Exponent

By Ben Thompson / James Allworth

Technology

What's Exponent about?

A podcast about tech and society, hosted by Ben Thompson and James Allworth

4.7

725 ratings

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LAST EPISODE

Episode 197 — ChatGPT (at N...

12.09.2022

Ben and James reunite to discuss the potential impact of AI on white collar work. Subscribe to Stratechery Plus, including Sharp Tech and Sharp China. Links Ben Thompson: AI Homework — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview With Daniel Gross and ...

Exponent episodes:

12.09.2022 Episode 197 — ChatGPT (at Normal Speed) Ben and James reunite to discuss the potential impact of AI on white collar work. Subscribe to Stratechery Plus, including Sharp Tech and Sharp China. Links Ben Thompson: AI Homework — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview With Daniel Gross and ...
12.09.2022 Episode 197 — ChatGPT Ben and James reunite to discuss the potential impact of AI on white collar work. Subscribe to Stratechery Plus, including Sharp Tech and Sharp China. Links Ben Thompson: AI Homework — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview With Daniel Gross and ...
11.05.2021 Episode 196 — Forecasting the Metaverse Ben and James discuss Facebook and Microsoft’s metaverse announcements, and how the future might play out. Links Ben Thompson: Meta — Stratechery Ben Thompson: An Interview with Mark Zuckerberg about the Metaverse — Stratechery Ben Thompson: AR vs. VR — ...
10.18.2021 Episode 195 — Technological Revolutions Are we in the middle of the IT revolution, or on the verge of something new? Links Ben Thompson: The Death and Birth of Technological Revolutions — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The End of the Beginning — Stratechery John Perry Barlow: ...
04.30.2021 Episode 194 — Back on Spotify Ben and James discuss the history of podcasts and why Spotify's recent announcements are so compelling for creators.
03.26.2021 Episode 193 — Sovereign Podcasters Ben and James discuss Substack and the rise of the sovereign creator. Links Ben Thompson: Sovereign Writers and Substack — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Never-Ending Niches — Stratechery Bruno Maçães: History Has Begun — Hurst Publishers Ben Thompson: Defining Information — ...
02.19.2021 Episode 192 — The Australian Perspective Ben and James discuss Australia’s Media Bargaining Code and its fall-out. Links Ben Thompson: Google Makes Deal With News Corp, Facebook Blocks News in Australia, Microsoft’s Shamelessness — Stratechery Daily Update James Allworth: Australia’s Proposed “Fox News Tax” — Medium ...
01.08.2021 Episode 191 — Facebook, Twitter, and Trump Ben and James discuss whether Facebook and Twitter should de-platform President Trump. Links Ben Thompson: Tech and Trump — Stratechery Ben Thompson: New Defaults — Stratechery James Allworth: Prioritizing Economics is Crippling the U.S. Economy — Medium Ben Thompson: Trump ...
11.13.2020 Episode 190 — Intel, Apple, Disruption, and Differentiation Ben and James discuss Apple’s new chip announcement and what it means for both Apple and Intel. Links James Allworth: Intel’s Disruption is Now Complete — Medium Ben Thompson: Apple’s Shifting Differentiation — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Intel Opportunity — ...
10.06.2020 Episode 189 — Bundles Ben and James discuss the state of bundles in 2020, including Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Microsoft, and Apple. Links Ben Thompson: 2020 Bundles — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Great Unbundling — Stratechery Reed Hastings: 2018 Q4 Letter to Shareholders — Netflix ...
08.07.2020 Episode 188 — Big Tech, Antitrust, and Democracy Ben and James discuss the antitrust subcommittee hearing, the problems of mixing antitrust and Aggregators, and how to think about regulation and democracy. Links Ben Thompson: Antitrust Politics — Stratechery The New York Times: Here’s which tech C.E.O. was asked ...
07.10.2020 Episode 187 — India, TikTok, and the U.S. Ben and James discuss the Indian internet, TikTok, and whether or not the U.S. should ban it. Links Ben Thompson: Facebook Invests in Jio Platforms, The Building of Jio, Understanding the Deal — Stratechery Daily Update Ben Thompson: The China ...
06.05.2020 Episode 186 — Speech and Systems Ben and James discuss the current protests and Facebook’s decision to not take down Trump tweets. Links Ben Thompson: Zero Trust Information — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Dust in the Light — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Zuckerberg’s Choice, Zuckerberg’s Power, Zuckerberg’s Conviction ...
05.15.2020 Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify Ben and James discuss Dithering, how Spotify is like Facebook, and a bit about working from home. Links Ben Thompson & John Gruber: Dithering — Dithering Ben Thompson: Dithering and Open Versus Free — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The Daily Update ...
04.03.2020 Episode 184 — Good is Better than Perfect Ben and James discuss masks and Twitter’s decision to delete tweets about COVID-19. Links Zeynep Tufekci: Why Telling People They Don’t Need Masks Backfired — The New York Times Ben Thompson: Unmasking Twitter — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Compaq and Coronavirus ...
03.13.2020 Episode 183 — A Search for Everything Ben and James contrast U.S. and China’s response to the coronavirus, and the choices facing society about how to handle information. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Earnings, Slowing Services Growth, Apple and the Coronavirus — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Economic Power in ...
02.28.2020 Episode 182 — Scale Scale Scale Ben and James discuss the FTC’s decision to block the acquisition of Harry’s Razors, the DTC market, and the difference between being a monopoly and being too big. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Investor Warning, Foxconn’s Investor Warning, An Interview with ...
02.21.2020 Episode 181 — Competing with Spotify and Regulating Acquisitions Ben and James discuss Ben’s new Daily Update Podcast, and why Exponent is not on Spotify. Then, should regulators roll back acquisitions or prioritize the avoidance of unintended consequences? Links Ben Thompson: The Daily Update Podcast — Stratechery Ben Thompson: ...
01.31.2020 Episode 180 — It’s Been a Week Ben and James eulogize Professor Clayton M. Christensen Links Clayton M. Christensen: How Will You Measure Your Life? — Harvard Business Review Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Clayton Christensen Passes Away, Professor Christensen and ...
01.18.2020 Episode 179 — The Water We Swim In Ben and James discuss whether mobile and hyper-scale clouds are the natural endpoint for this stage of technology, or if new companies will ride new paradigm shifts to replace Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Links Ben Thompson: The End of ...
