A podcast about tech and society, hosted by Ben Thompson and James Allworth
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Here's the Latest Episode from Exponent:
Episode 189 — Bundles
Oct 06, 2020
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 Does — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Sports Linchpin — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple’s “Time Flies” Event, Apple One, Fitness+ and Peloton — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: PS5 and Xbox, Sony’s Console, Microsoft’s Service — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 188 — Big Tech, Antitrust, and Democracy
Aug 07, 2020
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, and Antitrust — Stratechery
- James Allworth: Prioritizing Economics is Crippling the U.S. Economy — Medium
- Ben Thompson: TikTok Key Money, Rule By Law, China Gaslighting — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Tech and Trump: The Meeting — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 187 — India, TikTok, and the U.S.
Jul 10, 2020
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
Episode 186 — Speech and Systems
Jun 05, 2020
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
Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify
May 15, 2020
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
Episode 184 — Good is Better than Perfect
Apr 03, 2020
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 Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 183 — A Search for Everything
Mar 13, 2020
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, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 182 — Scale Scale Scale
Feb 28, 2020
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 Thompson: Brandless Closes, The DTC Facebook Challenge, DTC Versus Softbank — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Morgan Stanley Acquires E*Trade, Intuit Reportedly Acquiring Credit Karma, User Acquisition and Market Power — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 181 — Competing with Spotify and Regulating Acquisitions
Feb 21, 2020
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 Jackson: Why the FTC Should Block Facebook’s Acquisition of Instagram — Forbes
- Ben Thompson: The End of the Beginning — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 180 — It’s Been a Week
Jan 31, 2020
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
Episode 179 — The Water We Swim In
Jan 18, 2020
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 Kuhn
- Ben Thompson: Visa, Plaid, Networks, and Jobs— Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 178 — More Ergonomic
Nov 22, 2019
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
Podcast Information
Episode 177 — Principle Stacks
Nov 08, 2019
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 Angwin and Terry Parris Jr.: Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race — ProPublica
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 176 — The Second Estate Era
Oct 25, 2019
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 Law
- Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 175 — The Abyss Stares Back
Oct 15, 2019
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 Cook’s Memo, Honesty and Control — Stratechery
- A message about iOS security — Apple
- Ben Thompson: Apple Versus Project Zero, Apple’s Poor Response, The China Paradox — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Privacy Fundamentalism — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 174 — Distracted at Facebook
Oct 05, 2019
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 Encryption Across Facebook’s Apps — BuzzFeed News
- Ben Thompson: Facebook’s Privacy Cake — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Beachheads and Obstacles — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 173 — The Exponent IPO
Sep 20, 2019
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
Podcast Information
Episode 172 — Game of Phones
Jun 13, 2019
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
Episode 171 — An Intra-west Debate
May 24, 2019
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
Episode 170 — A Perfect Meal
May 10, 2019
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: To Succeed in the Long Term, Focus on the Middle Term — Harvard Business Review
- Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Services, Not Devices — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 169 — Family-Friendly Disney
Apr 19, 2019
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
Episode 168 — A Community of Loonies
Apr 12, 2019
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
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 167 — YouTube and the End of Friction
Apr 05, 2019
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 Content](https://stratechery.com/2019/the-wall-street-journal-and-apple-news-the-problem-with-regulating-content-australias-terrible-new-law/)
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 166 — Fence-building vs. Axe-wielding
Mar 15, 2019
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 Update
- James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium
- Ben Thompson: Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy tbh — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Value Chain Constraint — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2018 — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Ends, Means, and Antitrust — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The European Commission Versus Android — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 165 — Mark Zuckerberg’s Projected Self
Mar 08, 2019
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 Privacy — Stratechery
- Facebook and Telegram Are Hoping to Succeed Where Bitcoin Failed — New York Times
- Zeynep Tufekci: Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t Fixed Facebook — Wired
- Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 164 — Valuing Value Chains
Mar 01, 2019
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 — Stratechery
- Facebook Mulled Multi-billion-dollar Acquisition of Gaming Giant Unity, Book Claims — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Exponent 163 — Publishers vs Apple News
Feb 15, 2019
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 Information
Exponent 162 — Why Exponent Isn’t on Spotify
Feb 08, 2019
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
Episode 161 — Vigilante Justice
Feb 01, 2019
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
Episode 160 — Zeros All the Way Down
Jan 25, 2019
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
Episode 159 — Inverted Pyramids
Jan 19, 2019
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
Episode 158 — A Significant Shift
Jan 11, 2019
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
Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering
Dec 14, 2018
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 Store, and Apple — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 156 — Rent-Seeking
Dec 01, 2018
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
Episode 155 — The End, For Now
Sep 07, 2018
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
Episode 154 — Legacy Leverage
Jun 08, 2018
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
Episode 153 — Black Holes
May 25, 2018
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
Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators
May 18, 2018
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
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 151 — Two by Twos
May 11, 2018
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 App Store? — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 150 — Round Numbers
May 04, 2018
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 Owners — Tech.Pinions
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation
Apr 27, 2018
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 — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 148 — Facebook Fatigue
Apr 13, 2018
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 Always a Bigger Fish - 2018 Antitrust and Competition Conference: Digital Platforms and Concentration — Stigler Center
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 147 — There’s Always a Bigger Fish
Apr 06, 2018
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 — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery
- The Seven-Year Itch: How Apple’s Marriage to Siri Turned Sour — The Information
- Ben Thompson: The Disruption of IBM — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 146 — Facebook’s Real Mistake
Mar 23, 2018
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: Mark Zuckerberg Talks to Wired About Facebook’s Privacy Problem — Wired
- Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 145 — Qualcomm, Patents, and Innovation
Mar 16, 2018
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
Episode 144 — 90s Alt Forever
Mar 09, 2018
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
Episode 143 — Dilly-Dallying Dropbox
Mar 02, 2018
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
Episode 142 (Updated) — Google and Antitrust
Feb 23, 2018
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 New York Times
- James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium
- Ben Thompson: Ends, Means, and Antitrust — Stratechery
- Terry Crowley: Complexity and Strategy — Hacker Noon
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 142 — Google and Antitrust
Feb 23, 2018
The original version of this podcast included an editing error. The new version is here.
