One Step Up #45
This week we look at Matthew Ball's latest essay, business deep dives (Sea, Starbucks, Zomato & Stripe), a profile of Bill Foley, crypto/NFT fundamentals, moat vs. durability and product positioning
Another week coming up, another opportunity to knock down some goals.
Let’s get to it!
What Is an Entertainment Company in 2021 and Why Does the Answer Matter?
At its core, an entertainment business does only three things:
Create/tell stories
Build love for those stories
Monetize that love
It should be clear at this point that I think the most important thing in entertainment is the ability to build love. Anyone can tell a story. Fewer, but still many, can tell a story well. And when stories are told, they typically generate revenue. However, profits, and especially great profits, come from love.
A very detailed essay using Disney as an example, on what an entertainment company in 2021 looks like.
Business deep dives/profiles:
Solid primer for non-crypto people like myself on wanting to understand why every other day I read something that contains the word crpto or NFT in it.
The Difference Between “Moat” and “Durability”
Durability is about the product and the product economics of the industry.
Moat is the ability of the specific company to sell more of the product and have better product economics than competitors.
In Michael Porter’s approach: moat limits rivalry between firms.
And durability is about the relationship between the customers and the firm we are looking at.
“Avenues and Cul De Sacs” or, How to Nail Your Product's Positioning
A good article summarizing why it’s so important to position your brand/product a certain away and use customer feedback to get it right.
Till next time.
Any work you do in the comfort of a routine risks being taken over by a robot. - Nassim Taleb