11.22.2019 Episode 178 — More Ergonomic Ben and James discuss the downsides of monopoly, and Apple. Then, why there is no absolute answer when it comes to integration or modularization, and why different approaches require different types of organizations and different types of leaders. Links Ben ...
11.08.2019 Episode 177 — Principle Stacks Ben and James discuss the origins of the First Amendment, what a culture of free expression means, and Facebook’s ad policy. Links Ben Thompson: Tech and Liberty — Stratechery Randall Munroe: Free Speech — xkcd Pat Kerr: Why I think ...
10.25.2019 Episode 176 — The Second Estate Era Ben and James discuss how the Internet’s impact will be like the printing press’s, and what that means for how we should think about Facebook. Note: We apologize for the slight audio discrepancy between Ben and James Links Ben Thompson: ...
10.15.2019 Episode 175 — The Abyss Stares Back Ben and James discuss the NBA and Apple in China and the long-term implications of doing business with authoritarian governments. Links Ben Thompson: The China Cultural Clash — Stratechery r/HongKong: List Of Companies Under China’s Censorship Orders (So Far). Credit ...
10.05.2019 Episode 174 — Distracted at Facebook Ben and James discuss Facebook from multiple angles, including child sexual abuse material, encryption, Oculus, and a leaked all-hands meeting. Links Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery The Internet Is Overrun With Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong? — ...
09.20.2019 Episode 173 — The Exponent IPO Ben and James discuss Cloudflare and what it is like going through an IPO, as well as what has gone wrong with WeWork. Links Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Cloudflare’s S-1 — ...
06.13.2019 Episode 172 — Game of Phones Ben and James discuss WWDC keynote and why it was so important for Apple to move past the iPhone. Links Ben Thompson: Apple’s Audacity — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery Letter from Tim Cook to Apple investors ...
05.24.2019 Episode 171 — An Intra-west Debate Ben and James discuss the U.S.-China trade war and the fundamental issues facing both countries generally and tech specifically. Links Ben Thompson: China, Leverage, and Values — Stratechery We Were Pirates, Too — Foreign Policy How China Uses High-Tech Surveillance ...
05.10.2019 Episode 170 — A Perfect Meal Ben and James discuss the Zoom and Slack IPOs in the context of Microsoft’s current success and long-term challenges. Links Ben Thompson: Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity — Stratechery Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End ...
04.19.2019 Episode 169 — Family-Friendly Disney Ben and James discuss Disney’s recent announcements on streaming and what it says about not just TV but strategy broadly in the Internet era. Links Ben Thompson: Disney and the Future of TV — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Disney and the ...
04.12.2019 Episode 168 — A Community of Loonies Ben and James discuss why Internet regulation is coming, why it is probably necessary, and how it should be targeted. Links Ben Thompson: A Regulatory Framework for the Internet — Stratechery New Livestreaming Legislation Fails to Take Into Account How ...
04.05.2019 Episode 167 — YouTube and the End of Friction Ben and James discuss the question of YouTube, why it’s similar and different from Facebook, and why engagement is both alluring and a potential problem. Links YouTube Executives Ignored Warnings, Letting Toxic Videos Run Rampant — Bloomberg Ben Thompson: Apple’s ...
03.15.2019 Episode 166 — Fence-building vs. Axe-wielding Ben and James discuss Senator Warren’s proposal to break up Big Tech, including why its history is wrong, why details matter, and what needs to be done instead. Plus, Spotify’s antitrust complaint against Apple. Links Senator Elizabeth Warren: Here’s how ...
03.08.2019 Episode 165 — Mark Zuckerberg’s Projected Self Ben and James discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s latest missive, whether Facebook is actually changing anything, and wonder if the company will ever tell the unvarnished truth. Links Mark Zuckerberg: A Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking — Facebook Ben Thompson: Facebook’s Privacy ...
03.01.2019 Episode 164 — Valuing Value Chains Ben and James discuss Amazon, Walmart, and groceries, Google Cloud versus AWS, and why understanding value chains helps evaluate business opportunities. Links Ben Thompson: The Value Chain Constraint — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Walmart’s Earnings, Walmart’s Grocery Business, Amazon’s Grocery Stumbles ...
02.15.2019 Exponent 163 — Publishers vs Apple News Ben and James discuss Apple News as it is today, where Apple wants to take it in the future, and why publishers should push back. Links Ben Thompson: The Cost of Apple News — Stratechery Ben Thompson: What Direct-to-Consumer Publishers ...
02.08.2019 Exponent 162 — Why Exponent Isn’t on Spotify Ben and James discuss Spotify’s move into podcasts and integration and modularity in value chains. Links Ben Thompson: Spotify’s Podcast Aggregation Play — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Lessons From Spotify — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Podcasts, Analytics, and Centralization — Stratechery Ben ...
02.01.2019 Episode 161 — Vigilante Justice Ben and James discuss Apple vs Facebook (and Google!). Links Josh Constine: Facebook Pays Teens to Install VPN That Spies on Them — TechCrunch Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users — Wall Street Journal Ben Thompson: ...
01.25.2019 Episode 160 — Zeros All the Way Down Ben and James discuss Netflix, why it is an Aggregator, and why Disney isn’t actually a competitor Links Ben Thompson: Netflix Flexes — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy ...
01.19.2019 Episode 159 — Inverted Pyramids 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 ...
01.11.2019 Episode 158 — A Significant Shift 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 ...
12.14.2018 Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering 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 ...
12.01.2018 Episode 156 — Rent-Seeking 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 ...
09.07.2018 Episode 155 — The End, For Now 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 ...
06.08.2018 Episode 154 — Legacy Leverage 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 ...
05.25.2018 Episode 153 — Black Holes 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 ...
05.18.2018 Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators 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 ...
05.11.2018 Episode 151 — Two by Twos 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 ...
05.04.2018 Episode 150 — Round Numbers 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 ...
04.27.2018 Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation 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: ...