Episode 141 — The Mailbag Episode
Feb 16, 2018
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
- Phil Rosenzweig: The Halo Effect — Simon & Schuster
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 140 — The Products They Built Along the Way
Feb 09, 2018
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 that I referred to on this podcast. You can see the old link in this press release
- Ben Thompson: Is HomePod Late? — Stratechery Daily Update
- James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium
- Ben Thompson: Beyond the iPhone — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple at Its Best — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 139 — Amazon and Health Care
Feb 02, 2018
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
Episode 138 — A Moat Too Far
Jan 27, 2018
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
Episode 137 — Addicted to Facebook
Jan 19, 2018
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 Time for Apple to Build a Less Addictive iPhone — New York Times
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 136 — It’s All 1s and 0s
Jan 12, 2018
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
Episode 135 — Two Is Better Than One
Dec 22, 2017
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 Monopoly — Hollywood Reporter
- Ben Thompson: The Department of Justice Sues to Block the AT&T-Time Warner Acquisition, The DOJ’s Case, AT&T’s Objections — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 134 — Human Problems
Dec 08, 2017
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 Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed — Wired
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 133 — Two Terrible Options
Dec 02, 2017
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 Europe on Net Neutrality — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: The Department of Justice Sues to Block the AT&T-Time Warner Acquisition, The DOJ’s Case, AT&T’s Objections — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 132 — Successful Disappointments
Nov 17, 2017
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 Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 131 — Head-on is Hard
Nov 10, 2017
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
Podcast Information
Episode 130 — The 50,000 Foot View
Nov 03, 2017
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 — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Google’s Earnings — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Suprising Strength — and Inevitable Fall — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Brexit Possibility — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Dollar Shaving Club and the Disruption of Everything — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Voters Decide — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Tech Goes to Washington — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Facebook Epoch — Stratechery
- Facebook’s Earnings Call — Seeking Alpha
- James Allworth: Founders and Motivations — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Super-Aggregators and the Russians — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 129 — The Disruption Antidote
Oct 27, 2017
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
Episode 128 — Counterfactuals
Oct 20, 2017
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 — The New York Times
- Ben Thompson: Fake News — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 127 — The Worst-Case Scenario
Oct 13, 2017
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 Stopping Poor People From Moving to Better Jobs — The Atlantic
- Exclusive interview with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg — Axios
- Ben Thompson: The GDPR and Facebook and Google, Intelligent Tracking Prevention, Data Portability and Social Graphs — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 126 — Getting to the Future Faster
Sep 29, 2017
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
Podcast Information
Episode 125 — The Super-Aggregators
Sep 22, 2017
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
Episode 124 — The Watch, The Phone, The Beatles
Sep 15, 2017
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 Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Best — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple, Samsung, and the Parable of the Model T — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 123 — There Is No Going Back
Sep 08, 2017
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 Aggregation — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Google and the New America Foundation — Stratechery
- John Gruber: “NYT: ‘Fake Russian Facebook Accounts
Bought $100,000 in Political Ads’” — Daring Fireball
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 122 — From Intel to Disney
Aug 26, 2017
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 Story — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Disney Shifts to Streaming, Disney Versus Netflix, ESPN — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Apple’s Organizational Crossroads — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: TV Advertisings Surprising Strength — and Inevitable Fall — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 121 — The Uber Mutation
Aug 18, 2017
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, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 120 — Google, Antitrust, and Aggregation Theory
Jun 30, 2017
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
Episode 119 — Amazon and Avocados
Jun 23, 2017
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
Episode 118 — Podcasting and Centralization
Jun 16, 2017
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
Episode 117 — Fruitful Clapping
Jun 09, 2017
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
Episode 116 — Blockchain Beauty Contest
May 26, 2017
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, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 115 — Business Matters
May 19, 2017
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
Episode 114 — The Job of Local News
May 12, 2017
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
Episode 113 — WeChat, China, and Apple
May 05, 2017
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 of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014 — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 112 — It’s Complicated
Apr 28, 2017
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
Episode 111 — Lamentation Not Condemnation
Apr 21, 2017
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
Episode 110 — Moral Hazard
Apr 14, 2017
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
Episode 109 — Screw-ups Are Fun!
Apr 07, 2017
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 Store — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 108 — Statistics Gone Wild
Mar 31, 2017
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 the Future of Digital Advertising — Stratechery
- Episode 012: The Internet Rainforest — Exponent
- Ben Thompson: The Brexit Possibility — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 107 — Smiling Curves and Self-Driving Cars
Mar 24, 2017
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, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 106 — To Be an Outlaw
Mar 10, 2017
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
Episode 105 — The Most Political
Feb 24, 2017
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
Episode 104 — Snap’s Gingerbread Strategy
Feb 17, 2017
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
Episode 103 — Dull Knives Don’t Cut
Feb 03, 2017
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
Episode 102 — Snakes and Ladders
Jan 27, 2017
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
Episode 101 — TV is the Oak Tree
Jan 20, 2017
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
Episode 100 — The Anniversary Episode: iPhone and Exponent
Jan 13, 2017
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 Voters Decide — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — And Inevitable Fall — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 099 — Fate Has a Sense of Irony
Jan 06, 2017
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
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 098 — Shattered Glass
Dec 16, 2016
Ben and James discuss real estate and Opendoor, and the types of startups that will succeed in the future.
Presented by MailChimp
Links
- Ben Thompson: Opendoor: A Startup Worth Emulating — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Zillow Acquires Trulia — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Google Self-Driving Cars = Waymo — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Google, Uber, and the Evolution of Transportation-As-A-Service — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2016 — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 097 — Google Versus AWS
Dec 02, 2016
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 Thompson: Docker and the Integrated Open-Source Company — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Peak Google — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 096 — Sins of Commission and Omission
Nov 18, 2016
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
- I’m a Coastal Elite From the Midwest: The Real Bubble is Rural America — Roll Call
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 095 — The Backlash Has Arrived
Nov 11, 2016
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: Facebook and Filter Bubbles — Stratechery Daily Update
- The Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded — New York Times
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 094 — Should Apple Buy Netflix?
