Creators vs. Platforms: Who Captures Value?

This week’s episode covers a new set of topics. The conversation, with Niel Robertson, covers media, e-sports, content distribution, marketing, and a lot more. Niel started a software company out of his bedroom when he was 14, and sold his first company in 1999 for $280 million, when he was 24 years old. He has started and sold other companies to Twitter and Cisco. He started another large business that ultimately failed. He’s been an investor, venture partner, and serial entrepreneur. You can find more in the shownotes. 

As I often do, I cut the long background section from the interview so we can get right to the meat of things, but Niel concluded that section saying: “I think that could be all summed up by I just liked building things and I can't stop doing it.”

In addition to the overall media landscape, we discuss the role that the biggest media platforms will play, and where other opportunities may exist. We cover digital collectibles stored on blockchain, and what type of digital assets may be leased to others. We close with a discussion of leadership, company structure, content creation, and something you should do each year.

Please enjoy this unique conversation with Niel Robertson.

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Books Referenced

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

Show Notes

2:30 - (First Question) – Overview of the media landscape as it relates to influencer marketing

6:42 – How does he think about this space as an investor

12:21 – What is the future of distribution of products

17:01 - An overview of the e-sports ecosystem

18:20 – The shift of people watching others play video games

20:06 – Will we see power shift from the platform to the influencer

27:03 – Why Amazon is the sleeper in this game

29:38 – Reviewing some of the other platforms, starting with Snapchat

30:54 – Twitter

32:06 – Other platforms that should be focused on…Pinterest

33:38 – His interest in blockchain and digital collectibles

36:34 – Who will be disrupted by digital collectibles

37:55 – Why does the decentralization of these assets matter

39:49 – The tokenization of assets

42:11 – What companies have the largest hurdles to innovate in these spaces

44:57 – His thoughts on leadership

            46:44 – The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career

47:52 – Advice for content creators and content aggregators

50:10 – His thoughts on companies that aggregate top content creators

53:17 – His experience owning restaurants

55:46 – His experience in motocross

57:31 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Neil

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag