peter Thiel versus Gawker affair, and the implications for tech broadly. Then, how culture helps and hurts at Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Links Ben Thompson: The Real Problem with Facebook and the News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Peter Thiel, Comic Book Hero — Stratechery (note: this was written after the podcast) When the Most Personal Secrets Get Outed on Facebook — Wall Street Journal Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google’s Go-to-Market Gap — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Everything as a Service — … Continue reading Episode 080 — Multiple Full Circles

Ben and James discuss the allegations that Facebook is censoring conservative news, and renew their ongoing debate about Facebook’s power. Then, why Google’s current situation is similar to Microsoft, even though the long-term looks good. Links Want to Know What Facebook Really Thinks of Journalists? Here’s What Happened When It Hired Some. — Gizmodo Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News — Gizmodo Nilay Patel: Let’s Say Obvious Things About Facebook and Conservative News — The Verge Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Real Problem with Facebook and the News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Defending … Continue reading Episode 079 — Twerk the Algorithm

Ben and James discuss how the world will change, how change happens in companies and society, and debate whether or not we have crossed the rubicon to a new world. Links Ben Thompson: Everything as a Service — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery Farhad Manjoo: The Uber Model, It Turns Out, Doesn’t Translate — The New York Times Ben Thompson: Intel Restructures — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Mobile Muddle — Stratechery Max Wessel: Path Dependency, Infrastructure, and Entrepreneurship — LongLogic Too Much of a Good Thing — Economist Ben Thompson: Facebook and New Market Disruption — Stratechery … Continue reading Episode 078 — Bending Trees

Ben and James follow-up on last week’s Apple services discussion and take a look at Apple’s earnings. Then a discussion of the European Commissions investigation of Google for antitrust, and a debate about how antitrust regulation needs to change, if at all. Links Episode 076: Apple’s Organization and Services — Exponent Apple Q2 2016 Earnings Call Transcript — Seeking Alpha Benjamin Mayo: Apple Earnings Press Release Titles — Twitter Ben Thompson: Apple’s Good Q1 Earnings, Apple is Not a Services Company — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Apple’s Earnings and the iPhone Upgrade Cycle — Stratechery Daily Update Episode 005: The … Continue reading Episode 077 — Physical Goods

Ben and James discuss the different types of organizational structures, the benefits Apple gains from having a unitary form, and whether or not the company should make changes to more effectively compete in services. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Services and Apple’s Strategy, The Power of a P&L — Stratechery Daily Update Episode 071: Pickaxe Retailers — Exponent Ben Thompson: Paypal’s Incentive Problem — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Sponsorship Inquiry

Ben and James discuss Facebook F8, how the company is trying to own both public and private social, and why Messenger is a good idea, but bots may not be. Links Twitter Has Outsized Influence, but It Doesn’t Drive Much Traffic for Most News Orgs, a New Report Says — NiemanLab Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery David Kirkpatric: The Facebook Effect — Simon & Schuster Amir Efrati: Facebook Struggles to Stop Decline in ‘Original’ Sharing — The Information Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Feed — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Problem with Facebook’s Ten-Year Plan, Is BuzzFeed Struggling? … Continue reading Episode 075 — Baby Picture Bots

Ben and James discuss the Tesla phenomena, how they built such a powerful brand, and debate whether that will be enough to lead the company to success. Links Ben Thompson: It’s a Tesla — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tesla Skepticism and Superchargers — Stratechery Daily Update Tesla’s Not as Disruptive as You Think — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: Obsoletive — Stratechery Elon Musk: The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me) — Tesla Blog Ben Thompson: Tesla Powerwall — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Xiaomi’s Struggles — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, … Continue reading Episode 074 — Tesla Fervor

Ben and James discuss how Snapchat has built it’s product so effectively, the narcissist in all of us, and the structure of social around the world. Links Ben Thompson: Snapchat’s Ladder — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Old-Fashioned Snapchat — Stratechery Snapchat’s Updated Policies Hint at Bigger Search, Ad Ambitions — MarketingLand “The Snarkie” — Twitter Ben Thompson: The Multitudes of Social — Stratechery Alex Muir: Facebook is the New Excel — AlexMuir.com WeChat Payments Rocket as China’s Tencent Rides Gaming Wave — Reuters Ben Thompson: Snapchat Follow-up; WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage — Stratechery Daily Update After-show: Ben Thompson: Services, Not … Continue reading Episode 073 — Get Off My Lawn!

