Napkin Math

Profit and power in technology.

Feb 27, 2024

What the Media Is Getting Wrong About AI

The future must be built on truth

Jul 16, 2021

How Free to Play Video Games are Forced to Make Addicts

A Case Study on Market Structures and Harm

Jul 9, 2024

Paramount’s Dilemma: Content Isn’t King—Distribution Is

Half a century removed from its glory days, the Hollywood giant has a new rescue plan

Aug 6, 2024

Here’s a Million-dollar Software Idea

Welcoming the dawn of a new era in computing

Apr 2, 2025

OpenAI Is a Once-in-a-lifetime Startup

This newest funding round means this company has either a trillion-dollar outcome—or nothing at all.

Apr 10, 2025

How to Write Online

It’s less about capturing attention, and more about deserving it

Oct 7, 2021

The End of Software, Again

The impending doom of horizontal SaaS

Apr 15, 2021

COGS: How I Bankrupted MoviePass

An Intuitive Explainer for How To Lose Money and Win Anyway

Aug 22, 2024

Copy Rights and Wrongs

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

Feb 10, 2022

Is YC the Monopoly It Thinks It Is?

The Pricing Power Flex

Mar 24, 2022

Planet of the Billion Dollar Bored Apes

Is Bored Ape Yacht Club a Decentralized Disney?

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?

Feb 6, 2025

The Vatican Has Some Thoughts on AI

In a new statement, the Catholic Church expounds on the nature of human versus machine intelligence, and its views on the utility of AI

Apr 22, 2021

Am I getting ripped off writing at Every?

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

Oct 14, 2021

Who is Making Money in Space?

Exploring the SPAC Frontier

Jun 3, 2020

Curated: Expert Shopping Advice, Online

A three-sided marketplace to bring specialty retail to the internet

Jul 22, 2021

Snowflake: How a Revenue Retention Behemoth was Built

TL;DRThis is the second post on a deep dive in GTM metrics with a focus today on Revenue RetentionSnowflake is a software Dracula. It latche

Jun 21, 2024

You Can’t Math Your Way to Success

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

Jan 27, 2022

Will Tokens Replace Equity?

The Weird Future Ahead

Aug 29, 2024

Welcome to the Era of the Gritty Startup

The age of glut is over. Here are three lessons to navigate through leaner times.

Feb 13, 2025

Does OpenAI’s Deep Research Put Me Out of a Job?

An investigation into a Sam Altman tweet

May 28, 2021

ITDA: The Gamification of Financial Statements

How governments and companies are engaged in mutual manipulation

Aug 5, 2020

Intangible Assets: The Invisible Value Driver

Book review of The End of Accounting: there are four problems with current financial statements and intangible assets are the biggest reason why.

May 9, 2024

Patreon Should Buy Substack to Save Creators

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