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Latest Episodes:

Episode 147 — There’s Always a Bigger Fish Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

The original version of this podcast included an editing error. The new version is here.

Episode 141 — The Mailbag Episode Feb 16, 2018

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

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