Nov 04, 2016
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 is Steve Ballmer and Why He Still Has His Job at Apple — SteveBlank.com
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 093 — The Disruption of Everything
Oct 21, 2016
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 — Wired
- Heidi N Moore: “Nick Denton says he’s one of few who believe internet will improve the world. “Anyone else?” Only @jeffjarvis and @jayrosen_nyu raise hands” — Twitter
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 092 — Defining Consumerization of IT
Oct 14, 2016
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 — Ars Technica
- Ben Thompson: Airbnb and the Internet Revolution — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Workplace by Facebook — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 091 — Google’s New Business Model
Oct 07, 2016
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: Peak Google — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 090 — Fashionable to Be Cynical
Sep 30, 2016
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 — Wall Street Journal
- Full transcript: Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley on Recode Decode — Recode
- Ben Thompson: Does Uber Have a Strategy Problem? — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Obsoletive — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple Watch = Health and Fitness — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 089 — Move On from the 80s
Sep 23, 2016
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
Episode 088 — The Dark Side of the Facebook
Sep 16, 2016
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
Episode 087 — Meditations on Courage
Sep 09, 2016
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 Apple’s Organizational Structure — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 086 — Following a Pokémon Off a Cliff
Jul 22, 2016
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 Mobile Strategy — Twitter
- James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium
- Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebooks — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 085 — Ballots Versus Guillotines
Jul 01, 2016
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
Episode 084 — The Old World Order
Jun 24, 2016
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 Thompson: The Changing — and Unchanging — Structure of TV — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The FANG Playbook — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 083 — Microsoft & LinkedIn versus Apple & WWDC
Jun 17, 2016
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 — Medium
- Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 082 — A Podcast About Podcasts
Jun 10, 2016
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 — New York Times
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 081 — We Have Always Been at War with Amazon
Jun 03, 2016
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 Just an App, That’s Great News — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery
- Microsoft Board Mulls Sales Force Revamp to Speed Shift to Cloud — Bloomberg
- Ben Thompson: Redmond and Reality — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Disruption of IBM — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 080 — Multiple Full Circles
May 27, 2016
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 — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 079 — Twerk the Algorithm
May 20, 2016
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 Facebook Stratechery Daily Update
- Nicholas Kristof: A Confession of Liberal Intolerance — New York Times
- Ben Thompson: Facebook, Phones, and Phonebook — Stratechery
- James Allworth: The Blessing of Failure — Medium
- Ben Thompson: Google’s Go-to-Market Gap — Stratechery
- Steve Yegge: Stevey’s Google Platforms Rant — Google Plus
- Ben Thompson: Everything as a Service — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 078 — Bending Trees
May 06, 2016
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 Daily Update
The web app that Ben mentioned for writing is Draft.
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 077 — Physical Goods
Apr 29, 2016
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 World Has Changed — Exponent
- Ben Thompson: Google Accused of Antitrust Violations, What Now for Google? — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Antitrust and Aggregation — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 076 — Apple’s Organization and Services
Apr 22, 2016
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
Episode 075 — Baby Picture Bots
Apr 15, 2016
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? — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 074 — Tesla Fervor
Apr 08, 2016
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, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 073 — Get Off My Lawn!
Apr 01, 2016
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 Devices — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 072 — Low Hanging Fruit
Mar 25, 2016
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
- Ben Thompson: Why Do Carriers Subsidize the iPhone — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple, China, and the Upper Middle Class — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: The End of Trickle-Down Technology — Stratechery
After-show:
- Ben Thompson: Services, Not Devices — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 071 — Pickaxe Retailers
Mar 18, 2016
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 Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: WeWork Worth $10 Billion — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: WeWork and Bubble Talk — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: WeWork Now Worth $16 Billion — Stratechery Daily Update
James’ sister’s startup (referenced at 1:06) is Adorne Monde.
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 070 — Is That an Echo?
Mar 11, 2016
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 — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Losing My Amazon Religion — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 069 — Wrapped Around an Axle
Mar 04, 2016
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 — Stratechery
- Hans Noel, Marty Cohen, David Karol and John Zaller: The Party Decides — The University of Chicago Press
- Clay Shirky: Social Media Has Turned Republican & Democratic Parties into Host Bodies for 3rd Party Candidates — Twitter
- The Most Important Voting Blocs Behind the Republican Candidates — The New York Times
- Facebook Conversations About Presidential Candidates for the Month of February — Facebook
- Fred Wilson: The Twitter Contradiction — AVC
- Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery
- Akrasia: “A lack of self-control or the state of acting against one’s better judgement” — Wikipedia
- Ben Thompson: Twitter Needs New Leadership — Stratechery
Wrapped Around an Axel
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 068 — Binary Backdoors
Feb 26, 2016
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: Poll — Reuters
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Government Surveillance — YouTube
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 067 — Weighing and Voting
Feb 19, 2016
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
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 066 — You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Feb 12, 2016
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 Quest to Capture Untapped Market — The New York Times
- Ben Thompson: Unicorns — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: It’s Not 1999 — Stratechery
- Mark Cuban: The Pre-Cognitive Anti-Trust Violation:How the Decimation of the IPO Market Has Hurt the Economy and Worse — Blog Maverick
- Fred Wilson and Dan Primack via Mark Suster: Why Uber Should Go Public — Both Sides of the Table
- Kurt Wagner: Marc Andreessen Offends India Defending Facebook’s Free Basics. (Yes, the Country.) — Recode
- Mark Zuckerberg: Free Basics Protects Net Neutrality — The Times of India
- Om Malik: Nothing is Free, Not Even Facebook Free Basics — Om.co
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 065 — Competing Against Non-Consumption
Jan 29, 2016
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 — Exponent
- Ben Thompson: Speech and Abuse on the Internet — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Twitter and What Might Have Been — Stratechery
- Paul Krugman: Paul Krugman Reviews ‘The Rise and Fall of American Growth’ by Robert J. Gordon — The New York Times
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 064 — Disrupting Trump
Jan 22, 2016
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
- Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 063 — Driving Into the Future
Jan 15, 2016
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
Episode 062 — Give Some to Get Some
Jan 08, 2016
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, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 061 — OpenAI and Strategy Credits
Dec 18, 2015
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 Update
- Ben Thompson: TensorFlow and Monetizing Intellectual Property — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 060 — Beyond Disruption
Dec 04, 2015
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
Episode 059 — Fashion in PC Gaming
Nov 20, 2015
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 and Good Enough — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Selling Feelings — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 058 — The Attention Market
Nov 06, 2015
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 — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: The Jobs TV Does — Stratechery Daily Update
- Episode 034: The Story of Stratechery — Exponent
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 057 — The User Experience
Oct 30, 2015
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
Episode 056 — YouTube Red
Oct 23, 2015
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
Episode 055 — AWS and Venture Capital
Oct 16, 2015
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, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 054 — Check Facebook Time
Oct 05, 2015
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 Thompson: The Facebook Epoch — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Liability Shift Has Arrived — Stratechery Daily Update
- Sherry Turkle: Stop Googling. Let’s Talk — Stratechery
- Instagram Says Apple is Why Female Nipples are Banned — Digiday
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 053 — Connect the Dots
Sep 27, 2015
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: Asking Why and Saying No — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 052 — All About Ads
Sep 20, 2015
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 Arment: The Ethics of Modern Ad-Blocking — Marco.org
- Marco Arment: Introducing Peace, My Privacy-Focused iOS 9 Ad-Blocker — Marco.org
- Marco Arment: Just Doesn’t Feel Good — Marco.org
- David Barnard: Fifty Shades of Ad-Blocking Grey — DavidBarnard.com
- Nilay Patel: Welcome to Hell: Apple vs. Google vs. Facebook and the Slow Death of the Web — The Verge
- Eric Chemi: Advertising’s Century of Flat-Line Growth — Bloomberg
- Ben Thompson: Old-Fashioned Snapchat — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Popping the Publishing Bubble — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Content Blockers and Facebook — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: How Many of These 39 Articles Underneath the One with Original Reporting are Necessary? — Twitter
- Ben Thompson: The Facebook Reckoning — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 051 — Segue
Sep 13, 2015
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: Adobe’s Subscription Model and Why Platform Owner’s Should Care — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 050 — The Amazon of Podcasts
Sep 06, 2015
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: I Had a Baby and Cancer When I Worked at Amazon. This Is My Story — Medium
- Ben Thompson: The New York Times on Amazon, Jeff Bezos’ Email, Why Work for Amazon — Stratechery Daily Update
- John Cassidy: Mastering the Machine — The New Yorker
- Ray Dalio: Culture and Principles — Bridgewater
- Ezra Klein: Why the New York Times’s Amazon story is so controversial, explained — Vox
- Ben Thompson: Amazon Continued and the Role of Journalism — Stratechery Daily Update
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 049 — In Aggregate
Jun 20, 2015
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 schedule in the fall.
