Saved by Tekelala and
Differentiation and Value Capture in the Internet Age
"All parts of our economy were previously based on scarcity. In almost every case, that scarcity has disappeared. The way you win on the internet is to be the starting place where people go - Google, Facebook, these aggregators - or you're highly differentiated and you leverage the fact that you have zero distribution to reach anyone."
Ben Thompson • Platforms, Ecosystems, and Aggregators
in a world where AI slop is everywhere and it’s easier than ever to build software
what goes up:
the value of known celebrities goes up
the value of dotcoms goes up
the value of strong distribution channels goes up
the value of proprietary data goes up
the value of taste and curation goes up
the value of trusted brands goes up
the value of... See more
what goes up:
the value of known celebrities goes up
the value of dotcoms goes up
the value of strong distribution channels goes up
the value of proprietary data goes up
the value of taste and curation goes up
the value of trusted brands goes up
the value of... See more
🎤 The SWIPES Email (Fri, January 16th, 2026)
witter could offer one price tier for no ads, and another price tier for getting past paywalls, and perhaps even individual site subscriptions above that.