Down Round

Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites on earth, and an example of a quasi-utopian internet project which has kind of worked out in the end – and managed to stick around too. Despite some evident problems, it all works surprisingly well. To help us understand Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation which manages it – and the weird world of the editors who keep it functional – we're joined by author Richard Cooke, who is currently writing a book about it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a preview of a premium episode. To sign up for Down Round Premium and get an extra episode a week, go here.  Canva is one of Australia's most successful tech companies. It has proven pretty disruptive to the global design landscape, with its template-based offering making it relatively easy for even novices with zero taste to make stuff that looks pretty good. In this ep, we talk about Canva's effect on design, and where it might go next to justify its sky-high valuation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MrBeast is the most popular individual YouTuber, with over 180 million subscribers. He makes a lot of sleekly produced videos where he gives away money, cars, islands and life-altering surgeries. To some, he is history's greatest philanthropist. To others, he's deeply evil in a way that is hard to articulate. Which side of the divide you fall on is mostly a generational thing. To help us understand the man, the business and the phenomenon that is MrBeast, we're joined by writer Max Read, who formerly edited Gawker and has written for New York Magazine, The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine. (And possibly other New York related publications.) Max recently authored a feature article for the NYT on MrBeast, making him well-placed to take us on this dark odyssey into the heart of YouTube. Max also writes a newsletter called Read Max, which you should subscribe to.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a preview of a premium episode. To sign up for Down Round Premium and get an extra episode a week, go here.  A fun one for you this week. Over the past few weeks, we've been blessed with many news stories about Bryan Johnson, the tech billionaire who is putting his considerable wealth towards becoming functionally immortal through a weird diet, militant sleep schedule, and injecting himself with his son's blood. Pretty neat! On this episode, we discuss Johnson's quest, and where it fits in with recent Silicon Valley fixation on biotech and the physical sciences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Snapchat was one of the major social media platforms of the 2010s, and still remains pretty popular with the kids. It helped create much of the modern social media landscape, but hasn't been able to turn that into lasting wins -- in no small part because every innovation it comes up with is pretty quickly cloned by its biggest rival, Instagram. Now it finds itself in a precarious position, with parent company Snap Inc reporting a decline in revenue and the company trying just about every pivot Down Round loves to see, from AI to augmented reality. Links Snap plunges on first-quarter revenue miss - CNBC Snapchat is releasing its own AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT - The Verge See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a preview of a premium episode. Sign up for Down Round Premium here. One of the most enduring rumours in tech markets and investing subreddits is that Apple is on the cusp of buying Disney and integrating its IP and content into Apple's tech and distribution network. It's like a sick fantasy for guys with no lives and ZERO swag. It seems pretty unlikely. But with news that returned CEO Bob Iger could be planning to break up the empire and sell off assets like ESPN, the rumour mill is kicking back into gear. We ask the question: should Apple buy at least PART of Disney?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

QR code menus became popular during the pandemic, when everyone collectively decided it was much safer to have your beers delivered to the table at the pub instead of walking up yourself. Now there are a million different providers of QR code menus. But but how does it all work, and is it actually a good business? We dig in. For an extra episode each week, and no ads, subscribe to Down Round premium here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big news, WeWork fans! The company has announced that it is hurtling towards bankruptcy, with serious doubts about its capacity to continue as a “going concern”. For those who haven’t been paying attention for the past couple of years and assumed it was bankrupt and out of business anyway, this will be a shock.In today’s ep, we take a tour through the WeWork story — particularly what it has been up to since its famous IPO collapse in 2019. Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recent years have seen a surge in telehealth and online health delivery — from essential prescriptions to more discretionary health spending. Everyone from smaller boutique startups to Amazon want a slice of the pie. There’s a big debate in the medical community about so-called ‘asynchronous care’ — where a patient and doctor communicate through non-live online services. Pharmacists, already rattled by the retail revolution led by Chemist Warehouse, are also mad about this stuff. But many patients do like to do medicine on the computer.Today we’re joined by Tim Doyle, founder of online healthcare company Eucalyptus, who gives a window into how this stuff works in Australia. And maybe beyond. (No promises.) Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twitter is no more. From the ashes rises X, Elon Musk’s cringely-named attempt to actualise one of his long term goals: building an everything app. Musk wants X to be the central place where you post, shop, send money, access financial services and do whatever else it is you do as part of being alive on the planet.In this episode we dive into the idea of the everything app, and why tech companies have been chasing that dream for at least a decade. Thank you for subscribing. Leave a comment or share this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.