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Exponent

A podcast about tech and society, hosted by Ben Thompson and James Allworth

Ben Thompson / James Allworth

Ben and James reunite to discuss the potential impact of AI on white collar work. Subscribe to Stratechery Plus, including Sharp Tech and Sharp China. Links Ben Thompson: AI Homework — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview With Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman About the Democratization of AI — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 197 — ChatGPT (at Normal Speed)

Ben and James discuss Facebook and Microsoft’s metaverse announcements, and how the future might play out. Links Ben Thompson: Meta — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview with Mark Zuckerberg about the Metaverse — Stratechery Ben Thompson: AR vs. VR — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apps, People, and Jobs to be Done — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Metaverses — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 196 — Forecasting the Metaverse

Are we in the middle of the IT revolution, or on the verge of something new? Links Ben Thompson: The Death and Birth of Technological Revolutions — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of the Beginning — Stratechery John Perry Barlow: A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace — EFF Ben Thompson: Internet 3.0 and the Beginning of (Tech) History — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Internet and the Third Estate — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 195 — Technological Revolutions

Ben and James discuss the history of podcasts and why Spotify’s recent announcements are so compelling for creators. Links Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Surprise — Stratechery Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify — Exponent Ben Thompson: Podcasts, Analytics, and Centralization — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Podcast Aggregation Play — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dithering and Open Versus Free — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Spotify Earnings, Podcasts and Lifetime Value, The Ringer Acquisition — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The European Super League, Apple Music’s Letter to Artists — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Podcast Subscriptions vs. the App Store — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Fearing Spotify?, Apple’s … Continue reading Episode 194 — Back on Spotify

Episode 194 — Back on Spotify

Ben and James discuss Substack and the rise of the sovereign creator. Links Ben Thompson: Sovereign Writers and Substack — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Never-Ending Niches — Stratechery Bruno Maçães: History Has Begun — Hurst Publishers Ben Thompson: Defining Information — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 193 — Sovereign Podcasters

Ben and James discuss Australia’s Media Bargaining Code and its fall-out. Links Ben Thompson: Google Makes Deal With News Corp, Facebook Blocks News in Australia, Microsoft’s Shamelessness — Stratechery Daily Update James Allworth: Australia’s Proposed “Fox News Tax” — Medium Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 192 — The Australian Perspective

Ben and James discuss whether Facebook and Twitter should de-platform President Trump. Links Ben Thompson: Tech and Trump — Stratechery Ben Thompson: New Defaults — Stratechery James Allworth: Prioritizing Economics is Crippling the U.S. Economy — Medium Ben Thompson: Trump and Twitter — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 191 — Facebook, Twitter, and Trump

Ben and James discuss Apple’s new chip announcement and what it means for both Apple and Intel. Links James Allworth: Intel’s Disruption is Now Complete — Medium Ben Thompson: Apple’s Shifting Differentiation — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Intel Opportunity — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple, ARM, and Intel — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Chips and Geopolitics — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Intel and the Danger of Integration — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 190 — Intel, Apple, Disruption, and Differentiation

Ben and James discuss the state of bundles in 2020, including Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Microsoft, and Apple. Links Ben Thompson: 2020 Bundles — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Great Unbundling — Stratechery Reed Hastings: 2018 Q4 Letter to Shareholders — Netflix Growth At Any Cost: Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo — And Warned That Facebook Could Get People Killed — BuzzFeed News Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook Lenses — Stratechery Casey Newton: Mark in the Middle — The Verge Ben Thompson: Losing My Amazon Religion — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Jobs TV … Continue reading Episode 189 — Bundles

Episode 189 — Bundles

Ben and James discuss the antitrust subcommittee hearing, the problems of mixing antitrust and Aggregators, and how to think about regulation and democracy. Links Ben Thompson: Antitrust Politics — Stratechery The New York Times: Here’s which tech C.E.O. was asked the most questions by lawmakers. — NY Times Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Antitrust Hearing, The Role of Congress, CEO Questions — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: A Framework for Regulating Competition on the Internet — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Ends, Means, … Continue reading Episode 188 — Big Tech, Antitrust, and Democracy

Episode 188 — Big Tech, Antitrust, and Democracy

Ben and James discuss the Indian internet, TikTok, and whether or not the U.S. should ban it. Links Ben Thompson: Facebook Invests in Jio Platforms, The Building of Jio, Understanding the Deal — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The China Cultural Clash — Stratechery Ben Thompson: India Bans Chinese Apps, The App Store Firewall — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 187 — India, TikTok, and the U.S.

Ben and James discuss the current protests and Facebook’s decision to not take down Trump tweets. Links Ben Thompson: Zero Trust Information — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dust in the Light — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zuckerberg’s Choice, Zuckerberg’s Power, Zuckerberg’s Conviction — Stratechery Principle Stacks — Exponent Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 186 — Speech and Systems

Ben and James discuss Dithering, how Spotify is like Facebook, and a bit about working from home. Links Ben Thompson & John Gruber: Dithering — Dithering Ben Thompson: Dithering and Open Versus Free — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Daily Update Podcast — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Podcast Aggregation Play — Stratechery Ben Thompson: America Wakes Up?, An Interview with Matt Mullenweg About Working From Homey — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify

Ben and James discuss masks and Twitter’s decision to delete tweets about COVID-19. Links Zeynep Tufekci: Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired — The New York Times Ben Thompson: Unmasking Twitter — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Compaq and Coronavirus — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zero Trust Information — Stratechery China’s Decision to Leave Asymptomatic Patients off Coronavirus Infection Tally Sparks Debate — Caixin Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books and Blogs — Stratechery Why It’s So Freaking Hard To Make A Good COVID-19 Model — FiveThirtyEight Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard … Continue reading Episode 184 — Good is Better than Perfect

