The Knowledge Project #40 Ben Thompson: Thriving in a Digital World
Entertainment Fragmentation & New Giants
- Streaming will fragment entertainment spending but won't reduce total monthly costs.
- New internet-born companies start with modern assumptions, creating emerging giants replacing old models.
Venture Capital’s Tech Evolution
- Venture capital is tied to tech’s high upfront costs and near-zero marginal costs.
- Growth investing in massive companies like Uber differs fundamentally from traditional VC betting.
Internet Empowers Lifestyle Businesses
- The internet enables thousands of lifestyle businesses by accessible global markets.
- Reducing barriers for small entrepreneurs is vital for future job growth and economic health.
Today’s guest is Stratechery author and founder Ben Thompson. If you’re an investor in Silicon Valley, work at a tech start-up, or just love to geek out on technology and business analysis, odds are good that Stratechery is on your short list of must-read blogs.
What started as a side project, quickly ballooned into one of the most influential tech blogs on the web. The New York Times called Stratechery, “one of the most interesting sources of analysis on any subject.”
I agree.
In this interview, Ben and I cover a lot of ground. Here are a few of the things we discuss:
- Learn once and for all how to pronounce Stratechery. :)
- How Ben’s business model was developed and how he massaged it over the years to become what it is today
- The one metric Ben looks at each day to gauge the health of his business
- How Ben deals with people who rip off his work and pass it off as their own
- Ben’s thoughts on pricing, free trials, content and other important aspects of online membership sites
- How Ben structures his day to churn out such incredible content so consistently
- How Ben handles being wrong on his site, and his process for screening his work for confirmation bias
- How the internet has changed the traditional view of supply and demand, and what companies should do about it
- What Ben would teach an MBA class about internet strategy (if you do any business online, you need to hear this)
- What it would take for a start-up to overtake Google or Apple, and the vulnerabilities that all companies share, no matter how big or profitable
- The new era of technology and how companies like Netflix, Airbnb, and Amazon are doing it right (and what you can do in your own business to take full advantage)
This is one of the most jam-packed interviews I’ve done on the Knowledge Project. Ben’s answers are so thoughtful and informative that you’re going to want to have a notebook handy.
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