Napkin Math

Profit and power in technology, every Tuesday and Thursday.

Apr 21, 2022

Microsoft should buy Netflix

Netflix and Bill

Jan 31, 2022

Spotify’s Quest to Own Your Ear

A Napkin Math and Trapital Production

May 7, 2024

The Right Kind of Asshole

A founder’s personality can differentiate them—or destroy them

Jan 11, 2024

The Books, Videos, Movies, and TV Shows That Changed Me Last Year

If you want to develop great taste, you must taste a lot of stuff

May 28, 2021

ITDA: The Gamification of Financial Statements

How governments and companies are engaged in mutual manipulation

Jul 30, 2020

GPT-3 Will Accelerate The Privatization of Internet Communities

What GPT-3 is, GPT-3's capabilities, if GPT-3 will replace jobs, and how it affects social media.

Jun 21, 2024

You Can’t Math Your Way to Success

Whether in art, startups, or parenting, you can only control so much

Jun 4, 2024

AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm

By reducing transaction costs, AI will reshape how companies operate and interact

Sep 12, 2024

The Button Problem of AI

What’s the real reason AI hasn’t yet delivered on its hype?

Dec 8, 2020

How Live-streaming Ecommerce Works in China

In China, livestreaming has changed eCommerce. Learn about how it works, what the hosts do during the steam, and how it could impact American eCommerce.

Jul 30, 2024

Tinder Is Way More Important Than You Think

The success of a dating app has huge implications for the U.S. economy

Aug 27, 2024

Benevolent Billionaire or Despot—Or Both?

A new book on Bill Gates asks: How do you measure a billionaire’s net impact on the world?

Oct 8, 2020

Nike: Direct Relationships & Digital Penetration

Nike just released their latest earnings report. We dive into their "Consumer Direct Offense" strategy, how they combined their brand marketing with technology.

Jun 30, 2022

Look On My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair

I Have Some Thoughts To Share

Aug 18, 2022

What is an Asset?

Plus a new course from Napkin Math!

Apr 22, 2021

Am I getting ripped off writing at Every?

Screenshots of my contract and the financial model I used to decide

Aug 13, 2020

Sometimes You’re The Datadog, Sometimes You’re The Hydrant

The history of cloud computing, how DevOps and Observability became so big, and the fate of Datadog

Aug 22, 2024

Copy Rights and Wrongs

Who owns the output of AI—the machines or the creators?

Mar 23, 2022

BIG announcement incoming

I'm going full time on Napkin Math

Jul 16, 2024

What I Got Wrong About VR

Whoopsie, I may have gotten a little excited

Jul 23, 2024

Vibes Are a Legitimate Economic Indicator

In her debut book, Kyla Scanlon makes the case for feeling the numbers

Mar 24, 2022

Planet of the Billion Dollar Bored Apes

Is Bored Ape Yacht Club a Decentralized Disney?

Oct 7, 2021

The End of Software, Again

The impending doom of horizontal SaaS

May 13, 2021

In Defense of WeWork’s Community-Adjusted EBITDA

Clarifying the murky middle ground between Gross Profits and Net Income