Divinations

Get smarter about business strategy.

May 6, 2022

Map of a Downturn

Untangling the complex causal chain that makes good times go bad

May 10, 2023

Noise-Canceling Filters for the Internet are Coming

What happens when “the algorithm” is just a prompt to GPT-4?

May 15, 2020

How Domino’s Stock Returned 4,595%

The original cloud kitchen, ten years before it was cool

Feb 26, 2022

Peloton’s Next Move: Become a Platform

Opening up to external content is the only way to ensure durability, scalability, and defensibility.

Jun 12, 2020

healthOS

Apple is building an operating system for health

Jul 20, 2022

Finding Power: How To Do Market Analysis

A step-by-step process for uncovering the power dynamics that govern any industry

Sep 21, 2021

Will DAOs replace Corporations?

Or, how NounsDAO plans to take over the world

Mar 31, 2022

Recursive Publishing

A force to be reckoned with

Dec 17, 2021

Is Axie Infinity a Ponzi Scheme?

To Axie Infinity And Beyond!

Jan 21, 2022

Year Two

A messy slog that changed everything for me

Apr 6, 2020

Quibi Will Be A Multi-Billion Dollar Company

Short-form premium video is here to stay.

Apr 26, 2023

The Boy Who Cried Unicorn

Rating my predictions from 2020: what worked, what didn’t, and what I learned along the way

Jan 8, 2020

“The value chain” is the DNA of business

An introduction to one of Michael Porter’s most enduring frameworks

Jul 16, 2021

The Product Wedge: How To Scope Your Initial Product

How and why early-stage startups sacrifice power for growth

Mar 27, 2020

Understanding the Covid-19 Recession

What happens when an economy holds its breath?

Nov 18, 2020

Three Shorts: Instagram, Spotify, Substack

The strategy behind the news, in as few bullet points as possible

Nov 2, 2022

What to Do After You Launch

Say you just launched a product to a group of users for the first time. What now?

Nov 9, 2022

Status as a Disservice

The blue check fiasco reveals a shallow understanding of how status motivates participation in social networks. Here is a deeper look.

Jan 9, 2020

Sahil’s Second Act

Gumroad’s founder shares what he’s learned about strategy, product, and growth.

Apr 30, 2022

Twitter as a City-State

The Argument for Democracy in Cyberspace

Nov 11, 2020

Three Shorts: Fast’s 1b valuation, McPlant’s power move, and Apple’s disruptive M1 chip

Hello! Welcome to Three Shorts, a recurring series where I unpack the strategy behind the news in as few bullet points as possible.Enjoy!Fas

Sep 7, 2022

Book Review: Slouching Towards Utopia

The origins of economic progress, and what comes next

Jul 12, 2023

Twitter Is Fragmenting

The future of social networks is in smaller communities

Dec 31, 2019

Trade-offs are your friend

You probably can't have your cake and eat it too. But that's just fine.