People vs Algorithms

It's been 20 years, and despite endless attempts to bend the internet to its will, advertising remains a fraught part of the digital media experience. The internet put the consumer in control, connected the impression to the transaction, and in the process, completely transformed how we think about advertising, personal data sovereignty, and its underlying economics.

AI is about to change things all over again.

Troy, Alex, and Brian delve into digital advertising's messy history, failed attempts at innovation, and the impact of new interfaces that flatten the space between desire and fulfillment.

This week, we invite our Gen Z friend and Troy's son, Seb, to provide a generational perspective.

Plus, Succession is a good product. Enjoy!

Brian, Troy, and Alex tackle the fascinating topic of formats and explore why they can make or break media companies.

Note: this is a re-upload of the episode because Alex screwed it and uploaded an old episode the first time round. That's what you get for trusting RSS feeds.

Some links:

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Brian, Troy, and Alex jump on a call to talk about that SVB thing and the discourse around it.

Some links:

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

This week Brian, Troy and Alex discuss Substack, why it's turning into a platform, and why e-mail may or may not be its future.

Some links:

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter
• The Humble Co. Compostable Dental Floss Sticks

Today Brian, Troy and Alex ask themselves "what is premium"? They also discuss bundling in its many different forms. How it changed internet media and how AI will change the entire concept of a bundle.

Plus: Alex hates advertising, Brian remains in Comfort+ and Troy loves his dog.

• Ranker
• Video: "I tried using AI. It scared me." by Tom Scott
• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities

Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Software has eaten the world, and for publishers that means a continuous battle to fend off second-order impacts of decisions made by tech companies battling each other or governments attempting to rein in tech companies. This week, we discuss the second-order impacts cascading through the industry from attempts to regulate digital privacy and from, of course, the development of AI. Also, what does Vice owing Ranker money say about media today?

• Ranker
• Video: "I tried using AI. It scared me." by Tom Scott
• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Alex Schleifer's Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Troy, Alex and Brian discuss what's next for interfaces and how we will be getting our media in the future.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Universal Entities
• Donks by Felix Colgrave
• Crown Royal x Super Bowl LVII - Thank You Canada (this is the video Troy mentions at the end of the episode)
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

Troy, Alex and Brian discuss differentiation or uniqueness and what it means as the algorithmic age moves into new territory.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Universal Entities
• "Kids in the 60s..." tweet
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

In this episode we discuss the virtues and misuses of optimism. We dig into how optimism gets applied to the way we build strategies, teams, and products in tech and media. We cover a lot in this near hour-long episode but we try to stay upbeat.

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Universal Entities
• Laid Off by @AiyyoShraddha on YouTube
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter

This week we’re talking about decisions: how to make them, when they go wrong, and the tough decisions that are often forced on you.

The longer your career goes, and the higher up you progress in organizations, the decisions you make become the core of your contribution. Make enough decisions, you’ll make plenty of bad ones. We see this clearly in the sharp U-Turn Silicon Valley is making from a series of hiring decisions they all made during the pandemic. It’s become something of a ritual for a SV CEO to announce thousands of job losses and take responsibility for the decisions that led to these cuts.

We discuss everything from how too often people hide behind data to abdicate their responsibility for decision to a framework Troy uses for decisions. Hope you find it valua

• Troy Young's People vs Algorithms newsletter
• Brian Morrissey's The Rebooting newsletter
• Universal Entities
• Follow Alex, Brian and Troy on Twitter