The NBA and Microsoft are announcing a new partnership. The news, some brief analysis, and an interview. | Continue reading
OpenDoor has a unique yet high-risk approach to residential real estate; that’s a great thing, both for its prospects and for society. | Continue reading
While Stratechery is supported by subscriptions to the Daily Update, there has long been the option to receive free Weekly Articles via email. In a similar vein, I am happy to announce that the Dai… | Continue reading
Amazon cutting affiliate fees, Google versus French publishers, and movie studios seeking to sell to Netflix are all examples of the same trend: you must own your relationship with your customers. | Continue reading
Apple and Google, who last Friday jointly | announced new capabilities for contact tracing coronavirus carriers at scale, released a new statement yesterday clarifying that no government would tell… | Continue reading
It is tempting — and useful — to look at Apple and Amazon’s deal in a bilateral context. It probably makes more sense, though, in the context of Netflix and the future of video. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Unmasking Twitter. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
Twitter has a new policy to listen to experts about what content to limit; what happens, though, when experts are wrong? | Continue reading
Compaq’s descent from a company of action to a brand is a frightening parable for the the West’s focus on talk over action. | Continue reading
In a follow-up to Zero Trust Information, exploring the four types of information and how their value changes with time. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Zero Trust Information. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
Zero Trust Networking is security with Internet assumptions; there is tremendous value if we apply the same approach to information. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Email Addresses and Razor Blades. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
The fate of Harry’s and other DTC companies, particularly relative to companies like Credit Karma, highlight how the Internet elevates the importance of demand over supply. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss The Daily Update Podcast and First, Do No Harm. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
Today Stratechery is launching a new product: the Daily Update Podcast. What is the Daily Update Podcast? The Daily Update Podcast is the audio version of the Daily Update. The Daily Update consist… | Continue reading
As regulators look closer at acquisitions they should be extremely wary of unintended consequences. The current system works well for everyone, most of the time. | Continue reading
Facebook is under pressure from all sides, but that actually means it has an opportunity to build the platform it has always wanted — in digital ads. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we eulogize Professor Clayton M. Christensen. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
The iPad is 10, and while it remains a useful device, it is ultimately a disappointment. Apple lost the vision for what the iPad could be, and never gave space for developers to figure it out for t… | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss The End of the Beginning. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
The history of credit cards helps explain why Plaid is valuable to Visa, and how Visa can make it significantly better. | Continue reading
The beginning of technology was about the shift from batched computing in one place to continuous computing everywhere. That era of paradigm changes may be over, which means the real changes are on… | Continue reading
Stratechery is on Christmas and New Year’s break the week of December 23rd and December 30th; your next Daily Update will be on January 6. The full Daily Update posting schedule is here. All … | Continue reading
The most popular and most important posts on Stratechery in 2019. | Continue reading
A strategy credit is the opposite of a strategy tax: it is when a hard decision for other companies is easy because of business model. | Continue reading
Understanding the differences between platforms and Aggregators is critical when it comes to considering regulation. | Continue reading
Data portability is friendly to consumers, but it has very little to do with encouraging competition, at least relative to interoperability. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Integration and Monopoly. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
Apple has won through integration, but integration combined with network effects and economies of scale can result in bad outcomes that look a lot like monopolies. | Continue reading
The FANG companies — Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google — are far more similar than you might think. Their rise in value is no accident, and it is connected to Aggregation Theory. | Continue reading
Google, the real Aggregator, is squeezing OTAs, which acted like Aggregators while depending on Google for demand. It’s easy to say Google is being unfair, but this may be better for consumer… | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Tech and Liberty. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
The First Amendment is not about a law, but rather a culture — specifically a culture of liberty. It is essential to tech, and in this context, Facebook is mostly right about political ads (but can… | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss The Internet and the Third Estate. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
There is a new offering in the subscription space: Ghost. John O’Nolan, the founder and CEO of the Ghost Foundation, explains what makes Ghost unique. | Continue reading
Mark Zuckerberg suggested that social media is a “Fifth Estate”; in fact, social media is a means by which the Third Estate — commoners — can seize political power. Here history matters… | Continue reading
Google presented a vision of ambient computing that goes beyond the smartphone. The company is well-placed, but faces challenges both in the marketplace and in the mirror. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss The China Cultural Clash. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
The NBA controversy in China highlights a culture clash that both tech companies and the U.S. government need to take to heart. Plus, why Tiktok being Chinese is increasingly a problem. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Facebook from multiple angles, including child sexual abuse material, encryption, Oculus, and a leaked all-hands meeting. List… | Continue reading
Facebook and Amazon had events on the same day for Oculus and Alexa. Both are driven by lessons from the mobile era, but Amazon seems to have learned more than Facebook. | Continue reading
Uber represents something new: a company that is different than incumbents because of technology, yet not itself a tech company — just like the Venture Fund is not a VC. | Continue reading
On Exponent, the weekly podcast I host with James Allworth, we discuss Cloudflare and what it is like going through an IPO, as well as what has gone wrong with WeWork. Listen to it here. | Continue reading
Amazon.com was showing signs of being a Day Two company, including the alleged manipulation of search. There is reason, though, to be optimistic that the company has gotten back to Day One. Plus, w… | Continue reading
Apple’s annual iPhone event may have marked Apple’s true shift into being a Services company | Continue reading
Apple’s annual iPhone event may have marked Apple’s true shift into being a Services company | Continue reading
The New York Times has a compelling expose of how Apple dominates App Store search. Then, WeWork may not IPO, although its CEO will be fine; the bigger question, though is about SoftBank’s Vi… | Continue reading