The Returns to Scale in CPG

5min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The reason we had a cozy duopoly is because of the return is to scale, right? It actually ended up being a fairly natural state of affairs that you would have a few large players in CPG. The bigger issue is that the companies that control where that virality happens are Facebook in particular. And Facebook would rather harvest the value of virality themselves than share it with someone else on the platform.

Ben and James discuss the FTC’s decision to block the acquisition of Harry’s Razors, the DTC market, and the difference between being a monopoly and being too big.

Links

Ben Thompson: Apple’s Investor Warning, Foxconn’s Investor Warning, An Interview with Dan Wang — Stratechery Daily Update | Daily Update Podcast
Ben Thompson: Email Addresses and Razor Blades — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Dollar Shave Club and the Disruption of Everything — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: First, Do No Harm — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The Local News Business Model — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Brandless Closes, The DTC Facebook Challenge, DTC Versus Softbank — Stratechery Daily Update
Ben Thompson: Morgan Stanley Acquires E*Trade, Intuit Reportedly Acquiring Credit Karma, User Acquisition and Market Power — Stratechery Daily Update