Writing

Long-form essays on technology, business, design and human behaviour.
Shorter, rawer notes live on the Journal.

Latest writing

14 Nov 2023Symbiotic Relationships in TechTechnology companies often exist in symbiotic relationships, building businesses around larger platforms while remaining vulnerable to the host changing the.Business
9 min 08 Sep 2023Apple Acquires Classical Music Specialty Label BIS RecordsApple’s acquisition of BIS Records adds a respected 50-year-old classical label to its music ecosystem and strengthens its growing investment in classical.Business
2 min 07 Jul 2023Twitter Threatens to Sue Meta Over ThreadsTwitter threatened legal action after Meta launched Threads, alleging misuse of trade secrets and former employees as the rivalry between the two platforms.Business
2 min 05 Jun 2023The Staggering Cost of Reddit’s APIReddit’s proposed API pricing would have cost Apollo around $20 million a year, illustrating how platform policy can make even a beloved third-party app.Business
2 min 08 Apr 2023GQ: “Tim Cook Thinks Different”Zach Baron’s GQ profile of Tim Cook is a fascinating look at the quieter leader who inherited Apple and shaped the company without trying to become Steve Jobs.Business
2 min 12 Jul 2020Career Cold Start AlgorithmInformal networks reveal how organisations really work. The people whose names repeatedly surface in difficult situations often matter more than the org chart.Business
1 min 06 Jan 2012Go out and do something ordinary!Good startup ideas rarely appear while brainstorming for something cool to build. Go live an ordinary life, notice real frustrations and solve one of them.Business
1 min 02 Dec 2011Accidental Entrepreneurs Don’t ExistThere is no such thing as the accidental entrepreneur. Ideas, failure and persistence matter, but building a company still requires choosing to do the.Business
2 min 23 Mar 2011ColorColor’s founder could explain his company through a memorable story. Being able to distil a complicated product into a simple narrative is a powerful startup.Business
1 min 20 Mar 2011Fragility of FreeFree services are fragile when users are not the customer. If a product has no sustainable business model, popularity alone does not guarantee its future.Business
1 min 20 Mar 2011Don’t Be Afraid To ChargeCharging money is not something a business should apologise for. Customers pay when a product solves a problem well enough to justify the value it creates.Business
3 min 30 Jul 2010Understanding ROISocial media is not free marketing. Measuring ROI means accounting for the people, technology and time invested before deciding what the return is actually.Business
4 min