Episode 184 — Good is Better than Perfect

Ben and James contrast U.S. and China’s response to the coronavirus, and the choices facing society about how to handle information. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Earnings, Slowing Services Growth, Apple and the Coronavirus — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Economic Power in the Age of Abundance — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Corona Virus Whistleblowers; NBA Salary Cap Decreases; Apple, Benefits, and Risks — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Disney and COVID-19, The Coronavirus IPO, In Defense of Twitter — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zero Trust Information — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Internet and the Third Estate — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, … Continue reading Episode 183 — A Search for Everything

Episode 183 — A Search for Everything

Ben and James discuss the FTC’s decision to block the acquisition of Harry’s Razors, the DTC market, and the difference between being a monopoly and being too big. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Investor Warning, Foxconn’s Investor Warning, An Interview with Dan Wang — Stratechery Daily Update | Daily Update Podcast Ben Thompson: Email Addresses and Razor Blades — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dollar Shave Club and the Disruption of Everything — Stratechery Ben Thompson: First, Do No Harm — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Local News Business Model — Stratechery Ben … Continue reading Episode 182 — Scale Scale Scale

Episode 182 — Scale Scale Scale

Ben and James discuss Ben’s new Daily Update Podcast, and why Exponent is not on Spotify. Then, should regulators roll back acquisitions or prioritize the avoidance of unintended consequences? Links Ben Thompson: The Daily Update Podcast — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Rationale Behind the Daily Update Podcast, Podcasts and Email, Spotify and the Three Bens — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Podcast Aggregation Play — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Spotify Earnings, Podcasts and Lifetime Value, The Ringer Acquisition — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: First, Do No Harm — Stratechery Ben Thompson re: Facebook Acquiring Instagram in 2011: Twitter Eric … Continue reading Episode 181 — Competing with Spotify and Regulating Acquisitions

Episode 181 — Competing with Spotify and Regulating Acquisitions

Ben and James eulogize Professor Clayton M. Christensen Links Clayton M. Christensen: How Will You Measure Your Life? — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Clayton Christensen Passes Away, Professor Christensen and I, Kobe Bryant and Measuring Your Life — Stratechery Daily Update James Allworth, Karen Dillon, and Clayton M. Christensen — How Will You Measure Your Life? Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 180 — It’s Been a Week

Ben and James discuss whether mobile and hyper-scale clouds are the natural endpoint for this stage of technology, or if new companies will ride new paradigm shifts to replace Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Links Ben Thompson: The End of the Beginning — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Obsoletive — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of the Beginning Follow-Up, Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, Venture versus Productive Capital— Stratechery Daily Update Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital — Carlota Perez Ben Thompson: Bubble Talk, Revisited; It [Wasn’t] 1999; The Big Tech Basket — Stratechery Daily Update The Structure of Scientific Revolutions — Thomas … Continue reading Episode 179 — The Water We Swim In

Episode 179 — The Water We Swim In

Ben and James discuss the downsides of monopoly, and Apple. Then, why there is no absolute answer when it comes to integration or modularization, and why different approaches require different types of organizations and different types of leaders. Links Ben Thompson: Integration and Monopoly — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Cost of Monopoly — Stratechery John Gruber: 16-Inch MacBook Pro First Impressions: Great Keyboard, Outstanding Speakers — Daring Fireball Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review … Continue reading Episode 178 — More Ergonomic

Episode 178 — More Ergonomic

Ben and James discuss the origins of the First Amendment, what a culture of free expression means, and Facebook’s ad policy. Links Ben Thompson: Tech and Liberty — Stratechery Randall Munroe: Free Speech — xkcd Pat Kerr: Why I think xkcd is wrong about Free Speech — Medium Ben Thompson: The China Cultural Clash — Stratechery The Federalist Papers : No. 84 — Yale Law Rep. Ocasio-Cortez questions Mark Zuckerberg on when Facebook will fact check — YouTube Jon Gertner: The Very, Very Personal Is the Political — The New York Times Magazine United States v. Alvarez — Casetext Julia … Continue reading Episode 177 — Principle Stacks

Episode 177 — Principle Stacks

Ben and James discuss how the Internet’s impact will be like the printing press’s, and what that means for how we should think about Facebook. Note: We apologize for the slight audio discrepancy between Ben and James Links Ben Thompson: The Internet and the Third Estate — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zuckerberg’s Speech, Facebook Versus China, The Structure of Free Expression — Stratechery Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — And Inevitable Fall — Stratechery Perry Link: China: The Anaconda in the Chandelier — ChinaFile Mark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression — Facebook The Federalist Papers: No. 47— Yale … Continue reading Episode 176 — The Second Estate Era

Episode 176 — The Second Estate Era

Ben and James discuss the NBA and Apple in China and the long-term implications of doing business with authoritarian governments. Links Ben Thompson: The China Cultural Clash — Stratechery r/HongKong: List Of Companies Under China’s Censorship Orders (So Far). Credit To U/Lebe — Reddit Sam Dastyari Quits As Labor Senator Over China Connections — The Guardian Rejected three times due to fear of Beijing, controversial book on China’s secret influence will finally be published — Business Insider Ethan Strauss: Can Steve Kerr and the NBA do better on China? — The Athletic Ben Thompson: Apple Pulls Hong Kong App, Tim … Continue reading Episode 175 — The Abyss Stares Back

