Hi All,
Another exciting week in Silicon Valley. This week’s Made by Google Keynote ‘19 while not interesting has been articulated well by Ben Thompson in Google and Ambient Computing. Definitely an interesting read and directionally exactly where google should go. Who said hardware doesn’t matter? I came across the Fermi problem (estimating) after a long time and I think it is a great reminder of how to think about problems. We get too lost in the weeds
Hello there app user. Want some food? Want a movie? Sure here you go …
I’m breaking my head to understand what content/media has to do with food delivery. If a company like Zomato creates content does that mean a subscriber will order more? I think this is more of a “ let’s throw this and see if it sticks strategy”. Content and delivery logistics need different core competencies. Alternatively, it could be the inception of a super app strategy which might get extremely interesting. The market dynamics exist and a large brand can probably (similar to China get this to be successful. Definitely interesting!
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Andrew Chen posted this great list of magic metrics on LNKD. Here is a screen grab (and link). The smile curve will show you not only power users, but also how much of a daily habit your product is.
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When we think about building products we think about products that meet a users need (ie there exists a market to reach that all dreaded product market fit. What we don’t ever question is WHY is there a large market. For example the popularity of Cloud Kitchens is linked to a larger trend of oh people are busy .. but digging deeper as to why they are busy will help product folks build a better product - Trend → Outcome → New Problem → Look for a product to solve new problem
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And speaking of … cloud kitchens, DoorDash seems to have a vertical strategy of an integrated kitchen. The two questions are WHY and WHY NOW? Is this a way to build partner loyalty so they can attempt to IPO. Is this a vertical strategy no different from the 80’s where manufacturing, QSR companies vertically integrated in order to control supply. I fear its a bit of both and I fear the strategy is slightly misplaced (if that is indeed the strategy)
Another possible strategy might be pricing. A partner gets a space to work for some $ and DoorDash gets a loyal partner and the commission. Uh ok, the “wework” for restaurants model
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An aphorism is a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”. I love aphorisms and this list from Farnam Street is amazing. My favorite is #162, There are people who make no mistakes because they never wish to do anything worth doing. That was me 10 years ago.
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Going back to trends, modern life is shaped by the historical trends, suburbs, large houses, small families and these all directly tie back to eating/food. Food though is so central to all cultures and this statement from the article articulates it so well : But food can have far more value than just calories
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Housing as well all know is a problem and David Perell has this wonderful summation on WHY this problem exists and why its not going away (more people on the merry go round)
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David Perell also wrote about the Boeing 737 Max failures. The outcome (2 crashed planes) is being seen now. This history was created a couple of decades ago. The same old rigmarole of bad stock → mergers → better stock value → Wall St is happy → Quality goes down → Wall St is still happy → Planes crash → Wall St is not happy. Read this article, it also has a lot of valuable lessons on leadership failures!
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I’m not much of a gamer but these trends were interesting. The huge question is what happens to consoles. Is that niche market of console sales still going to exist? Console “wars” are not full blown multi device and cloud gaming wars ...
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Lots of startup founders struggle with thinking about MVP’s without code. This list is a set of ideas to get the “no code” creative juices flowing. Also read this article on “how to create painkillers, not vitamins”
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A brilliant read on commercializing open source and the path companies take from evangelism, product market fit, monetization. Very different from a regular “for profit” startup.