That Was The Week #42

This week's show is a talk with Alex Kantrowitz from the "Big Tech" newsletter on Substack (https://bigtechnology.substack.com). Alex is also author of "Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever".

We discuss the Section 230 hearing in Congress, with the three leaders of Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but first, we talk about the anti-trust case against Google.

That Was The Week, #41

I’m drawn to Bill Gurley again this week. He has been relentless in calling out the Investment Banks for “stealing” money from founders and employees’ pockets. He does not mince words.

That Was The Week #40

What is the alternative to an open approach where everybody can post without fear of being "edited"? It can only be that some people designate themselves as more capable of truth than others and impose that truth on everybody. Such a 'benevolent', big brother, brave new world, approach goes against any sense of freedom and democracy.

That Was The Week #39

Who stands for progress any more and human agency of the way to achieve it? Not the House Democrats it would seem.

https://thatwastheweek.com/anti-trust-can-we-trust-government/

That Was The Week #38

The US and China are heavily interconnected economies. Their future is together in a connected world. TikTok is a false signal of the future.

That Was The Week #37

This week Chamath Palihapitiya announced that he has 3 more SPACs set up and ready to go. These SPACs are vehicles to enable a company to go public, and get cash, without an IPO. Instead of gifting cash to the friends of Morgan Stanley this method gifts cash to Chamath and his friends.

That Was The Week #36

It seems as if the going is getting too tough for some of Apple's former friends, especially MG Siegler. While Fred Wilson, never really a friend, is pleading on behalf of his portfolio for Apple to stop being so....well, capitalist.

That Was The Week #35

The war between Apple and the advertising-led platforms is a war between business models. On the one hand, clickbait and ad revenue and on the other subscription and pay as you go.

That Was The Week #34

The anti big-tech stance of DC is a replacement for any genuinely innovative or progressive outlook from either of the main political parties. Shame on both of their houses.

A very public fight between two Venture Capital titans over how a company should go to the public markets. Andreessen tells Gurley to SPAC Off!