Ben and James continue last week’s discussion about Apple’s struggles with the cloud, then discuss why the iPhone SE is such a brilliant move — and how those two things are related. Plus, an after-show about Microsoft and Intel and what makes for an effective leader. Links Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis: Inside Apple’s Cloud Infrastructure Troubles — The Information Ben Thompson: iCloud and Apple’s Founding Myth — Stratechery Adam Lashinsky: The Cook Doctrine at Apple — Fortune Ben Thompson: Apple Music and Apple’s Focus — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Two Bears — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen — Stratechery … Continue reading Episode 072 — Low Hanging Fruit

Ben and James discuss the connection between Amazon’s business model and organizational structure, why Dropbox shouldn’t have left AWS, and why Apple should buy Dropbox. Plus, does WeWork’s valuation make sense, and why such companies are exciting. Links Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Brad Stone: The Everything Store — Brad-Stone.com Jeff Bezos: 1997 Letter to Sharholders — Amazon FedEx Downplays Amazon Logistics Threat — The Seattle Times Ben Thompson: Dropbox Leaves AWS, Should UPS and Fedex Be Afraid? — Stratechery Dailiy Update Ben Thompson: Stripe Atlas, An Interview with Patrick Collison — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Venture … Continue reading Episode 071 — Pickaxe Retailers

Ben and James discuss the Amazon Echo, Apple’s cloudy future, Google’s Missed Opportunity, and why Amazon has so much growth potential ahead of it. Links Ben Thompson: Why Uber Fights — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Amazon Echo Expands — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The Amazon Echo — Stratechery Daily Update Dustin Curtis: Amazon Has No Taste — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Stop Doubting the iPhone — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Android Where? — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Digital Hub 2.0 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Amazon’s Transformation and the Costco Model — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Amazon the Logistics Company — … Continue reading Episode 070 — Is That an Echo?

Ben and James discuss how the aggregation of media led to a weakening of political parties, opening the door to unexpected candidates. Plus, why Facebook’s focus on engagement might be dangerous, and why diversity is important from day one. This episode is sponsored by Wunder Capital. Make a good investment and do good at the same time through Wunder Capital’s solar investment opportunities. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The FANG Playbook — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits … Continue reading Episode 069 — Wrapped Around an Axle

Ben and James discuss Apple versus the FBI. Links James Allworth: The U.S. has Gone F&*%ing Mad — Medium James Allworth: How the Apple/FBI Fight Risks the Whole U.S. Tech Industry — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: Apple, The FBI, and Security — Stratechery Radley Balko: Surprise! Controversial Patriot Act Power Now Overwhelmingly Used in Drug Investigations — The Washington Post Exclusive: Apple CEO Tim Cook Says iPhone-Cracking Software ‘Equivalent of Cancer’ — ABC News More Support for Justice Department Than for Apple in Dispute Over Unlocking iPhone — Pew Research Center Solid Support for Apple in iPhone Encryption Fight: … Continue reading Episode 068 — Binary Backdoors

Ben and James discuss the mistakes made by Zenefits, when to challenge regulation, and the problem with short-term thinking. This podcast was recorded before the Apple/FBI news broke; we currently plan to cover that next week. Links Ben Thompson: Fidelity Reprices Again — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Zenefits and Regulation — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Follow-up to The Reality of Missing Out — Stratechery Daily Update James Allworth: High Frequency Trading and Finance’s Race to Irrelevance — Harvard Business Review Here is the letter the world’s largest investor, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, just sent to CEOs everywhere — Business Insider … Continue reading Episode 067 — Weighing and Voting

Ben and James discuss winner-take-all dynamics and its implications for advertising, bubble talk, and venture capital. Plus, what Facebook and Marc Andreessen got wrong about Free Basics and India. This episode is sponsored by Wunder Capital. Make a good investment and do good at the same time through Wunder Capital’s solar investment opportunities. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Reality of Missing Out — Stratechery Leslie Picker and Peter Eavis: Deal Shows Investors Are Willing to Make a Blind Bet on Uber — The New York Times Mike Isaac: Delivery Start-Ups Face Road Bumps in … Continue reading Episode 066 — You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Ben and James discuss Apple earnings, Twitter’s troubles, and whether or not the Internet is over-rated. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Good Earnings, Apple is Not a Services Company — Stratechery Daily Update Paul Carsten: China Smartphone Glory Days Are Over as Apple, Xiaomi Face Tough Times — Reuters Ben Thompson: How Facebook Squashed Twitter — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Twitter Follow-up — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Twitter’s Marketing Problem — Stratechery James Allworth and Ben Thompson: Check Facebook Time — … Continue reading Episode 065 — Competing Against Non-Consumption

