Exponent

Latest Episodes:

Episode 009: The Societal Perspective Jul 11, 2014

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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:

If Steve Ballmer Ran Apple link
The Halo Effect:…and Eight Other Business Delusions that Deceive Managers link
Skating Towards the Goal link
Bill Gates’ Steve Jobs Moment link
Friction link
Note: The Internet Explorer rendering engine is called Trident, not Triton

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