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The thing that people don’t think about enough is the audience. The audience is the most important part.

-Lauren Passell

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I knew Google paid Apple a lot for default search engine status, but seeing it put this way was still crazy:

Google pays Apple Inc. 36% of the revenue it earns from search advertising made through the Safari browser

This is why everyone (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI) wants a hardware platform. They want to own the access point, because value accrues there.

Defaults are powerful. And the device can set the defaults.

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From Future Party:

A new app called Whatever gives users all the tools to plan and ideate dates

As message-based social networking takes off, platforms that are able to inspire the most IRL interaction may be the ones that stand out from the crowd.

uses an in-app discovery feed that aggregates potential date locations across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Yelp, and Eventbrite.

The major platforms have become foundation layers for others to build on, especially as the 10 Blue Links era of search slowly dies.

Messaging + narrow focus + niche use case + enabling experiences = a winner?

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The Streaming Wars are a case study in the impact of interest rates.

Pre-COVInflation, money was free so it was all about subscriber growth (the VC/SV playbook).

Free money train ends & it’s about becoming financially sustainable.

When the dust settles, the profitable will remain.

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2 theories on why the Great Rebundling is coming:

  1. Netflix was the default, everything else (except Disney) felt like an experimental subscription for users

  2. TV ads are purchased by legacy advertisers and agencies. Streaming doesn’t match their status quo. Digital ads are purchased by the new school. Non-self-serve platforms doesn’t match their status quo.

Ad-supported streaming offshoots got caught in the ad revenue valley between digital and legacy advertising powerhouses while linear TV became less enticing for ad buys. Double whammy.