Ben and James discuss the Donald Trump and inequality, then FANG, Aggregation Theory, and Disruption. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/exponent. Links Michael Brendan: How an Obscure Adviser to Pat Buchanan Predicted the Wild Trump Campaign in 1996 — The Week John Gruber and Phil Schiller: Live From WWDC 2015, with Special Guest Phil Schiller — The Talk Show Ben Thompson: The FANG Playbook — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix Goes Global — Stratechery Daily Update … Continue reading Episode 064 — Disrupting Trump

Ben and James discuss the future of cars and transportation. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Cars and the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Car Follow-up, The Apple Car, Uber’s Financials — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Why Uber Fights — Stratechery Lee Gomes: Driving in Circles — Slate Melena Ryzik: How Uber Is Changing Night Life in Los Angeles — The New York Times Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback … Continue reading Episode 063 — Driving Into the Future

Ben and James discuss Paul Graham’s essay on inequality and the politics of technology. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: A Politics for Technology — Stratechery Paul Graham: Economic Inequality — Stratechery Ezra Klein: A Top Venture Capitalist Thinks Startups are Causing Inequality. He’s Wrong. — Vox Noam Scheiber and Patricia Cohen: For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions — The New York Times Gregory Ferenstein: The Unusual Politics of Silicon Valley, Explained — Vox Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, … Continue reading Episode 062 — Give Some to Get Some

Ben and James discuss OpenAI’s new mission and what it says about capitalism. Or is it just a strategy credit that we are reading too much into? This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: “Yep, broken.” — Twitter James Allworth: Is OpenAI Solving the Wrong Problem? — Harvard Busines Review Introducing OpenAI — OpenAI Steven Levy: How Elon Musk and Y Combinator Plan to Stop Computers From Taking Over — Backchannel Ben Thompson: OpenAI, Artificial Intelligence and Data, Data and Recruiting — Stratechery Daily … Continue reading Episode 061 — OpenAI and Strategy Credits

Ben and James discuss when disruption theory is useful — and when it isn’t. Note: We apologize for some mic fuzz issues on this podcast. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Clayton Christensen: What is Disruptive Innovation? — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: Beyond Disruption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Obsoletive — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tesla and Beyond Disruption — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed … Continue reading Episode 060 — Beyond Disruption

Ben and James discuss PC Gaming and the fascinating way in which it monetizes, leading to a wide-ranging discussion about how business has changed because of the Internet. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Chris Dixon: Lessons From the PC Video Game Industry — Medium Jared Sinclar: Saving the iPad — JaredSinclair.com Ben Thompson: Grantland and the (Surprising) Future of Publishing — Stratechery Ben Thompson: TensorFlow and Monetizing Intellectual Property — Stratechery Justin Williams: The Chicken or the iPad Pro — Medium Ben Thompson: Games … Continue reading Episode 059 — Fashion in PC Gaming

Ben and James touch on Twitter’s new “Like” button before diving into what might be a new model for publishing. Then, a discussion of bundle economics and Stratechery’s future. Buckle up! This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Grantland and the (Surprising) Future of Publishing — Stratechery Todd VanDerWerff: 2015 Is the Year the Old Internet Finally Died — Vox Episode 012: The Internet Rainforest — Exponent Chris Dixon: How Bundling Benefits Sellers and Buyers — cdixon blog Ben Thompson: Ballmer’s Bad Bundle Economics … Continue reading Episode 058 — The Attention Market

Ben and James discuss the importance of the user experience in not only avoiding disruption but also in building dominant companies. It’s a key component of Aggregation Theory This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links James Allworth: Measure What Matters — Exponent Ben Thompson: Airbnb and the Internet Revolution — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Uber Fights — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Stop Doubting the iPhone — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Sponsorship Inquiry

Ben and James try to make sense of YouTube Red. Plus, why is Amazon responding to The New York Times now? This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: YouTube Red — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: In Defense of The New York Times — Stratechery Jay Carney: What The New York Times Didn’t Tell You — Medium Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Sponsorship Inquiry