Note: Due to a failing mic, we had to re-record one side of the conversation for the last half of the episode. We apologize for any choppiness or mismatched tone
Links
- Ben Thompson: Uber, Contractors, and Employees — Stratechery Daily Update (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: Don’t Blame Uber — Stratechery
- Richard Florida: Finding Happiness in Creative Destruction — CityLab
- Ben Thompson: Unicorns — Stratechery
- U.S. Tech Funding — What’s Going On? — Andreessen Horowitz
- Ben Thompson: Unicorns Follow-Up — Stratechery Daily Update (members-only)
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 048 — An Exhausting Week
Jun 13, 2015
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 — BuzzFeed News
- dfbclark: Apple Music is a new Music Label — Stratechery Forum (members-only)
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 047 — Apple, Google, and Privacy
Jun 06, 2015
In this week’s episode, Ben and James briefly discuss Jony Ive’s promotion, the future of Apple, Google I/O, and Tim Cook’s speech on privacy.
Links
- Ben Thompson: The Apple Car and Jony Ive — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Google IO: Android and Serving the World; Photos, Google Now, and the World’s Information; Google’s Turning Point — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: The Funnel Framework — Stratechery
- Matthew Panzarino: Apple’s Tim Cook Delivers Blistering Speech On Encryption, Privacy — TechCrunch
- Ben Thompson: Tim Cook’s Unfair and Unrealistic Privacy Speech, Strategy Credits, The Privacy Priority Problem — Stratechery Daily Update
- Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery
- Anna Garvey: The Oregon Trail Generation — Social Media Week
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 046 — Everything Has a Price
May 22, 2015
In this week’s episode, Ben and James discuss ad-blockers, both personal ones and the rumored carrier-implemented one, as well as Internet.org and the moral quandary that is the Internet.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Carriers to Implement Ad-Blocking — Stratechery Daily Update (members-only)
- Laura McGann: How Ars Technica’s “experiment” with ad-blocking readers built on its community’s affection for the site — Nieman Lab
- Ben Thompson: Open Source Apps — Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Changing — and Unchanging — Structure of TV — Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 045 — It’s a Watch that Does Stuff
May 15, 2015
In this week’s episode, Ben finally has an Apple Watch: James has lots of questions about it. (And yes, we should have talked about Google Now.)
Links
- Horace Dediu: The Battle for The Wrist — Asymco
- Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Why Now for Apple Watch – Stratechery
- John Gruber: Watch, Apple Watch – Daring Fireball
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 044 — Up in the Clouds with Twitter
Apr 30, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why Twitter needs new leadership, its massive potential, and why Google probably should acquire it
Links
- Ben Thompson: Twitter Needs New Leadership – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Twitter’s Marketing Problem – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Feed – Stratechery
- Ev Williams: Sometimes Things Stay Stuck – Medium
- Ben Thompson: Twitter Acquires MoPub – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Peak Google – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 043 – Project Fi and Facebook’s Feed
Apr 24, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss the prospects for Google’s Project Fi as well as Facebook’s decision to change their News Feed algorithm
Links
- Project Fi – Google
- Ben Thompson: Google Launches Project Fi – Stratechery Daily Update (members-only)
- How Google’s Project Fi pricing stacks up to the competition – Ars Technica
- Ben Thompson: Google to Become MVNO? – Stratechery Daily Update
- Google Fiber plans expansion, then TWC makes speeds six times faster – Ars Technica
- Ben Thompson: Facebook and the Feed – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 042 — Monopolizing Your Ears
Apr 17, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James thank John Siracusa then dive into the EU’s antitrust investigation of Google and discuss whether or not antitrust is more or less important in technology.
Links
- John Siracusa: OS X Reviewed – Hypercritical
- John Siracusa: OS X 10.10 Yosemite Review Conclusion – Ars Technica
- Ben Thompson: Growing Apple at WWDC – Stratechery
- Danny Sullivan: Analyzing the EU’s Antitrust Charges Against Google Over Shopping Search – Search Engine Land
- Chris Dixon: Proprietary Services vs Open Protocols – Medium
- Ev Williams: Sometimes Things Stay Stuck – Medium
- Exponent Episode 005: The World Has Changed – Exponent.FM
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 041 – Bubbles
Apr 10, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss whether or not there is a bubble, as well as a bit on the Apple Watch. Please note this was recorded before the Apple Watch reviews were released.
Links
- Ben Thompson: It’s Not 1999 – Stratechery
- The Unicorn List – Fortune
- Ben Thompson: The Multitudes of Social – Stratechery
- Bill Gurley: Investors Beware: Today’s $100M+ Late-stage Private Rounds Are Very Different from an IPO – Above the Crowd
- Turd on the Front Porch – The Talk Show
- Ben Thompson: Apple Watch’s Bad Messaging – Stratechery (members-only)
- David Pierce: iPhone Killer: The Secret History of the Apple Watch – Wired
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Government Surveillance – YouTube
- Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 040 – BuzzFeed and Amazon
Apr 03, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss BuzzFeed in the context of the Brother Orange story, then talk about Amazon’s Dash Button and Home Services initiative, along with a dive into the technical details of Amazon’s balance sheet (sorry, it’s a bit dry) and why Ben is nervous.
Links
- Matt Stopera: I Followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became A Celebrity In China, And Found A Friend For Life – BuzzFeed
- Ben Thompson: Why BuzzFeed is the Most Important News Organization in the World – Stratechery
- Matt Stopera: Who Is This Man And Why Are His Photos Showing Up On My Phone? – BuzzFeed
- Peter Osborne: Why I have resigned from the Telegraph – OpenDemocracy
- Introducing Amazon Dash Button – Amazon
- Introducing Amazon Dash Replenishment Service – Amazon
- Amazon Home Services – Amazon
- Ben Thompson: Losing my Amazon Religion – Amazon
- Timothy Green: Amazon.com Inc. Is Losing More Money Than You Think – Motley Fool
- Marc Bain: Consumer culture has found its perfect match in our mobile-first, fast-fashion lifestyles – Quartz
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 039 – Lando Calrissian Publishers
Mar 27, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James follow up on last week’s episode, introduce the Toilet Bowl philosophy of career development, and then dive into the future of publishers in the world of Facebook.
