Episodes

Nov. 15, 2021

Joe Kessler on Hyper-competition in Talent

In this episode, we're in conversation with our fifth special guest, Joe Kessler of UTA IQ, discussing hyper-competition for that scarcest of commodities--talent.

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Nov. 8, 2021

Andrew Savikas on Hyper-competition in Book Publishing

On this episode we discuss continue our series on hyper-competition, this time in the business of the written and spoken word.

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Oct. 25, 2021

Mike Follett on Hyper-competition in Advertising

On this episode, we're in conversation with our third special guest, the source of truth and the mad men and women of advertising, Mr. Mike Follett. The point where quantity goes up and quality goes down, we call that hyper …

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Oct. 18, 2021

Too Smooth To Be True

This time, we're going to talk about how market trends are all too often too smooth to be true. What might that mean? Well, life isn't as predictable as it might first appear, meaning those unpredictable events may have been …

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Oct. 11, 2021

Sucking on Subsidies

This week, sucking on subsidies. Government grants, fat contracts, tax credits, state aid, all the cash a company didn't generate on its own. Does it help? Or does it stoke up problems for a future date?

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Oct. 4, 2021

James Cridland on Hyper-competition in Podcasting

This episode we're back into hyper-competition, speaking with Podnews editor James Cridland. We have some real-time thinking, some real-time podcasting about a problem that we've yet to solve...that problem being, is there too much choice? And to...

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Sept. 27, 2021

How Good Is Good Will?

This week we get to the good, the bad and the ugly of "goodwill," how it's supposed to be used and how it can often be abused in bubble trouble.

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Sept. 20, 2021

Paul Sanders on Hyper-competition

This week we kick off a series on episodes on hyper-competition (the point where quantity goes up and quality goes down) with the man who coined the term, Paul Sanders of state51.

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Sept. 13, 2021

Unpack the SAC

This week we unpack the SAC. That's Subscriber Acquisition Costs--getting to the heart of the issue and the core of why we find ourselves reverting back to bubble trouble. What's the customer really worth? And how much did you spend …

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Sept. 6, 2021

Robinhood and His Merry Memes

In this episode we go deep on Robinhood and the gamification of retail investing. Is it a passing fad that rescued us from boredom during lockdown, or, and it's a big question, a new foundation for how markets will work …

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Aug. 23, 2021

To Bundle or Not to Unbundle

This week, to bundle or not to bundle. If we are all now content creators, how are we all supposed to get paid?

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Aug. 16, 2021

Stenographers and Sycophants

We talk about financial analysts and why it's sometimes more accurate to call them sycophants and stenographers, and how these analysts become cheerleaders of the companies they're supposed to cover. They praise as opposed to appraise. (Repeat)

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Aug. 9, 2021

Shark Fins

This week we're going to be jumping the shark. That is we're going to be looking at why tech companies and their success, their growth, their user numbers often resemble a shark fin: how they scale up really fast, then …

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Aug. 2, 2021

When Two Plus Two Equals Two

This week we explore the current craze in the mergers and acquisitions going on just now. And asking, do they actually create additional value? Or is it the case that two plus two does equal two?

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July 26, 2021

Facing the Music

The UK parliament has dug deep into the economics of music streaming, licensing, and what artists get paid. We'll look at what they discovered and the knock-on effect throughout the rest of the world.

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July 19, 2021

Hyper Competition

This week we look at the tremendous explosion in cultural production--content creation and hyper competition.

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July 12, 2021

Talking Your Own Book

This week: talking your own book. Those analysts outside the company and those executives inside the company, who are long and loud about their views of their own stock. Why so long? Why so loud? Why should we listen to …

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June 28, 2021

The Charade of the Earnings Call

This week we explore the charade of the earnings call--that quarterly bit of theater that often helps stoke bubbles and creates trouble.

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June 14, 2021

Poor Standards

This week we look into rating agencies and ask: Why were they invented? What is their purpose? Who pays their wages?

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June 11, 2021

To SPACS and Back

This week we're going to go to SPACs and back, and that's an acronym. It's an acronym that sounds strange, sounds unfamiliar, sounds technical. We'll explain what they are and why they getting so much attention.

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May 12, 2021

Someone Else's Money

This time we discuss the most important subject of them all: money. More importantly, someone else's money. We'll get to the basics. Where does money even come from? Bubble Trouble is hosted by economist and author Will Page and financial …

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May 12, 2021

Paying Attention

This week we look at the vague way in which various groups have measured the concept of time spent or tried to parcel out the attention economy. How do you really measure attention, and even better, how do you measure …

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May 12, 2021

Themes and Dreams

This time we look at the themes and dreams that markets put out there to attract the investor's dollar. If it's too good to be true, are we in dreamland? Bubble Trouble is hosted by economist and author Will Page …

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May 12, 2021

Too Smooth To Be True

This time, we're going to talk about how market trends are all too often too smooth to be true. What might that mean? Well, life isn't as predictable as it might first appear, meaning those unpredictable events may have been …

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