
Exponent
A podcast about tech and society, hosted by Ben Thompson and James Allworth
Latest episodes

Dec 14, 2018 • 58min
Episode 157 — Clumping and Clustering
James and Ben talk about the connection between Jobs to be Done and Aggregation Theory, why the consumer and enterprise markets are so different, and discomfort with big companies like Google.
Links
Ben Thompson: Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The Scooter Economy — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The Jobs TV Does — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2018 — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Data Factories — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Slack versus Teams — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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Dec 1, 2018 • 59min
Episode 156 — Rent-Seeking
Exponent is back, kind of.
Ben and James talk about Apple’s case in front of the Supreme Court, and debate whether the company is acting anti-competitively with its App Store policies.
Links
Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Apple App Store Follow-up — Stratechery Daily Update
Apple Inc. v. Robert Pepper, et al. oral arguments — Supreme Court of the United States
Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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Sep 7, 2018 • 5min
Episode 155 — The End, For Now
Exponent is taking a break, for now anyways. We couldn’t be more grateful for everyone that has given us so much of their time.
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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Jun 8, 2018 • 52min
Episode 154 — Legacy Leverage
Ben and James discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub.
Note: This is the last episode of the season; Exponent will return in the fall
Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent.
Links
Ben Thompson: The Cost of Developers — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Redmond and Reality — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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May 25, 2018 • 48min
Episode 153 — Black Holes
Ben and James continue their discussion on why aggregators and platforms are different and why it matters for big companies, competitors, and regulators.
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Links
Ben Thompson: The Bill Gates Line — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The Case Against Google — Stratechery Daily Update
Ben Thompson: Why Facebook Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Buy tbh — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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May 18, 2018 • 52min
Episode 152 — Platforms Versus Aggregators
Ben and James continue to discuss the differences between platforms and aggregators, including Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Netflix, Amazon, and Uber.
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Links
Ben Thompson: The Moat Map — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Books and Blogs — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Tech’s Two Philosophies — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Casual Gaming is a Sustainable Business, but Not a Platform Differentiator — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Apple’s China Problem — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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May 11, 2018 • 60min
Episode 151 — Two by Twos
Ben and James discuss the differences between Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple specifically, and the differences between aggregators and platforms generally.
Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent.
Links
Google Duplex Demo — YouTube
Ben Thompson: Tech’s Two Philosophies — Stratechery
Note: The Steve Jobs videos are in the above article
Ben Thompson: Platforms Versus Aggregators — Stratechery Daily Update
Ben Thompson: Manifestos and Monopolies — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Face is Not the Future — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: From Products to Platforms — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Why Doesn’t Apple Enable Sustainable Businesses on the App Store? — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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May 4, 2018 • 1h 4min
Episode 150 — Round Numbers
Ben and James discuss how Apple and Amazon’s focus on the customer experience protects them from low-end disruption.
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Links
Ben Thompson: Divine Discontent: Disruption’s Antidote — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The $550 iPhone 5C Makes Perfect Sense — Stratechery
GRAPH: The Disruptive Innovation Model — Harvard Business Review
Louis C K: Everything Is Amazing and Nobody is Happy — YouTube
Ben Thompson: Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea — Stratechery
Ben Bajarin: Top Takeaways From Studying iPhone X Owners — Tech.Pinions
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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Apr 27, 2018 • 47min
Episode 149 — Zillow and Sustaining Aggregation
Ben and James discuss Zillow’s shift in business model and the further refinement of Aggregation Theory through the incorporation of the ideas of disruption.
Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent.
Links
Ben Thompson: Zillow, Aggregation, and Integration — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Opendoor: A Startup Worth Emulating — Stratechery
Episode 098: Shattered Glass — Exponent
Ben Thompson: Defining Aggregators — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Aggregation Theory — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac — Stratechery
Ben Thompson: Books and Blog — Stratechery
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
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Apr 13, 2018 • 1h 9min
Episode 148 — Facebook Fatigue
Ben and James discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s appearances before Congress, and try to sort out exactly which Facebook issues matter, and which don’t.
Presented by WordPress.com: Get 15% off on a new site by visiting WordPress.com/Exponent.
Links
Ben Thompson: The Facebook Current — Stratechery
Zeynep Tufekci: Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t Fixed Facebook — Wired
Ben Thompson: Fake News — Stratechery
The Toutiao Apology — China Media Project
Growth At Any Cost: Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo — And Warned That Facebook Could Get People Killed — BuzzFeed
Ben Thompson: The Facebook Brand — Stratechery
There’s Always a Bigger Fish
2018 Antitrust and Competition Conference: Digital Platforms and Concentration — Stigler Center
Hosts
Ben Thompson, @benthompson, Stratechery
James Allworth, @jamesallworth, Harvard Business Review
Podcast Information
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Presented by WordPress.com