Due to some technical issues there is a rather abrupt stop at the end – sorry about that!
Links
- Ben Thompson: The Facebook Reckoning – Stratechery
- How Vox.com Approaches Publishing on Facebook – Vox Marketing
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 038 – Feeds and Speeds for Life
Mar 20, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why California is unique, diversity and inequality, James’ work on “How Will You Measure Your Life”, making decisions, and whether or not business school was worth it for us.
Links
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 037 – Apple Watch, Take Two
Mar 14, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss the recent Apple Event, including the MacBook and Apple Watch
Links
- Ben Thompson: Mobile First – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: “Geeks are not just unqualified to explain the new MacBook, they’re anti-qualified” – Twitter
- Ben Thompson: How Apple Will Make the Wearable Market – Stratechery
- Matthew Panzarino: The Apple Watch is Time, Saved – TechCrunch
- “Really” Windows Phone commercial – YouTube
- David Platt: Apple iPhone Debut to Flop, Product to Crash in Flames – Suckbusters
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 036 – Tradeoffs
Feb 27, 2015
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss tradeoffs in the context of net neutrality, AT&T’s new gigabit service, and Lenovo’s Superfish debacle
Note: when talking about the history of cable, Ben kept saying “companies” instead of “communities.” Sorry for the confusion!
Links
- Ben Thompson: Netflix and Net Neutrality – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Net Neutrality! (analyzing the current proposal) – Stratechery (members-only)
- This Week in Tech: Superfishy – Twit.TV
- Ben Thompson: Lenovo’s Superfish Debacle, AT&T Prices Privacy – Stratechery (members-only)
- Jon Matonis: Silent Circle And Vertu Partner On $10,000 Phone – Forbes
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 035 – Fascinating
Feb 16, 2015
We apologize for the late delivery of this podcast!
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why Apple is so fascinating, why the Mac lost to Windows, debate whether or not Google should have open-sourced Android, and discussed the implications of Apple’s new market – your entire life
Also, please note that there will no episode later this week due to Chinese New Year.
Links
- John Gruber: Dazzling Results – Daring Fireball
- Ben Thompson: Apple’s New Market – Stratechery
- Rita McGrath: The End of Competitive Advantage – Kindle
- Ben Thompson: The Uncanny Valley of a Functional Organization – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 034 – The Story of Stratechery
Feb 06, 2015
This is the story of Stratechery, presented with much sheepishness on Ben’s part. How Ben thought about the market, his business model, and more. We apologize that this is a little long and perhaps a bit choppy. It’s hard to talk about us!
Links
- Andrew Sullivan: A Note to my Readers – The Dish
- Ezra Klein: What Andrew Sullivan’s Exit Says About the Future of Blogging – Vox
- Ben Thompson: Blogging’s Bright Future – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Dear Zoë Keating: Tell YouTube to Take a Hike – Stratechery
- Taylor Swift: For Taylor Swift, the Future of Music is a Love Story – Wall Street Journal
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 033 – Apple Fans and the Future
Jan 30, 2015
We discuss Apple’s recent results, why analysts get Apple wrong, the fraught nature of fans, epistemic closure, and whether the iPhone can continue to grow.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Bad Assumptions – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple the Black Swan – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Best – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Smartphone Truths and Samsung’s Inevitable Decline – Stratechery
- James Allworth: Who Cares if Samsung Copied Apple? – Harvard Business Review (note: due to a website redesign the comments have been lost)
- Marco Arment: Apple Has Lost the Functional High Ground – Marco.org
- Marco Arment: What It’s Like to be too Popular for a Day – Marco.org
- Ben Thompson: iCloud and Apple’s Founding Myth – Stratechery
- Epistemic Closure – Wikipedia
- ‘Epistemic Closure’? Those Are Fighting Words – New York Times
- Ben Thompson: Two Bears – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The End of Trickle-Down Technology – Stratechery
- Loyalty Gives Apple the Edge Over Android – AllThingsD
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 032 – Follow-up and Frustration (Updated)
Jan 23, 2015
Note: I originally uploaded the wrong file. The correct file is 1:07 long, not 1:17. I am reposting this as many podcast clients download the file immediately.
We briefly follow-up on last week’s copyright discussion, discuss Ben’s article on what the technology adoption curve gets wrong about Apple and Xiaomi, and then react to Microsoft’s Windows 10 (and Project HoloLens) presentation
Links
- Stratechery Forum Discussion about Episode 30: Flabbergasted – Stratechery Forums (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: The End of Trickle-Down Technology – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Part 1 of an Interview with Xiaomi VP of International Hugo Barra on India and Xiaomi’s Strategy and Target Customer – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Windows 10 Event (and Project HoloLens) – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Face in not the Future – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Christmas Gifts for Microsoft, Intel, Amazon – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 031 – Flabbergasted
Jan 16, 2015
James thinks the idea of copyright is outdated and should be abolished. Ben is, well, see the title.
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 030 – Xiaomi
Jan 09, 2015
Ben and James discuss Xiaomi’s ambition to own the home, why we’re frustrated with patents, why the West is unfair to the developing world, and what makes China unique.
Links
- Jordan Lewis: Exponent Bingo – Twitter
- Ben Thompson: Xiaomi’s Ambition – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Handicapping the Internet of Things – Stratechery
- When Charles Dickens fell out with America – BBC
- To Live (The film about the Cultural Revolution) – Wikipedia
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 029 – Drones
Dec 19, 2014
Ben and James discuss the problems with drones, how they could be used for terrorism, and how you balance upside and downside.
Links
- Felix Salmon: Whither Nanopublishing? – Medium
- James Allworth: Thinking Twice About Drones – Stratechery (Members-only)
- FBI: Man plotted to fly drone-like toy planes with bombs into school – CBS News
- Warthox with Warpquad the fastest Quadrocopter in the Universe – YouTube
- Mark Manson: Five Lessons from Five Years of Traveling the World – MarkManson.net
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 028: Squirrel!
Dec 12, 2014
Ben and James discuss the recent App Store controversy and how a person – or company’s – greatest strength is also their greatest weakness. Plus a special 2nd recording about the Harvard business school professor and the Chinese restaurant.
