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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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