Older episodes

Exponent

What's Exponent about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Exponent episodes:

Episode 197 — ChatGPT (at Normal Speed)

Episode 197 — ChatGPT

Episode 196 — Forecasting the Metaverse

Episode 195 — Technological Revolutions

Episode 194 — Back on Spotify

Episode 193 — Sovereign Podcasters

Episode 192 — The Australian Perspective

Episode 191 — Facebook, Twitter, and Trump

Episode 190 — Intel, Apple, Disruption, and Differentiation

Episode 189 — Bundles

Episode 188 — Big Tech, Antitrust, and Democracy

Episode 187 — India, TikTok, and the U.S.

Episode 186 — Speech and Systems

Episode 185 — Open, Free, and Spotify

Episode 184 — Good is Better than Perfect

Episode 183 — A Search for Everything

Episode 182 — Scale Scale Scale

Episode 181 — Competing with Spotify and Regulating Acquisitions

Episode 180 — It’s Been a Week

Episode 179 — The Water We Swim In

Episode 178 — More Ergonomic

Episode 177 — Principle Stacks

Episode 176 — The Second Estate Era

Episode 175 — The Abyss Stares Back

Episode 174 — Distracted at Facebook

Episode 173 — The Exponent IPO

Episode 172 — Game of Phones

Episode 171 — An Intra-west Debate

Episode 170 — A Perfect Meal

Episode 169 — Family-Friendly Disney

Episode 168 — A Community of Loonies

Episode 167 — YouTube and the End of Friction

Episode 166 — Fence-building vs. Axe-wielding

Episode 165 — Mark Zuckerberg’s Projected Self

Episode 164 — Valuing Value Chains

Exponent 163 — Publishers vs Apple News

Exponent 162 — Why Exponent Isn’t on Spotify

Episode 161 — Vigilante Justice

Episode 160 — Zeros All the Way Down

Episode 159 — Inverted Pyramids

Episode 158 — A Significant Shift

Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering

Episode 156 — Rent-Seeking

Episode 155 — The End, For Now

Episode 154 — Legacy Leverage

Episode 153 — Black Holes

Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators

Episode 151 — Two by Twos

Episode 150 — Round Numbers

Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation

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