Links
- Cabel Sasser: Transmit iOS 1.1.1 [Updated] – Panic blog
- Greg Gardner: Launcher Followup and Thoughts on the App Store Review System – Cromulent Labs
- Ben Thompson: App Store Anguish, Old Apple’s Last Stand, Time for a Change? – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Diminished iPad – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Pleco: Building a Business, Not an App – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Uber and Portland, Uber and India – Stratechery (members-only)
- Sriram Krishnan: In defense of Uber in India – Medium
- Ben Thompson: Best – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: What Steve Jobs Wouldn’t Have Done – Stratechery
- Ben Edelman: Google’s Advertising Labeling in 2014 – BenEdelman.org
- Ben Edelman: Facebook Leaks Usernames, User IDs, and Personal Details to Advertisers – BenEdelman.org
- Who is Ben Edelman, Sheriff of the (Chinese Food) Internet? – Boston.com
- Making Delicious Cocktails with America’s Best Bartender – GQ
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 027 – Regulation, Stagnation, and Culture
Dec 05, 2014
Ben and James follow up on last week’s Uber discussion, talk about the problem with regulation, and worry about stagnation and the different cultures of Europe, America, and Asia.
Links
- Nicole Campbell: What Was Said at the Uber Dinner – Huffington Post
- Lane Wood: Here Ego Again – Medium
- Chase Madar: Why It’s Impossible to Indict a Cop – Nation
- Peter Sterne: Jack Schafer on Losing his Job and the State of Things – Capital New York
- Ben Thompson: Why Uber Fights – Stratechery
- Zenefits Faces Shutdown In Utah For Giving Its Cloud-Based HR Software Away For Free – Techcrunch
- So You Think You Can Be a Hair Braider – New York Times
- Note: A federal judge eventually gave the right for the Utah hair-braider to work. In addition, the Utah governor has pledged to look into the law affecting Zenefits, but no concrete changes have been implemented.
- James Allworth: How Corruption is Strangling U.S. Innovation – Harvard Business Review
- StartupLJackson: “Dammit Utah, it’s shit like this that drives people into the arms of Ayn Rand.” – Twitter
- Blake Ross: Uber.gov – Medium
- Jenna Wortham: Ubering While Black – Medium
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 026: GROW GROW GROW FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Nov 21, 2014
Ben and James briefly discuss Ben’s belief in the Internet opportunity for content creators, and then dive in to the recent Uber controversy.
Links
- Publishers and the Smiling Curve: Ben Thompson – Stratechery
- Differentiation and Value Capture in the Internet Age: Ben Thompson – Stratechery
- The Internet Rainforest – Exponent
- Ang Lee and the Uncertainty of Success – Jeff Lin
- The Uber Problem – Stratechery Daily Update (members only)
- Uber and the Tyson Zone – Stratechery Daily Update (members only)
- Look How Uber’s Investors Have Also Funded Some Of Its Biggest Critics – Forbes
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 025: Twitter and Taylor
Nov 14, 2014
Ben and James discuss Twitter and its strategic options, as well as YouTube’s new music service, Taylor Swift and Spotify, plus the special return of the garbage truck song.
Links
- Twitter Sharpens Its Strategy to Win Over Investors – Wall Street Journal
- Ben Thompson: There are Two Twitters; Only One is Worth Investing In – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Twitter’s Marketing Problem – Stratechery
- Daniel Ek: $2 Billion and Counting – Spotify
- Taylor Swift: For Taylor Swift, the Future of Music Is a Love Story – Wall Street Journal
- Ben Thompson: What Taylor Swift Gets Right – Stratechery (members-only)
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 024: A Celebratory Goblet of Champagne
Nov 07, 2014
The idea for Exponent was hatched when Ben and James were arguing about Ben’s article What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong a year ago. In this episode, we finally reach a resolution to the question about how Apple escapes disruption. Plus, whether or not Xiaomi is a threat to Apple, personal development philosophies, and more (sorry, we went a bit long…)
Links
- Ben Thompson: How Apple Creates Leverage, and the Future of Apple Pay – Stratechery
- John Siracusa: OS X 10.10 Yosemite: The Ars Technica Review (Conclusion) – ArsTechnica
- Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Growing Apple at WWDC – Stratechery
- James Allworth: The 787’s Problems Run Deeper Than Outsourcing – Harvard Business Review
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 023: Apple Pay
Oct 31, 2014
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss Apple Pay and its impact on retailers and banks.
Links
- Glenn Fleishman: A Week of Apple Pay: Chips, PINs, and…signatures? – Six Colors
- Ben Thompson: The Problem with Payments – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Why Apple Pay was Blocked, Why Apple Pay Will Succeed – Stratechery
- Josh Constine: CurrentC is the Big Retailers’ Clunky Attempt to Kill Apple Pay and Credit Card Fees – TechCrunch
- Charles Duhigg: How Companies Learn Your Secrets – New York Times
- Ben Thompson: Publishers and the Smiling Curve – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 022: Peak Google, Monologue Edition
Oct 24, 2014
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss Ben’s article “Peak Google” and the future of advertising.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Peak Google – Stratechery
- Benedict Evans: The Irrelevance of Microsoft – Ben-Evans.com
- Peter Kriss: The Value of Customer Experience, Quantified – Harvard Business Review
- Ben Thompson: Mobile Makes Facebook Just an App; That’s Great News – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: I Love the Blackberry Passport (on Generic Strategies) – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: The Cord-Cutting Fantasy – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 021: Gamergate of Thrones
Oct 17, 2014
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss why Ben thinks the Internet is totally overreacting to HBO’s announcement that they will sell subscriptions directly to customers, and then delve into what might be the underlying motivations behind Gamergate.
Links
- Ben Thompson: The Cord-Cutting Fantasy – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Why TV Has Resisted Disruption – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: The Jobs TV Does – Stratechery
- Kyle Wagner: The Future of the Culture Wars is Here, and It’s Gamergate – Deadspin
- Paul Graham: Before the Startup – PaulGraham.com
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 020: I Want You to be Wrong
Oct 03, 2014
In this week’s episode Ben and James discuss the problems with Ello’s business model, James’ discomfort with Facebook, and why Social Networks always have ads. We also talk about incentives and something surprising Ben learned from the notorious Episode 18.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Ello and Consumer Friendly Business Models – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Facebook Launches Atlas – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: Friction – Stratechery
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 019: Me, Myself, and Minecraft
Sep 26, 2014
In this week’s episode Ben and James reflect about last week’s episode and the personal feedback that resulted, then move on to discuss why Minecraft is a big deal as well as a bit about Apple’s new focus on privacy.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Why Now For Apple Watch – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Good (and Potentially Great) Minecraft Acquisition – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: American Girl, Minecraft, and the Next Generation of Builders – Stratechery (members-only)
- Ben Thompson: Apple Takes Aim at Google – Stratechery (members-only)
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 018: Agree to Disagree
Sep 19, 2014
In this week’s episode Ben explains why he has changed his mind about Apple Watch. James is not convinced. We go on for a while.
