Napkin Math

Profit and power in technology.

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.

Aug 18, 2022

What is an Asset?

Plus a new course from Napkin Math!

Feb 10, 2022

Is YC the Monopoly It Thinks It Is?

The Pricing Power Flex

Aug 28, 2020

Uber and Lyft Live Once Again

What drivers think of AB 5, why it was written, and the pricing differences between services

Jul 16, 2024

What I Got Wrong About VR

Whoopsie, I may have gotten a little excited

Apr 18, 2024

Don’t Dismiss the Apple Vision Pro

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

May 13, 2021

In Defense of WeWork’s Community-Adjusted EBITDA

Clarifying the murky middle ground between Gross Profits and Net Income

Jan 13, 2022

3 Thoughts On Justworks

The newest SaaS company to hit the public markets

Apr 3, 2024

The One-person Billion-dollar Company

Can AI agents make you a billionaire?

Apr 29, 2021

Gross Margin: An Indicator of Market Power

What America's Oldest Jeweler Can Teach Us About the Value of Bling

Mar 23, 2022

BIG announcement incoming

I'm going full time on Napkin Math

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.

Aug 22, 2024

Copy Rights and Wrongs

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

Aug 12, 2022

A Tale Of Two Acquisitions

The Unity Conundrum

Sep 24, 2024

The One-person Billion-dollar Company

Can AI agents make you a billionaire?

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

Apr 11, 2024

Can the Truly Moral Billionaire Please Stand Up?

My quest to find Jesus Christ with a Gulfstream

Nov 4, 2020

Can Political Betting Markets Predict Election Outcomes?

Polls and pundits don't do a good job of predicting election results. But what about prediction markets? In this post, we discuss what makes a good market and what could cause it to be wrong.

Jun 18, 2020

Explaining the Hertz Situation

A layman’s guide to bankruptcy

Oct 28, 2021

The Creator Power Scale: A Formula to Determine if Platforms are Ripping You Off

An examination of the Twitch Hack data

Feb 28, 2025

Playing ‘Civilization 7’ Is Like Being a Ruthless Corporate Consultant

Let’s talk about the tech world’s relationship with video games

Aug 16, 2024

Feasting at the Trough of AI Slop

AI imagery is more popular, more powerful, and less harmful than you think

Jan 7, 2021

My Favorite Company Deep Dives of 2020

Taking a look at the best companies deep dives of the past year, including posts on Fiverr/Upwork, Carta, Tyler Corporation, CostCo and more

Feb 17, 2022

The Future of Netflix

When everyone’s a streamer, nobody is.