Negative Network Effects

Negative & Positive Network Effects There have been two transformative platforms created in the last two decades: TikTok & Facebook. The growth and engagement of both are unprecedented. At its peak, Facebook averaged 58 minutes of usage per user per day. And now, TikTok is averaging 93 minutes of usage per user per day. When…

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The Ponzi Platform

Recently there’s been a ton of talk about newsletter growth on platforms like Substack and beehiiv. There have been articles like “Substack figures it out” and coverage around their investment in growth.  And there’s a real reason to believe that Substack has figured it out.  When I recently read Packy McCormick’s newsletter, I noticed he…

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Axios owes Morning Brew a drink 

With the Axios announcement to Cox last week for $525M we’re in a clear window of acquisitions of the digital media industry. Why is this happening? Let’s first start by recognizing the purpose behind every deal varies. In my mind there are three types of acquisitions for media companies: Marketing Playbook Strategic Media Private Equity…

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Industry Dive is a narrative violation 

In early 2021, I was funemployed. I wanted to start a new venture, but I was torn on what I wanted to do. Going back into the media industry was the best move for my experience and skillset – but something was holding me back. I was embarrassed to be in media.  The industry was…

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Taboola is getting boo’d 

There’s a recent article on Medium that was published called Taboola: A Truly Evil Company. For background, Taboola has built a Google Adwords competitor with cheaper RPMs for advertisers and more “native” formats for publishers. The success of the business is shocking with more than $1.38B in revenue in 2021 and $108M in free cash…

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Talent & Distribution… and reputation 

Even if you’re not a golf fan if you’ve probably heard some rumblings about LIV golf tour. It’s the newest professional golf tour that is competing with the PGA Tour. LIV is funded by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudia Arabia.  LIV has stacked itself with some of the biggest names in golf – from…

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