Links
- Ben Thompson: What I Got Wrong About Apple Watch – Stratechery
- John Gruber: Apple Watch: Initial Thoughts and Observations – Daring Fireball
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 017: Let’s End it There (Updated)
Sep 12, 2014
In this week’s episode we follow-up on Episode 15’s console discussion, and then dive into the Apple Watch introduction. We cover why we were disappointed in the presentation, and discuss the luxury market in Asia and why the Edition will cost thousands of dollars. And then we go back for seconds. And thirds.
(Note: This is an updated version that removes a gap present in the previous version)
Links
- Ben Thompson: Gaming and New Market Disruption – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Friction – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Whither Liberal Arts? – Stratechery
- Benjamin Clymer: A Watch Guy’s Thoughts On The Apple Watch After Seeing It In The Metal – Hodinkee
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 017: Let’s End it There
Sep 12, 2014
In this week’s episode we follow-up on Episode 15’s console discussion, and then dive into the Apple Watch introduction. We cover why we were disappointed in the presentation, and discuss the luxury market in Asia and why the Edition will cost thousands of dollars. And then we go back for seconds. And thirds.
(Note: There is a gap at around the 12:30 mark due to an editing error. We apologize)
Links
- Ben Thompson: Gaming and New Market Disruption – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Friction – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Apple Watch: Asking Why and Saying No – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Whither Liberal Arts? – Stratechery
- Benjamin Clymer: A Watch Guy’s Thoughts On The Apple Watch After Seeing It In The Metal – Hodinkee
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 016: Naked People
Sep 05, 2014
In this week’s episode we discuss James’ first ever trip to Burning Man, ugliness in modern culture and on the Internet, the new divide in politics, and ultimately why we have hope for the future.
Links
- Grover Norquist: My First Burning Man: Confessions of a Conservative from Washington – The Guardian
- Devin Faraci: Why I Feel Bad For – And Understand – The Angry #GamerGate Gamers – Badass Digest
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 015: Consoles and Disruption
Aug 29, 2014
In this week’s episode we discuss whether or not consoles will be disrupted. This episode was recorded a week ago (immediately after last week’s episode), before Ben wrote his pieces Games and Good Enough and Games and New Market Disruption.
Links
- Ben Thompson: How Apple TV Might Disrupt Microsoft and Sony – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Games and Good Enough – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Gaming and New Market Disruption – Stratechery
- Medallia Receives $50M in New Funding to Meet Growing Market Demand for Software that Makes Companies More Customer Centric – Medallia
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 014: The Rise of the Algorithm
Aug 22, 2014
In this week’s episode we spend a good bit of time revisiting the native ads discussion, then dive into the different ways that Twitter and Facebook have handled the news this week. From there we discuss Twitter’s timeline changes, the realities of venture capital, and whether or not our entire economic system will survive the automation revolution. Yes, it gets deep quickly!
Links
- Ben Thompson: Print, Chinese Walls, and “Objective” Journalism – Stratechery (members only)
- Clay Shirky: Last Call – Medium
- Jay Rosen: When Quoting Both Sides and Leaving it There is the Riskier Call – PressThink
- Hamilton Nolan: Time Inc. Rates Writers on How “Beneficial” They Are to Advertisers – Gawker
- Derek Willis: New Republican Leader Finds New Friends, and Quick Cash – New York Times
- Marco Arment: I’ll Never Fly Amazon Again – Marco.org
- Ben Thompson: Twitter is Great for Unprofitable News – Stratechery (members-only)
- Mathew Ingram: Twitter vs. Facebook as a news source – GigaOm
- Matt Buchanan: The Twitter of Tomorrow – New Yorker
- Humans Need Not Apply – YouTube
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 013: BuzzFeed and Native Advertising
Aug 14, 2014
In this week’s episode we discuss feedback about Ben’s Android criticism, then dive into Andreessen Horowitz’s $50 million investment into BuzzFeed. Is there a real business here? We also discuss native advertising: Ben is quite a bit more optimistic than James.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Is BuzzFeed a Technology Company? – Stratechery
- Chris Dixon: BuzzFeed – Chris Dixon’s Blog
- Marc Andreessen: Introducing our new venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz – Blog Pmarca
- Ben Casselman: Corporate America Hasn’t Been Disrupted – 538
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 012: The Internet Rainforest
Aug 07, 2014
In this week’s episode we discuss how the Internet is enabling not only big winners, but also small, focused niche players, and why that’s exciting. We also discuss the impact this transition will have on society, follow up on last week’s integrated/modular discussion, and in a special “After Dark” segment briefly discuss Ben’s recent experience with Android and theorize that the Android/iOS are at equilibrium.
Links
- Ben Thompson: Daily Update: Micromax Wins on Local Taste – Stratechery (members-only)
- Rohin Dharmakumar: Can Micromax Become India’s Leading Smartphone Maker? – Forbes India
- Ben Thompson: How Technology is Changing the World (P&G Edition) – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Christmas Gifts and the Meaning of Design (includes a reference to P&G’s design process in the footnotes) – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Pleco: Building a Business, not an App – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Smartphone Truths and Samsung’s Inevitable Decline – Stratechery
- Anita Elberse: The Way of The Blockbuster – Harvard Magazine
- Albert Wenger: It is OK to Worry about Work (& Doesn’t Make you a Luddite or Socialist) – Continuations
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 011: Red Pill or Blue Pill?
Aug 02, 2014
In this episode we discuss this tweet of Ben’s:
Apple has a monopoly on the iOS market. And monopolies are profitable.
— Ben Thompson (@monkbent) July 25, 2014
We also discuss the news that OKCupid and Facebook are running tests on their users.
Links
- Fabian Giesen: What I mean when I say “I think VR is bad news” – Github
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 010: Clap on Three
Jul 25, 2014
In this episode we discuss feedback about Uber and pricing, then discuss Ben’s recent articles on Microsoft and Apple/IBM.
- Ben Thompson: It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: Big Blue and Apple’s Soul – Stratechery (Note: We recorded this show before this piece was written)
We had some technical difficulties while recording this show, so we apologize in advance if there are any issues.
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 009: The Societal Perspective
Jul 11, 2014
In this episode we first defend surge pricing before continuing our debate from last week: is society better off when corporations try to innovate, or would we be better off if we left the innovation to startups? Your answer to this question may change your opinion of Silicon Valley.
- Nick Kokonas: Tickets for Restaurants – Alinea Restaurant
- James Allworth: Heavy Rain and Black Cars – Medium
Note: In the podcast Ben talks about owning a lot of Microsoft stock; to be clear that was while he was an employee. As a matter of policy he does not hold any individual stocks currently.
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 008: Debating Disruption
Jun 25, 2014
In this episode we take on the validity of Disruption Theory in three parts:
- A discussion of Jill Lepore’s New Yorker article attacking disruption, as well as the debate that surrounded the article
- Ben’s article from last fall “What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong”
- A deeper discussion about whether or not managers can really do anything about true disruption, and whether or not they should even try
The quote referenced at the ending from Jill Lepore’s article on political polarization is as follows:
“But intellectuals, as Bruno Latour once pointed out, are nearly always one critique too late: “entire Ph.D. programs are still running to make sure that good American kids are learning the hard way that facts are made up, that there is no such thing as natural, unmediated, unbiased access to truth, that we are always prisoners of language, that we always speak from a particular standpoint, and so on, while dangerous extremists are using the very same argument of social construction to destroy hard-won evidence that could save our lives.”
Also! We would love it if you would rate and review this podcast on iTunes. The link is here Thank you.
Links
- Jill Lepore: The Disruption Machine – The New Yorker
- Jill Lepore: Long Division – The New Yorker
- Larissa MacFarquhar: When Giants Fall. What business has learned from Clayton Christensen – The New Yorker
- Ben Thompson: Obsoletive – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong – Stratechery
- Clayton Christensen: The Innovator’s Solution – Kindle
- Phil Rosenzweig: The Halo Effect – Kindle
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 007: “Growing Up” v “Hungry and Foolish”
Jun 20, 2014
There’s a bit of a consensus building post WWDC: Apple has grown up, and it’s great.
But is it great? Is it possible that something essential has been lost? After all, a lot of the praise being heaped on Apple and Tim Cook was once used for another company – Microsoft. In this episode we examine what it is that makes Apple unique, and why things might turn out different this time – and why they might not.
In addition, we discuss the end of privacy and what might be done about it.
Also! We would love it if you would rate and review this podcast on iTunes. The link is here Thanks!
Links
- John Gruber: Only Apple – Daring Fireball
- Ben Thompson: Tim Cook is a Great CEO – Stratechery
- Ben Thompson: What Steve Jobs Wouldn’t Have Done – Stratechery
- James Allworth: The Real Threat that Samsung Poses to Apple – Asymco
- John Gruber: The New Apple Advantage – Daring Fireball
- Ben Thompson: If Steve Ballmer Ran Apple – Stratechery
- Microsofter – New York Times
- Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech – Stanford News
- Ben Thompson: Privacy is Dead – Stratechery
- Actual Facebook Graph Searches – Tumblr
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 006: Product versus Profit
Jun 11, 2014
In this episode we discuss why James was less excited by WWDC than was Ben, why the Beats acquisition may actually be a textbook response to the Innovator’s Dilemma, whether Apple has every truly faced disruption, as well as James’ review of Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys
Links
- Ben Thompson: Growing Apple at WWDC – Stratechery
- James Allworth: Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator’s Dilemma – Harvard Business Review
- Max Wessel and Clay Christensen: Surviving Disruption – Harvard Business Review
- James Allworth: High Frequency Trading and Finance’s Race to Irrelevance Harvard Business Review
Hosts
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
Episode 005: The World Has Changed
May 28, 2014
This episode surprised us; through a discussion of who is at fault in the latest series of new vs old-world spats, we realized that not only has the Internet fundamentally changed winners-and-losers, but also the very nature of economic competition and the type of regulation that is required.
Topics & Links
- Mathew Ingram: Giants Behaving Badly – GigaOm
Google v MetaFilter
- Matt Haughey: On the Future of MetaFilter – Medium
Journalism v Facebook
- Mike Hudack: A Rant About the State of Media – Facebook
- Ben Thompson: Newspapers are Dead; Long Live Journalism – Stratechery
Amazon v Publishers
- Ben Thompson: Publishers’ Deal With the Devil – Stratechery
- George Packer: Cheap Words – New Yorker
Antitrust, Network Effects, and the Age of Abundance
Do Tech Companies Have a Responsibility to Society?
On how the Internet has fundamentally changed the world, and how government regulation is hopelessly behind
Hosts:
- Ben Thompson, @monkbent, Stratechery
- James Allworth, @jamesallworth
Podcast Information:
Episode 004 – Technology and Politics
May 20, 2014
Are the recent debates on net neutrality, the protests of Google buses, even SOPA a sign of things to come? Building on Ben’s article The Net Neutrality Wake-up Call Ben and James discuss the intersection of technology and politics.
- Why do people in technology tend to dislike politics?
- Is net neutrality really that important and understanding open loop unbundling
- The tech industry and creative destruction: is it good for society when companies go out of business?
- The impact of money on politics
- Why tech and politics are on a collision course
- What we can do to effect change on an individual basis
Links:
- The Net Neutrality Wake-up Call – Stratechery
- Net Neutrality Podcast – Stratechery.FM
- We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim – Lawrence Lessig at TED
- Lawrence Lessig’s PAC – MayOne
Note to listeners: the Stratechery.FM feed is now redirected to Exponent (although the archives remain on Stratechery.FM). If you have subscribed to both, just delete one or the other. Thanks! Also, James is not actually married. That was the joke…
Episode 003: Valiantly Defending Jobs
May 14, 2014
This episode is all about the (alleged) Apple Beats acquisition. While it may make a certain amount of business sense, does it signify a small but significant change in Apple’s priorities, and is it a cause for concern? Topics covered include:
- The rationale for the acquisition
- The difference between making and recognizing market opportunities
- What makes Apple uniquely capable of building revolutionary products
- Apple’s previous responses when threatened in music
- How to think about mergers and acquisitions
- How to best motivate employees
Links:
- Why Apple is Buying Beats – Ben Thompson
- The New M&A Playbook – Clayton Christensen
- One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? – Frederick Herzberg
Episode 002: The Missing Episode
May 14, 2014
This episode was actually recorded on February 18; however, due to circumstances, we had to hibernate Exponent and the episode was never actually edited and posted.
Now that the show is back – for good this time – we wanted to post the “missing episode” plenty of folks have asked us about. There are a couple of dated references, but the content is still very applicable.
In this episode we talk about privilege and whether Silicon Valley is solving the right problems. It’s certainly not a new question, but has it become more pressing in the last few months?
Links:
- Don’t Build Your Startup Outside of Silicon Valley – Max Wessell HBR
Thanks for your patience!
Episode 001 – The Garbage Truck Song
Feb 20, 2014
In this, the first episode of the Exponent podcast, we talk about our background, Microsoft and disruption, and the meaning of culture. We also explore our goals for this podcast, and just a bit about Taiwanese garbage trucks.
Show Notes: