Napkin Math

Profit and power in technology.

Aug 25, 2022

Finance is Narrative Not Numbers

The Subtle Art of Manipulating CFOs

Jun 4, 2024

AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm

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

May 9, 2024

Patreon Should Buy Substack to Save Creators

The solution to the problem of social media is to build something better

Jun 24, 2020

Why Software is More Profitable Than Content

Written by... a content company

Jun 23, 2022

Facebook’s Capitulation

Abandoning a Trillion Dollar Advantage

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 7, 2021

The End of Software, Again

The impending doom of horizontal SaaS

Apr 21, 2022

Microsoft should buy Netflix

Netflix and Bill

Apr 5, 2022

Twitter’s Shot at Becoming a Meme Stock

It’s Musk's world and we’re just tweeting in it

Jan 24, 2025

Why Is Jensen Huang $120 Billion Richer Than You?

Hint: Nvidia’s success is based on much more than chips

Jun 21, 2024

You Can’t Math Your Way to Success

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

Sep 5, 2024

Vibes-based Search

The next big disruption in software is here, and it understands what you’re looking for better than you do

Jun 30, 2022

Look On My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair

I Have Some Thoughts To Share

Apr 14, 2022

The Race for New Payment Rails

Who is building the next Visa?

Mar 24, 2022

Planet of the Billion Dollar Bored Apes

Is Bored Ape Yacht Club a Decentralized Disney?

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

Jul 16, 2024

What I Got Wrong About VR

Whoopsie, I may have gotten a little excited

Apr 22, 2021

Am I getting ripped off writing at Every?

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

Sep 2, 2021

Content Moderation Double-Bind Theory

The market failures damning content to ever increasing sensationalism

Jan 13, 2022

3 Thoughts On Justworks

The newest SaaS company to hit the public markets

Feb 10, 2022

Is YC the Monopoly It Thinks It Is?

The Pricing Power Flex

Jul 28, 2021

Twilio’s Second Act

Twilio rode its API to a $66B valuation. Now it’s trying to become the Universal Switchboard for the internet.

Apr 18, 2024

Don’t Dismiss the Apple Vision Pro

Apple has a hit on its hands. Will it seize the opportunity?

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.