Podcast: Exponent

Ben and James discuss open source in a cloud world, how enterprise value chains have changed, and AWS versus Microsoft. Links Ben Thompson: AWS, MongoDB, and the Economic Realities of Open Source — Stratechery Ben Thompson: How Google is Challenging AWS — Stratechery Satya Nadella on Microsoft — Stratechery Daily Update Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Ben and James discuss Apple’s revenue warning and the company’s shift to services. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Errors — Stratechery Letter from Tim Cook to Apple Investors — Apple Ben Thompson: Two Bears — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery Ben Thompson: CES and the Unification of Computing and Consumer Electronics, Google Assistant and Integration, The Modular Competition — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The Android Detour — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

James and Ben talk about the connection between Jobs to be Done and Aggregation Theory, why the consumer and enterprise markets are so different, and discomfort with big companies like Google. Links Ben Thompson: Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Scooter Economy — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Jobs TV Does — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2018 — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Data Factories — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Slack versus Teams — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App … Continue reading Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering

Exponent is back, kind of. Ben and James talk about Apple’s case in front of the Supreme Court, and debate whether the company is acting anti-competitively with its App Store policies. Links Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple App Store Follow-up — Stratechery Daily Update Apple Inc. v. Robert Pepper, et al. oral arguments — Supreme Court of the United States Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback

Exponent is taking a break, for now anyways. We couldn’t be more grateful for everyone that has given us so much of their time. Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub. Note: This is the last episode of the season; Exponent will return in the fall Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Cost of Developers — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Redmond and Reality — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James continue their discussion on why aggregators and platforms are different and why it matters for big companies, competitors, and regulators. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Bill Gates Line — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Case Against Google — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy tbh — Stratechery Hosts Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review Podcast Information Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

Ben and James continue to discuss the differences between platforms and aggregators, including Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon, and Uber. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Moat Map — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books and Blogs — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Tech’s Two Philosophies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Casual Gaming is a Sustainable Business, but Not a Platform Differentiator — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery … Continue reading Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators

Ben and James discuss the differences between Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple specifically, and the differences between aggregators and platforms generally. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Google Duplex Demo — YouTube Ben Thompson: Tech’s Two Philosophies — Stratechery Note: The Steve Jobs videos are in the above article Ben Thompson: Platforms Versus Aggregators — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Face is Not the Future — Stratechery Ben Thompson: From Products to Platforms — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the … Continue reading Episode 151 — Two by Twos

Ben and James discuss how Apple and Amazon’s focus on the customer experience protects them from low-end disruption. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Divine Discontent: Disruption’s Antidote — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The $550 iPhone 5C Makes Perfect Sense — Stratechery GRAPH: The Disruptive Innovation Model — Harvard Business Review Louis C K: Everything Is Amazing and Nobody is Happy — YouTube Ben Thompson: Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery Ben Bajarin: Top Takeaways From Studying iPhone X … Continue reading Episode 150 — Round Numbers

Ben and James discuss Zillow’s shift in business model and the further refinement of Aggregation Theory through the incorporation of the ideas of disruption. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Opendoor: A Startup Worth Emulating — Stratechery Episode 098: Shattered Glass — Exponent Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Books and Blog … Continue reading Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation

Ben and James discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s appearances before Congress, and try to sort out exactly which Facebook issues matter, and which don’t. Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent. Links Ben Thompson: The Facebook Current — Stratechery Zeynep Tufekci: Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t Fixed Facebook — Wired Ben Thompson: Fake News — Stratechery The Toutiao Apology — China Media Project Growth At Any Cost: Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo — And Warned That Facebook Could Get People Killed — BuzzFeed Ben Thompson: The Facebook Brand — Stratechery There’s … Continue reading Episode 148 — Facebook Fatigue

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 … Continue reading Episode 147 — There’s Always a Bigger Fish

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: … Continue reading Episode 146 — Facebook’s Real Mistake

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 Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter Feedback Presented by WordPress.com

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 Feed iTunes … Continue reading Episode 144 — 90s Alt Forever

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 Feed iTunes SoundCloud Twitter … Continue reading Episode 143 — Dilly-Dallying Dropbox

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 … Continue reading Episode 142 (Updated) — Google and Antitrust

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 … Continue reading Episode 141 — The Mailbag Episode

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 … Continue reading Episode 140 — The Products They Built Along the Way