We previously mentioned this really interesting list.
The 2019 version is out and is equally awesome. 52 gems.
Highlights:
Spotify pays by the song. Two three minute songs are twice as profitable as one six minute song. So songs are getting shorter.
Nigeria spends more on petrol subsidies than on health, or education, or defence.
The goal of walking 10,000 steps per day may have originated when a Japanese pedometer manufacturer noticed that the 万 symbol (which means 10,000) looks a little like someone walking. The actual health merits of that number ‘have never been validated by research.’
Asking ‘What questions to do you have for me?’ can be dramatically more effective than ‘Any questions?’ at the end of a talk.
All references and related articles found in the link. h/t Fluxx Studio Notes.
Spotify are making a big bet on content in podcasts.
This article chronicles what they have been up to – recruiting some heavy hitters like the Obamas.
They will need to convince the market that the cash burn will pay off … ala Netflix.
“Just like TV has moved from offline to now online, we’re doing the same to radio,” Ek says. “When you look at the amount of time that people consume audio, it’s about the same in the U.S. as people spend watching video. But the audio industry is less than one-tenth of the size of the whole video industry. The question one needs to ask oneself, are your eyes worth 10 times as much as your ears? My view is that they aren’t and that is going to be even more valuable in the future.”
JOHN CARL MALONE: “I think Apple is going to surprise everybody with the numbers they achieve in a short period of time .. even though they’re thin on content.Their distribution strategy of, essentially anybody who buys anything from Apple gets a free trial for a year. And, of course, Apple already has their credit card. So, when you start with 460 million credit cards or 460 million consumer relationships.And you give them something for free. And they get to use it for a year and then they put it on your bill. That’s a very interesting way to get large numbers fast.”
Hard to believe some of the things coming out of this saga.
“So confident was Neumann of his job security that he once declared during a company meeting that his descendants would be running WeWork in 300 years.“
“Last summer, some WeWork executives were shocked to discover Neumann was working on Jared Kushner’s Mideast peace effort.“
Meanwhile the bonds of WeWork are hitting new lows.
19 states have legalised, 14 are live and 11 are reporting monthly data.
This is forcing some brokers (e.g. Morgan Stanley) to upgrade total (online/on-ground) market estimates – they think it will be worth $7bn in 2025 vs. $5bn before.
This is largely due to higher market revenue than they expected.
September in New Jersey annualised at $40/adult which is close to the UK/Australia number of $43/$45 (excluding horse racing).
European nations are starting to realise that they might have lost the next race – cloud technology.
Cloud technology is a huge enabler as we have written about before.
The EU are now starting, in typical fashion, the fight back.
This is reminiscent of how in 1967, fearing the rise of US aviation, an agreement between Germany, France and Britain (notice the absence of the latter from the current proposal) to join forces in technology gave birth to Airbus.
