Exponent

Latest Episodes:

Episode 078 — Bending Trees May 06, 2016

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

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