Episode 175 — The Abyss Stares Back

Ben and James discuss Facebook from multiple angles, including child sexual abuse material, encryption, Oculus, and a leaked all-hands meeting.   Links Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery The Internet Is Overrun With Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong? — New York Times Ben Thompson: Child Sexual Abuse Material Online, The Problem With Community, Towards More Friction — Stratechery Casey Newton: Read The Full Transcript of Mark Zuckerberg’s Leaked Internal Facebook Meetings — The Verge Ben Thompson: Facebook’s All-Hands Leak, Facebook Versus Warren, Zuckerberg’s Culture — Stratechery Attorney General Bill Barr Will Ask Zuckerberg To Halt Plans For End-To-End … Continue reading Episode 174 — Distracted at Facebook

Episode 174 — Distracted at Facebook

Ben and James discuss Cloudflare and what it is like going through an IPO, as well as what has gone wrong with WeWork.   Links Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Cloudflare’s S-1 — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: AWS and the Impact on Venture Capital — Stratechery Ben Thompson: WeWork Delays IPO — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The WeWork IPO — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why WeWork Isn’t AWS — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Is a Tech Company? — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review … Continue reading Episode 173 — The Exponent IPO

Episode 173 — The Exponent IPO

Ben and James discuss WWDC keynote and why it was so important for Apple to move past the iPhone.   Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Audacity — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery Letter from Tim Cook to Apple investors — Apple Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery Updates to the App Store Guidelines — Apple Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery Hosts   Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review   Podcast Information   Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 172 — Game of Phones

Ben and James discuss the U.S.-China trade war and the fundamental issues facing both countries generally and tech specifically. Links Ben Thompson: China, Leverage, and Values — Stratechery We Were Pirates, Too — Foreign Policy How China Uses High-Tech Surveillance to Subdue Minorities — New York Times Ben Thompson: The Pollyannish Assumption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: More on Values (and Facebook) — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Open, Closed, and Privacy — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 171 — An Intra-west Debate

Ben and James discuss the Zoom and Slack IPOs in the context of Microsoft’s current success and long-term challenges. Links Ben Thompson: Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2018 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google Fights Back — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Earnings, Microsoft’s Growth Opportunities — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Microsoft Build, Microsoft’s Strategic Clarity, An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Cost of Developers — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google Fights Back — Stratechery Geoffrey Moore: … Continue reading Episode 170 — A Perfect Meal

Episode 170 — A Perfect Meal

Ben and James discuss Disney’s recent announcements on streaming and what it says about not just TV but strategy broadly in the Internet era. Links Ben Thompson: Disney and the Future of TV — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Disney and the Value of the Consumer Relationship, Disney’s Consolidation of Hulu, Comcast and AT&T — Stratechery Daily Update Disney CEO Bob Iger Unveils Details on Disney+ Streaming Service — CNBC Ben Thompson: Airbnb and the Internet Revolution — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 169 — Family-Friendly Disney

Ben and James discuss why Internet regulation is coming, why it is probably necessary, and how it should be targeted. Links Ben Thompson: A Regulatory Framework for the Internet — Stratechery New Livestreaming Legislation Fails to Take Into Account How the Internet Actually Works — The Conversation Out of the Clouds and Into the Weeds: Cloudflare’s Approach to Abuse in New Products — Cloudflare Unpacking the Stack and Addressing Complaints about Content — Cloudflare Ben Thompson: Mark Zuckerberg’s Proposal, The Copyright Directive and Sunk Costs, You Say You Want Some Regulation — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery … Continue reading Episode 168 — A Community of Loonies

Episode 168 — A Community of Loonies

Ben and James discuss the question of YouTube, why it’s similar and different from Facebook, and why engagement is both alluring and a potential problem. Links YouTube Executives Ignored Warnings, Letting Toxic Videos Run Rampant — Bloomberg Ben Thompson: Apple’s Services Event — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Mark Zuckerberg’s Proposal, The Copyright Directive and Sunk Costs — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: YouTube and Toxic Videos, YouTube’s Problematic Incentives, Sins of Omission and Commission — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Pollyannish Assumption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Wall Street Journal and Apple News, The Problem with Regulating … Continue reading Episode 167 — YouTube and the End of Friction

Episode 167 — YouTube and the End of Friction

Ben and James discuss Senator Warren’s proposal to break up Big Tech, including why its history is wrong, why details matter, and what needs to be done instead. Plus, Spotify’s antitrust complaint against Apple. Links Senator Elizabeth Warren: Here’s how we can break up Big Tech — Medium Ben Thompson: Where Warren’s Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Amazon’s Price Parity Provision, The Amazon Marketplace Question — Stratechery Daily Update Five Fast Facts About Apple’s Anti-competitive Behavior — Time To Play Fair (Spotify Website) Ben Thompson: Spotify Files Antitrust Complaint Against Apple, Spotify and Warren, More Amazon Marketplace Changes — Stratechery Daily … Continue reading Episode 166 — Fence-building vs. Axe-wielding

Episode 166 — Fence-building vs. Axe-wielding

Ben and James discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s latest missive, whether Facebook is actually changing anything, and wonder if the company will ever tell the unvarnished truth. Links Mark Zuckerberg: A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking — Facebook Ben Thompson: Facebook’s Privacy Cake — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Social/Communications Map — Stratechery After an “identity crisis,” Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya says he’s taught himself how to be happy again — Recode Ben Thompson: The Audacity of Copying Well — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Messaging: Mobile’s Killer App — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Open, Closed, and … Continue reading Episode 165 — Mark Zuckerberg’s Projected Self

Episode 165 — Mark Zuckerberg’s Projected Self

Ben and James discuss Amazon, Walmart, and groceries, Google Cloud versus AWS, and why understanding value chains helps evaluate business opportunities. Links Ben Thompson: The Value Chain Constraint — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Walmart’s Earnings, Walmart’s Grocery Business, Amazon’s Grocery Stumbles — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Amazon the Black Swan — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Amazon’s New Customer — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Walmart and the Multichannel Trap — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google Cloud Changes CEOs, Layers of Surprise (or Not), The VMWare Analogy — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — … Continue reading Episode 164 — Valuing Value Chains

Episode 164 — Valuing Value Chains

Ben and James discuss Apple News as it is today, where Apple wants to take it in the future, and why publishers should push back. Links Ben Thompson: The Cost of Apple News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Direct-to-Consumer Publishers are Selling — Stratechery Daily Update Apple News’s Radical Approach: Humans Over Machines — New York Times Publishers Chafe at Apple’s Terms for Subscription News Service — Wall Street Journal Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery The Report of the 2020 Group — New York Times Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast … Continue reading Exponent 163 — Publishers vs Apple News

Exponent 163 — Publishers vs Apple News

Ben and James discuss Spotify’s move into podcasts and integration and modularity in value chains. Links Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Podcast Aggregation Play — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Lessons From Spotify — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Podcasts, Analytics, and Centralization — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Future of Podcasting — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The BuzzFeed Lesson — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Exponent 162 — Why Exponent Isn’t on Spotify

Ben and James discuss Apple vs Facebook (and Google!). Links Josh Constine: Facebook Pays Teens to Install VPN That Spies on Them — TechCrunch Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users — Wall Street Journal Ben Thompson: Facebook Versus Apple — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Andrew Bosworth Memo — BuzzFeed Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 161 — Vigilante Justice

Ben and James discuss Netflix, why it is an Aggregator, and why Disney isn’t actually a competitor Links Ben Thompson: Netflix Flexes — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why TV Has Resisted Disruption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 160 — Zeros All the Way Down

Ben and James discuss open source in a cloud world, how enterprise value chains have changed, and AWS versus Microsoft. Links Ben Thompson: AWS, MongoDB, and the Economic Realities of Open Source — Stratechery Ben Thompson: How Google is Challenging AWS — Stratechery Satya Nadella on Microsoft — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 159 — Inverted Pyramids

Ben and James discuss Apple’s revenue warning and the company’s shift to services. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Errors — Stratechery Letter from Tim Cook to Apple Investors — Apple Ben Thompson: Two Bears — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery Ben Thompson: CES and the Unification of Computing and Consumer Electronics, Google Assistant and Integration, The Modular Competition — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The Android Detour — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 158 — A Significant Shift

James and Ben talk about the connection between Jobs to be Done and Aggregation Theory, why the consumer and enterprise markets are so different, and discomfort with big companies like Google. Links Ben Thompson: Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Scooter Economy — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Jobs TV Does — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2018 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Data Factories — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Slack versus Teams — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App … Continue reading Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering

Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering

Exponent is back, kind of. Ben and James talk about Apple’s case in front of the Supreme Court, and debate whether the company is acting anti-competitively with its App Store policies. Links Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple App Store Follow-up — Stratechery Daily Update Apple Inc. v. Robert Pepper, et al. oral arguments — Supreme Court of the United States Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Episode 156 — Rent-Seeking

Exponent is taking a break, for now anyways. We couldn’t be more grateful for everyone that has given us so much of their time. Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Episode 155 — The End, For Now

Ben and James discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub. Note: This is the last episode of the season; Exponent will return in the fall Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Cost of Developers — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Redmond and Reality — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Episode 154 — Legacy Leverage

Ben and James continue their discussion on why aggregators and platforms are different and why it matters for big companies, competitors, and regulators. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Bill Gates Line — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Case Against Google — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy tbh — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Episode 153 — Black Holes

Ben and James continue to discuss the differences between platforms and aggregators, including Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon, and Uber. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Moat Map — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books and Blogs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tech’s Two Philosophies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Casual Gaming is a Sustainable Business, but Not a Platform Differentiator — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery … Continue reading Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators

Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators

Ben and James discuss the differences between Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple specifically, and the differences between aggregators and platforms generally. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Google Duplex Demo — YouTube Ben Thompson: Tech’s Two Philosophies — Stratechery Note: The Steve Jobs videos are in the above article Ben Thompson: Platforms Versus Aggregators — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Face is Not the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: From Products to Platforms — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the … Continue reading Episode 151 — Two by Twos

Episode 151 — Two by Twos

Ben and James discuss how Apple and Amazon’s focus on the customer experience protects them from low-end disruption. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Divine Discontent: Disruption’s Antidote — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The $550 iPhone 5C Makes Perfect Sense — Stratechery GRAPH: The Disruptive Innovation Model — Harvard Business Review Louis C K: Everything Is Amazing and Nobody is Happy — YouTube Ben Thompson: Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery Ben Bajarin: Top Takeaways From Studying iPhone X … Continue reading Episode 150 — Round Numbers

Episode 150 — Round Numbers

Ben and James discuss Zillow’s shift in business model and the further refinement of Aggregation Theory through the incorporation of the ideas of disruption. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Opendoor: A Startup Worth Emulating — Stratechery Episode 098: Shattered Glass — Exponent Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books and Blog … Continue reading Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation

Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation

Ben and James discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s appearances before Congress, and try to sort out exactly which Facebook issues matter, and which don’t. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Facebook Current — Stratechery Zeynep Tufekci: Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t Fixed Facebook — Wired Ben Thompson: Fake News — Stratechery The Toutiao Apology — China Media Project Growth At Any Cost: Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo — And Warned That Facebook Could Get People Killed — BuzzFeed Ben Thompson: The Facebook Brand — Stratechery There’s … Continue reading Episode 148 — Facebook Fatigue

Episode 148 — Facebook Fatigue

Ben and James discuss Microsoft’s reorganization, how Satya Nadella has managed the decline of Windows, and how it applies to Apple and services. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Stratechery 4.0 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Services, Not Devices — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows and the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Monopoly Hangover — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Redmond and Reality … Continue reading Episode 147 — There’s Always a Bigger Fish

Episode 147 — There’s Always a Bigger Fish

Ben and James discuss Facebook’s current crisis, and why almost everyone misunderstands what the company did wrong: the problem isn’t advertising, it was Facebook’s desire to be a platform. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links James Allworth: What the F*** Was Facebook Thinking — Medium Ben Thompson: The Facebook Brand — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tim Cook’s Unfair and Unrealistic Privacy Speech — Stratechery Mark Zuckerberg’s Reckoning: ‘This Is a Major Trust Issue’ — The New York Times Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Good News — Stratechery Nicholas Thompson: … Continue reading Episode 146 — Facebook’s Real Mistake

Episode 146 — Facebook’s Real Mistake

Ben and James discuss President Trump’s intervention in Broadcom’s takeover of Qualcomm, the problem with patents, and whether or not markets inherently overvalue short-term thinking. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Qualcomm,National Security, and Patents — Stratechery Dr. L. J. Hart-Smith: Out-Sourced Profits — The Cornerstone of Successful Subcontracting — Boeing Paper Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Episode 145 — Qualcomm, Patents, and Innovation

Ben and James discuss Spotify’s F-1, why Spotify isn’t Netflix, and why record companies are doing well even though they are acting sub-optimally. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links James Allworth: Why I’m Not Going Near Spotify (and Why You Shouldn’t Either) — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: Lessons From Spotify — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Great Unbundling — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Could Spotify Be Netlix — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Increasing Power — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes … Continue reading Episode 144 — 90s Alt Forever

Episode 144 — 90s Alt Forever

Ben and James discuss Dropbox’s S-1 and why the company is a success but still a disappointment. Plus, why companies should go public sooner. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Dropbox Comp — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dropbox’s Cost of Revenue — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Battle of the Box — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dropbox Leaves AWS — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Does Uber Have a Strategy Problem — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter … Continue reading Episode 143 — Dilly-Dallying Dropbox

Episode 143 — Dilly-Dallying Dropbox

Ben and James discuss Google’s recent moves around blocking ads and promoting AMP and whether they raise antitrust questions. Plus, why Microsoft couldn’t have stopped Google, and why cryptocurrencies are aggregator kryptonite. NOTE: The previous version of this episode was not edited in the middle. There is no new content in this episode, but it should be easier to listen to. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Aggregation Paradox — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Case Against Google — Stratechery Daily Update Charles Duhigg: The Case Against Google — The … Continue reading Episode 142 (Updated) — Google and Antitrust

Episode 142 (Updated) — Google and Antitrust

Ben and James answer reader questions. Topics include business school, career advice, the nature of strategy, creating the next Silicon Valley, and how governments should deal with the disruptions caused by the Internet. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Books to Blogs — Stratechery James Allworth, Karen Dillon, and Clayton Christenson: How Will You Measure Your Life? — ClaytonChristensen.com Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel — W. W. Norton & Company Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens — HarperCollins … Continue reading Episode 141 — The Mailbag Episode

Episode 141 — The Mailbag Episode

Ben and James discuss Apple’s strategy of monetizing its customer base, how that explains HomePod, and whether or not it is a problem. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books to Blogs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple and the Oak Tree — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Lessons and Questions of the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple is Not a Services Company — Stratechery Daily Update NOTE: Apple has taken down the supplemental financial information from Q1 2016 … Continue reading Episode 140 — The Products They Built Along the Way

Episode 140 — The Products They Built Along the Way

Ben and James discuss Amazon’s health care announcement and why the industry is so challenging. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to partner on U.S. employee healthcare — BusinessWire Ben Thompson: Amazon Health — Stratechery Aaron E. Carroll: The Real Reason the U.S. Has Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance — New York Times The Best Health Care System in the World: Which One Would You Pick? — New York Times Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud … Continue reading Episode 139 — Amazon and Health Care

Episode 139 — Amazon and Health Care

Ben and James discuss Amazon Go and what it says about the economics of tech and how Amazon is building multiple monopolies. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Amazon Go and the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Episode 138 — A Moat Too Far

Ben and James discuss Facebook’s algorithm change, the difference between Facebook and Snapchat, and what the company’s motivations might be. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Facebook’s Motivations — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Feed — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Popping the Publishing Bubble — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Tyler Cowen: A Simple Theory of Moore’s Law and Social Media — Marginal Revolution Farhad Manjoo: It’s … Continue reading Episode 137 — Addicted to Facebook

Episode 137 — Addicted to Facebook

Ben and James discuss the Meltdown and Spectre bugs and what they say about processors, technology, and even society. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Meltdown, Spectre, and the State of Technology — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Alexa: Amazon’s Operating System — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Arrival of Artificial Intelligence — Stratechery Nicholas Kristof: Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History — New York Times Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Episode 136 — It’s All 1s and 0s

Ben and James discuss Disney’s recent history, its acquisition of Fox, Netflix’s power, and why more and more policy decisions are about choosing the worst of two options. Note: This episode was recorded on Monday, December 18, 2017. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Disney and Fox — Stratechery From Intel to Disney — Exponent Ben Thompson: Why Disney and ESPN Will Be OK — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content … Continue reading Episode 135 — Two Is Better Than One

Episode 135 — Two Is Better Than One

Ben and James discuss why effective content moderation is so hard, how it can be done, and why it sometimes shouldn’t be. Plus, how tech optimists and tech critics make the exact same mistake. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Pollyannish Assumption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Pollyannish Assumption and Bright Lines, YouTube’s Market Power, Google vs Amazon — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Tech’s Person of the Year; Uber at the End of 2017; Fowler’s True Impact, and Means — Stratechery Daily Update The Laborers Who Keep Dick … Continue reading Episode 134 — Human Problems

Episode 134 — Human Problems

Ben and James discuss the net neutrality debate and why both sides of the issue at hand involve making difficult tradeoffs; the bigger problem is broken governance. Please listen to the end! Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Pro-Neutrality, Anti-Title II — Stratechery Ben Thompson: “Light Touch”, Cable, and DSL; The Broadband Tradeoff; The Importance of Antitrust — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and Net Neutrality — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Net Neutrality and Zero Rating — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Comcast’s Inevitable Data Caps, T-Mobile Offers Free Video, America Versus … Continue reading Episode 133 — Two Terrible Options

Episode 133 — Two Terrible Options

Ben and James discuss IPOs, including those of Stitch Fix, SendGrid, and Blue Apron, and the importance of understanding what type of company you are. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Stitch Fix and the Senate — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why (Most) IPOs are Under-Price — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Waze Winners and Losers — Stratechery Ben Thompson: SendGrid IPOs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Blue Apron Files for IPO — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James … Continue reading Episode 132 — Successful Disappointments

Episode 132 — Successful Disappointments

Ben and James break down the differences between new market and low end disruption and how they apply — or don’t — to Apple and the iPhone. Links Ben Thompson: Apple at Its Best — Stratechery Apple’s iPhone X Parts Cost $115 More Than iPhone 8, IHS Says — Bloomberg Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Beyond the iPhone — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Android Detour — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple and the Oak Tree — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review … Continue reading Episode 131 — Head-on is Hard

Episode 131 — Head-on is Hard

Ben and James walk through the history of Stratechery to explain why Facebook is inescapable for a podcast about tech and society. Links Ben Thompson: Tech Goes to Washington — Stratechery John Gruber: Blackberry vs. iPhone — Daring Fireball (note: I said on the podcast this was written in 2007; it was written in 2008) Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Peak Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Revisiting Peak Google, Again — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: More Spectacles Mea Culpas — … Continue reading Episode 130 — The 50,000 Foot View

Episode 130 — The 50,000 Foot View

Ben and James discuss why acquisitions should be the focus of tech regulators in the context of Facebook buying tbh today, and Instagram and WhatsApp previously. Links Ben Thompson: Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy TBH — Stratechery Marco Arment: The Impossible Dream of USB-C — Marco.org Ben Thompson: Peak Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Revisiting Peak Google, Again — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter … Continue reading Episode 129 — The Disruption Antidote

Episode 129 — The Disruption Antidote

Ben and James discuss the structure that leads to gatekeepers and abusers like Harvey Weinstein, and why it is so dangerous to accept as fact that the world was better before the Internet. Links Ben Thompson: Goodbye Gatekeepers — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Gatekeepers Follow-Up, Hollywood and Venture Capital — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The Justin Caldbeck Affair, The Enablers — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery Ben Thompson: In Defense of the New York Times — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery As U.S. Confronts Internet’s Disruptions, China Feels Vindicated … Continue reading Episode 128 — Counterfactuals

Episode 128 — Counterfactuals

Ben and James discuss Facebook and where both its critics and executives go wrong. It’s time for everyone to consider the worst-case scenarios. NOTE: We unfortunately had significant audio issues this week on both sides (which, by the way, had nothing to do with the cut cable referenced in the podcast ). Our apologies. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery This is why tech companies won’t disclose content of Russian ads — The Outline Ben Thompson: Trustworthy Networking — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery The Barriers … Continue reading Episode 127 — The Worst-Case Scenario

Episode 127 — The Worst-Case Scenario

Ben and James discuss the development of theory, why blogs have disrupted books, and why too many in tech are too pessimistic about humanity. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: More Aggregators — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — and Inevitable Fall — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books and Blogs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Twitter’s Marketing Problem — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review … Continue reading Episode 126 — Getting to the Future Faster

Episode 126 — Getting to the Future Faster

Ben and James discuss the different levels of aggregation, Facebook and Russian ads, and why it’s worth defending the future. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Super-Aggregators and the Russians — Stratechery Facebook Enabled Advertisers to Reach ‘Jew Haters’ — ProPublica Ben Thompson: Inspired Media — Stratechery James Allworth: Technology Has Become Water — Medium Sheryl Sandberg on Facebook Advertising Changes — Facebook Dollar Shave Club and the Disruption of Everything — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Everything is Changing; So Should Antitrust — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud … Continue reading Episode 125 — The Super-Aggregators

Episode 125 — The Super-Aggregators

Ben and James discuss Apple’s the cellular Apple Watch, the iPhone X and 8 markets, and whether the opening was over-the-top. Presented by MailChimp Links Episode 018: Agree to Disagree — Exponent Ben Thompson: The Lessons and Questions of the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Cellular Apple Watch — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What I Got Wrong About Apple Watch — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Beyond the iPhone — Stratechery Wearable Fitness Devices Don’t Seem to Make You Fitter — New York Times Ben … Continue reading Episode 124 — The Watch, The Phone, The Beatles

Episode 124 — The Watch, The Phone, The Beatles

Ben and James discuss the why it is Ben can’t stop talking about Aggregation Theory, and the future of regulation. Presented by MailChimp Links Episode 016: Naked People (James first trip to Burning Man) — Exponent Ben Thompson: Everything is Changing; So Should Antitrust — Stratechery Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Strength — and Inevitable Fall — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Ad Agencies and Accountability — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Paypal’s Incentive Problem — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dollar Shave Club and the Disruption of Everything — Stratechery Episode 005: The World Has Changed — Exponent Ben Thompson: Antitrust and … Continue reading Episode 123 — There Is No Going Back

Episode 123 — There Is No Going Back

Ben and James discuss the Theory of the Conservation of Attractive Profits, Intel, Netflix, and how it all applies to Disney. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Disney’s Choice — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Disney Follow-up — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth about Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: ESPN: From Franchise to Business — Stratechery Daily Update Warren Buffett: 1991 Letter to Shareholders — Berkshire Hathaway Ben Thompson: Netflix Goes Global — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Correction the Netflix … Continue reading Episode 122 — From Intel to Disney

Episode 122 — From Intel to Disney

Ben and James discuss Benchmark’s lawsuit against Uber and Cloudfare’s ban of Daily Stormer. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Uber Dilemma — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple and the Oak Tree — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Waymo’s Lawsuit Against Uber — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Does Uber Have a Strategy Problem? — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Crisis at Uber — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Cloudfare and Daily Stormer — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Facebook Content Guidelines — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, … Continue reading Episode 121 — The Uber Mutation

Episode 121 — The Uber Mutation

Ben and James discuss the European Commission’s antitrust ruling against Google and the challenges of antitrust in a world governed by Aggregation Theory. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Ends, Means, and Antitrust — Stratechery Episode 005: The World Has Changed — Exponent Ben Thompson: Antitrust and Aggregation — Stratechery Press Release — European Commission Fact Sheet — European Commission Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 120 — Google, Antitrust, and Aggregation Theory

Ben and James discuss Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, when acquisitions make sense, and the potential future of antitrust law. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Amazon’s New Customer — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Acquisitions and Network Effects, Antitrust and Network Effects, The Saga of Whole Foods — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The Amazon Tax — Stratechery Tom Foster: The Shelf Life of John Mackey — Texas Monthly Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 119 — Amazon and Avocados

Ben and James discuss the business of podcasting specifically and advertising generally, and why Apple’s recent changes will have less of an effect than people think. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Podcasts, Analytics, and Centralization — Stratechery Episode 082: A Podcast About Podcasts — Exponent Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Patreon’s Update — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 118 — Podcasting and Centralization

Ben and James discuss Apple’s WWDC keynote, playing to your strengths, and privacy that matters. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Strengths and Weaknesses — Stratechery IAMA Foxconn insider with information on next 12 months of hardware updates — Reddit Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery How Apple’s Siri Lost Her Mojo — Wall Street Journal Zac Cichy on Apple and Privacy — Twitter Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tim Cook’s Unfair and Unrealistic Privacy Speech, Strategy Credits, The Privacy Priority Problem — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information … Continue reading Episode 117 — Fruitful Clapping

Episode 117 — Fruitful Clapping

Ben and James discuss myths, culture, and blockchains — and yes, bubbles. NOTE: The original version had a corrupted file. Our apologies. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Tulips, Myths, and Cryptocurrencies — Stratechery Abhishek Chakravarty: The Product Manager’s guide to the Blockchain  — Medium Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens Fred Ehrsam: Blockchain Tokens and the dawn of the Decentralized Business Model — Coinbase Blog Greeks are Rushing to Bitcoin — CNN Facebook accused of targeting ‘insecure’ children and young people, report says — Mashable Ben Thompson: The Cost of Bitcoin — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Selling Feelings — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, … Continue reading Episode 116 — Blockchain Beauty Contest

Episode 116 — Blockchain Beauty Contest

Ben and James discuss Google I/O, the importance of business relative to technology, and why Uber is in trouble. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Boring Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Google’s Go-to-Market — Stratechery How Uber and Waymo Ended Up Rivals in the Race for Driverless Cars — New York Times Ben Thompson: Does Uber Have a Strategy Problem? — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 115 — Business Matters

Ben and James discuss why figuring out a new model means abandoning the old, this time in the context of newspapers and news. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Local News Business Model — Stratechery Jim Rutenberg: Ad Buyers Have a Say in Whether Real News Survives — New York Times Ben Thompson: Wikitribune — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Why BuzzFeed is the Most Important News Organization in the World — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 114 — The Job of Local News

Ben and James discuss how leverage shifts in a value chain, why WeChat is so powerful in China, and why that is a problem for Apple. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Messaging: Mobile’s Killer App — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Slack and the State of Technology at the End of 2015 — Stratechery Connie Chan: When One App Rules Them All: The Case of WeChat and Mobile in China — a16z Ben Thompson: Peak Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Beyond Disruption — Stratechery James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium Ben Thompson: The State … Continue reading Episode 113 — WeChat, China, and Apple

Episode 113 — WeChat, China, and Apple

Ben and James discuss whether or not monopolies are good, the differences between education and healthcare, and how to build an economy of the future. Presented by MailChimp Links Episode 012: The Internet Rainforest — Exponent Episode 005: The World Has Changed — Exponent Ben Thompson: Not OK, Google — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Cost of Monopoly — Stratechery How Google Eats a Business Whole — The Outline Meet the Google Alum Who Created China’s Facebook-Groupon Mashup — Bloomberg Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented … Continue reading Episode 112 — It’s Complicated

Episode 112 — It’s Complicated

Ben and James discuss what it means if Facebook is a monopoly, what is lost if it is, and why there isn’t anything that can be done about it — for now. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Facebook Epoch — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Cost of Monopoly — Stratechery Kurt Gessler: Facebook’s algorithm isn’t surfacing one-third of our posts. And it’s getting worse — Medium Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 111 — Lamentation Not Condemnation

James and Ben discuss moral hazard and what seems to be going wrong with the U.S. economy, the different kinds of regulation, and how the App Store explains government policy. Presented by MailChimp Links James Allworth: Prioritizing Economics is Crippling the U.S. Economy — Medium Ryne Rohla: Creating a National Precinct Map — Decision Desk HQ Jeff Bezos: Annual Letter to Shareholders — SEC Matt Stoller: How Democrats Killed Their Populist Soul — The Atlantic Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 110 — Moral Hazard

Ben and James discuss Apple’s Mac Pro screw-up and what it might say about the company and its culture. Presented by MailChimp Links John Gruber: The Mac Pro Lives — Daring Fireball Jay Yarow: Phil Schiller on Apple’s Ad Agency in an Email — Business Insider Ben Thompson: Whither Liberal Arts — Stratechery Apple iPad Air Ad — YouTube Steve Jobs After the GarageBand Demo During the Introduction of the iPad 2 — YouTube Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery Ben Thompson: From Products to Platforms — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Business on the App … Continue reading Episode 109 — Screw-ups Are Fun!