Ben and James discuss how cloud services have set the stage for fundamental changes in venture capital, just as they have in the enterprise. This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront. See recommended portfolios and get up to $15,000 managed for free by visiting Wealthfront.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Unicorns — Stratechery In Aggregate — Exponent Episode 049 Chris Dixon: The Babe Ruth Effect in Venture Capital — CDixon Blog Ben Thompson: Dell to Buy EMC, Enterprise Disruption, Dell’s Logic — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, … Continue reading Episode 055 — AWS and Venture Capital

NOTE: James’ mic developed a bad connection half-way through the podcast. We apologize for the audio fuzz. Ben and James make clear that they know pollution causes death, then discuss the future of brand advertising. Then, a rather strident debate as to whether radical ideas will have a home in the future. This episode is sponsored by Zendesk. Make your customer service seem like magic by building it directly into your apps, websites and products with Zendesk Embeddables. Links Margo Sanger-Katz and John Schwartz: How Many Deaths Did Volkswagen’s Deception Cause in the U.S.? — The New York Times Ben … Continue reading Episode 054 — Check Facebook Time

We start with Volkswagen, then mortgages, then Ben’s time in Taiwan, and finally end with a critique of the Apple Watch. It all makes sense in the end. Hopefully. This episode is sponsored by Zendesk. Make your customer service seem like magic by building it directly into your apps, websites and products with Zendesk Embeddables. Links Adam Lashinsky: How Apple Words — Fortune Lauren Martin: If You Have Savings in Your 20s, You’re Doing Something Wrong — Elite Daily Steve Jobs: Stanford Commencement Speech — Stanford News Rita McGrath: The End of Competitive Advantage — Amazon Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: … Continue reading Episode 053 — Connect the Dots

Ben and James briefly discuss ad-blockers, then admit it’s an academic debate and move on to the business of advertising and the far more profound shifts that are caused on the Internet and by new places on the Internet. Note: This podcast references Marco Arment’s Peace application, but was recorded before Marco pulled the app. Please see the relevant links below. This episode is sponsored by Zendesk. Make your customer service seem like magic by building it directly into your apps, websites and products with Zendesk Embeddables. Links James Allworth and Ben Thompson: Everything Has a Price — Exponent Marco … Continue reading Episode 052 — All About Ads

Ben and James discuss James’ sophomore experience at Burning Man, and then turn to the iPad Pro and its paucity of quality of applications. Just how much is Apple responsible? This episode is sponsored by Zendesk. Make your customer service seem like magic by building it directly into your apps, websites and products with Zendesk Embeddables. Links Exponent Episode 016 — Naked People Ben Thompson: From Products to Platforms — Stratechery Emanuel Sa: We Need Sketch for the iPad Pro — Designer News Ben Thompson: App Store Policy Follow-up, The iPad Pro, The iPad Pro Accessories — Stratechery Ben Thompson: … Continue reading Episode 051 — Segue

Ben and James discuss the New York Times exposé on Amazon’s work practices at its Seattle headquarters. What exactly was the story about, what questions are raised by it, and more importantly, what are the right answers for not just Amazon but society as a whole? This episode is sponsored by Zendesk. Make your customer service seem like magic by building it directly into your apps, websites and products with Zendesk Embeddables. Links Exponent Episode 016 — Naked People Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld: Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace — The New York Times Julia Cheiffetz: … Continue reading Episode 050 — The Amazon of Podcasts

Ben and James discuss the decision by the California Labor Commission that at least one Uber driver is an employee: will this affect the company’s valuation? More broadly, is this a good or a bad thing for society, and why is it that people blame Uber for societal shortcomings? Then, more on the alleged bubble, unicorn valuation, and how the next couple of years might play out. In addition, Exponent will be on hiatus for the next two months. We may have an episode or two (and will likely repost some “greatest hits”), and will be back to a weekly … Continue reading Episode 049 — In Aggregate

In this week’s episode, Ben and James discuss Dick Costolo stepping down as CEO of Twitter, Apple’s seeming war on Google, and the concerning launch of Apple Music. Links Ben Thompson: Dick Costolo Out as Twitter CEO, Costolo’s Key Shortcoming, Twitter’s Next CEO — Stratechery Daily Update (members-only) Ben Thompson: Twitter Needs New Leadership — Stratechery Chris Sacca: What Twitter Can Ben — Lowercase Capital Mary Meeker: Internet Trends 2015 (Slide 47) — KPCB Ben Thompson: Apple Enables Ad-Blockers — Stratechery Daily Update (members-only) Ben Thompson: Apple Music and Apple’s Focus — Stratechery Charlie Warzel: Apple’s Junk Drawer Problem — … Continue reading Episode 048 — An Exhausting Week