Winner Take All

The episode starts with a detailed look at the saga between Elon Musk  and Twitter. At the time of recording, Elon had rejected an offer to  join Twitter's board and was holding an almost 10% stake in the social  platform. Next, a look at the Etsy seller strike over the craft  marketplace's increases to its take rate. Is this a classic example of a  dominant platform squeezing its producers or does Etsy need this  increased revenue to spend on platform improvements? The show closes  with a look at luxury fashion platform Farfetch making a $200 million  investment into luxury department store owners Neiman Marcus Group.  

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Originally Aired: 04/12/22 

#Farfetch #ElonTwitter #TwitterBuyout

We dive into new tech regulations in this episode, begining with a look at the EU's troublesome new Digital Markets Act. This new EU regulation aims to curb the power of gatekeeper tech companies but unfortunately the set definition for a "gatekeeper" is much too broad and I think this one will cause much more chaos than good. Next, we look at some comments from the U.S. on how tech companies may be regulated before the end of 2022. We close out with a look at why GameStop is refusing to pay Boston Consulting Group $30 million.  

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#Regulation #TechLaw #BigTech

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The episodes kicks off looking at Uber's decision to integrate taxis  onto the platform in NYC and San Francisco. Next, a look at Pinterest's  failed attempts to add commerce to its platform and the company's  spectacular failure to acquire Verishop. We also cover two stories on  Instacart, looking at the delivery platform deciding to slash its  valuation by 40% and a new suite of SaaS tools being offered to grocers.  The episode closes with our announcement of Dot Foods acquisition of Morsum.

#Instacart #RideSharing #Podcast —

The episode starts with a look at the European Union banning Russian  media from spreading on the web. While I've supported businesses right  to cease business with Russia, I think an outright ban on information is  a more complicated issue. Next, discussion on the SEC asking for more  information from Chinese companies and some signs that the tech  crackdown from Chinese regulators may be easing. We end the episode with  a look at the FED announcing they will raise interest rates by 25 basis  points.  

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#InterestRate #ChineseStocks #Russia —

I dig into the auto industry with Applico Managing Director Nick  Johnson! We start off with a big announcement concerning Applico Capital  and the LatAm auto market. Next, Carvana's purchase of ADESA is  analyzed as Nick and I breakdown why the digital enabled car retailer  might want to own a B2B auction provider. We finish off the episode  looking at how some auto manufactures are leaning towards direct to  consumer sales.  

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#Automakers #Carvana #Applico 

We dive right into the episode with Alex discussing why he decided to  sell his "beloved" mfers NFT. He details if this venture into the NFT  world was profitable and if he would recommend others try out the  "investment". For our second topic, a look at Elon Musk supplying the  Ukraine with Starlink internet equipment so that the nation can access  internet while in conflict with Russia. Also covered, eBay's declining  market share has now sunk below 5% and what companies are pulling out of  the Russian market.  

Originally Aired: 03/03/22

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The Federal Reserve has broken our American economy and I sit down with Chris Leonard to discuss his new book that details how our monetary system ended up here teetering on ruin. Chris is a New York Times best selling author and his new book The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy is a "fascinating and propulsive story about the Federal Reserve" and how quantitative easing and political posturing have put America's monetary system in peril.  I talked to Chris about how the United States Federal Reserve has printed an astronomical amount of money under FED Chairs Ben S. Bernanke, Janet Yellen, and Jerome Powell. We dig into why the Federal Reserve was originally created and how the institution has changed over the years to become, as meme lords would put it, the folks who make the "money printer go brrr". Chris offers his insights into why a crash is all but imminent for the American economy and what role inflation plays in accelerating this in 2022.  

See more 👀 of our interviews with founders, economists, scholars, and business mavens on this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 

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#FederalReserve #Inflation2022 #MoneyPrinting—

This episode of Winner Take All starts by looking at Peloton, a downtrodden exercise equipment and "media" company that activist investors are peddling to everyone from Disney and Netflix to Berkshire Hathaway. Alex comments on why he thinks the business is in decline and criticizes Peloton for claiming to have Network effects. Next, discussion on why music isn't profitable for Spotify, how the company's cash flow is not as it appears, and the controversy surrounding its marquee podcaster Joe Rogan. The episode closes with news of Facebook stock being wiped out in the biggest one-day drop in stock market history. NOTE: We forgot to record the outro so sorry for the abrupt ending. We promise to tell you to "have a nice day" at the end of the next episode.

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#PelotonStock #Spotify #FacebookStock

I talk with Christopher Bedford, a founding partner at RightForge, about  building a new internet infrastructure company in the shadow of big  tech. RightForge is an internet infrastructure provider that claims to  be a first of its kind company operating infrastructure while being  committed to American ideals online. RightForge is positioning  themselves to be a key player for enabling independent free speech  platforms to operate outside the gargantuan grasp of big tech providers  like Amazon (operator of AWS). With many questions being raised around  what constitutes free speech online and when platforms should or  shouldn't be allowed to take action against users, RightForge seems  positioned well for users who lean towards wanting a more open internet  and are concerned about being deplatformed at the infrastructure level.  

I chatted with Chris about his experiences building a new internet  infrastructure provider in an already mature and established industry,  what inspired him and his partners to found the company, and the  American ideals he sees as a guide to how RightForge should operate and  find its niche. I think an overall theme here is looking at why  independent platforms may be the future and why RightForge is needed the  facilitate new tech entrants build around free speech and American  ideals.  

See more 👀 of our interviews with founders, economists, scholars, and  business mavens on this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_K104J9GHJaQENCpllXso5Rf-t-Uc_x5  

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Originally Aired: 02/21/22

I start the show with a look at the epic Twitter battle between (now former) Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow and Y Combinator. Are Breslow's claims anointing Y Combinator and Stripe as mob bosses of  Silicon Valley accurate? Next, a story that DoorDash engineers are outraged at the company policy requiring all employees to do a food delivery once per month. We wrap up looking at Robinhood's stock price being in the basement (time to fire Vlad maybe?) and Sonos beating Google via its patents.  

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Originally Aired: 02/0122