Episode 109 — Screw-ups Are Fun!

Ben and James discuss the meaning of artificial intelligence, whether machine learning qualifies, and a platform for dealing with the impact. Presented by MailChimp Links Chris Dixon: How Aristotle Created the Computer — The Atlantic Ben Thompson: The Arrival of Artificial Intelligence — Stratechery Dan Primack: Takeaways from Steve Mnuchins Axios Interview — Axios Maureen Dowd: Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse — Vanity Fair The Most Common Jobs in Every State — NPR At Blackrock, Machines Are Rising over Managers to Pick Stocks — [The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/business/dealbook/blackrock-actively-managed- Ben Thompson: Verizon, AOL, Facebook Instant Articles, and … Continue reading Episode 108 — Statistics Gone Wild

Episode 108 — Statistics Gone Wild

Ben and James discuss the concept of The Smiling Curve and how it applies to various industries. Then, where value might be found in self-driving cars, and why both Uber and Google are getting it wrong. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Publishers and the Smiling Curve — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Intel, Mobileye, and Smiling Curves — Stratechery Episode 012: The Internet Rainforest — Exponent “After SO many years of being lost, we finally have Aaliyah’s performance of ‘Try Again’ on Jay Leno. This is RARE as fuck.” — Twitter Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, … Continue reading Episode 107 — Smiling Curves and Self-Driving Cars

Episode 107 — Smiling Curves and Self-Driving Cars

Ben and James discuss Uber’s recent scandals, and debate whether the company’s business actions can be separated from its culture. Presented by MailChimp Links Susan Fowler Rigetti: Reflecting on One Very, Very Strange Year at Uber — SusanJFowler.com Ben Thompson: The Uber Conflation — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Crisis at Uber, Uber’s Culture, Who is Responsible? — Stratechery Daily Update Brad Stone: The Upstarts — Hachette Book Group Ben Thompson: Tech Morality — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 106 — To Be an Outlaw

Ben and James discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s manifesto, the problem with regulation, and why Facebook needs exactly that. Presented by MailChimp Links Mark Zuckerberg: Building Global Community — Facebook Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Inspired Media — Stratechery James Allworth: Founders and Motivation — Stratechery The Ezra Klein Podcast: Tim Wu’s Interesting, Unusual, Fascinating Life — Panoply Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by MailChimp

Episode 105 — The Most Political

Ben and James compare Snap and Facebook to Apple and Microsoft, and worry that Snap’s business is misaligned. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Snap’s Apple Strategy — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Audacity of Copying Well — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Snapchat Spectacles and the Future of Wearables — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Old-Fashioned Snapchat — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by … Continue reading Episode 104 — Snap’s Gingerbread Strategy

Episode 104 — Snap’s Gingerbread Strategy

Ben and James discuss what kind of politicians and products cut through in the Internet age, and why they are profoundly different than what worked before. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: Inspired Media — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery James Allworth: The U.S. has Gone F&*%ing Mad — Medium Ben Thompson on How to Make It in the Media in 2016 — The Ezra Klein Show Journalism That Stands Apart — New York TimesTh Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter … Continue reading Episode 103 — Dull Knives Don’t Cut

Episode 103 — Dull Knives Don’t Cut

Ben and James discuss the history of messaging apps, the rise of Snapchat, and why Instagram Stories was such a brilliant move. NOTE: The original audio file had a problem at the 36:50 mark; if you encounter this, please delete the file from your podcast app and re-download. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Audacity of Copying Well — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Snapchat’s Ladder — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Snapchat User Growth Concerns, What Makes Snapchat Valuable? — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information … Continue reading Episode 102 — Snakes and Ladders

Episode 102 — Snakes and Ladders

Ben and James discuss why different types of media have responded to the Internet with varying degrees of success. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Great Unbundling — Stratechery Chris Dixon: How Bundling Benefits Sellers and Buyers — cdixon blog The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content Monopoly — Hollywood Reporter Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Jobs That TV Does — Stratechery James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented … Continue reading Episode 101 — TV is the Oak Tree

Episode 101 — TV is the Oak Tree

Ben and James celebrate two milestones: 10 years for the iPhone, and 100 episodes for Exponent. This is a good one: it in many respects summarizes the entire run of both Exponent and Stratechery. Presented by MailChimp Links Ben Thompson: The Ten Year Anniversary of the Apple TV — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Beyond Disruption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Shameless Samsung — Stratechery Ben Thompson: How Apple Creates Leverage, and the Future of Apple Pay — Stratechery Ben Thompson: From Products to Platforms — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The … Continue reading Episode 100 — The Anniversary Episode: iPhone and Exponent

Episode 100 — The Anniversary Episode: iPhone and Exponent

Ben and James discuss Amazon Alexa and the history of operating systems Presented by MailChimp Links Is That an Echo? — Exponent Episode 070 Ben Thompson — The Amazon Tax We Have Always Been at War with Amazon — Exponent Episode 081 Ben Thompson: Alexa: Amazon’s Operating System — Stratechery Voice Recognition Technology — YouTube Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Beyond Disruption — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium Hosts … Continue reading Episode 099 — Fate Has a Sense of Irony