I co-wrote this essay (and created the accompanying audio recording) with Sid Jha, who just celebrated the one year anniversary of his great newsletter, Sunday Snapshots. You can read the full essay here or come discuss with us on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com

Why Spotify is a bellwether for broader shifts in economic power and consumer demandYou can access the full text of this audio essay here - https://venturedesktop.substack.com/* Subscribe to Venture Desktop on Spotify* Subscribe to Venture Desktop on Apple MusicI would also love to discuss this audio essay with you in this thread on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com

Seth Klarman, Benchmark, and seeing the present clearlyBenchmark has set the standard in the VC world for more than two decades. This audio essay is a deep dive on why. * Seth Klarman & the perils of thesis driven investing* Uber as the ultimate bottoms up investment* “Liquidity Quality” in an increasing returns worldYou can access the full text of this audio essay here and you can access all of the links and images from this audio essay here. * Subscribe to Venture Desktop on Spotify* Subscribe to Venture Desktop on Apple MusicI would also love to discuss this audio essay with you in this thread on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com

Welcome back to Venture Desktop!This is the audio version of Episode 4, Trend Following in Consumer Wellness.You can find the full Substack post about the episode here or check out “Mission Control” for the episode where you will find the accompanying essay, be able to access all of the links from the episode, and watch the interactive video. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com

In this episode of Venture Desktop, we are exploring the Consumer Subscription business model — or Consumer SaaS — how consumer demand shaped the growth of the market to date, what investment and company creation opportunities look like going forward, and how the capital stack will mature to support the vast range of companies in the market.If you want to stay up to date, come find me on Twitter @brettbivens or head to venturedesktop.substack.com to subscribe to the newsletter. Consumer Subscription Software Insights — GP Bullhound Revenue Multiples in Consumer Tech — Blossom Street Capital The Case for Growth — Dave Bujnowski (h/t Paul Barnes) GP Bullhound...again Bootstrapping to "step function metrics" — Dave Ambrose Kayla Itsines’ Sweat app will rake in $77 million this year — TechCrunch Calm — Raise small, get profitable Calm — Controlling your own destiny The At-Home Fitness Roll-up Match Group and Segmentation — Brian Norgard Match Business Overview Spotify Expansion Thoma BravoRereadables The Internet Subscription Startup is Winning — Tom Tunguz Mass Saas — Zal Bilimoria Consumer Subscription Software — Nicolas Wittenborn The continuous rise of SaaS in the consumer space — Angela TranRelistenables Allen Chen (Fitbod) — Growth Metrics that Matter Holger Seim (CEO, Blinkist) — SaaS Open Mic Rebecca Kaden, Nikhil Basu Trivedi, and Jonathan Yoni Regev on Consumer Defensibility — Venture StoriesRetweetables Kate Clark on VSCO This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com

In this episode of Venture Desktop, we are looking at a topic that is quite foundational to how we should think about economic growth and progress as we look to the future. And that is the rise of Creator Led Media Companies — which, to give a definition is a business (large or small), that is is first and foremost built around the creative skillset of an individual or a small team.  For more on all of the links discussed in the episode and to stay up to date on new episodes, head to venturedesktop.substack.com or come find me on Twitter @brettbivens.The links we go through in the episode can be found here.  Creative Compounding HBR — The Bannister Effect John Cochrane — Free Solo and Economic Growth Ben Cohen — The NBA's Youtube Generation Jayson Tatum on learning from NBA players on Youtube Overtime Overtime's Dan Porter on Recode Media Anthony Edwards Dunk David Perrell and Samo Burja on The North Star Podcast Balaji Srinivasan — Adobe for Influencers Li Jin — The Passion Economy and the Future of Work The Professionalizing Creator Class Come for the tool, stay for the networkRetweetables / Relistenables / Rereadables Rereadables — The Future of Workers / Mercedes Bent + My Hope for the Future of Work Jomayra Herrera Relistenables — Emily Weiss, Glossier Retweetables — Dave Ambrose on Podcasting This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com

This week, I dive deep on Spotify, the exploding audio market, and a concept called Business Model Leverage. If you have any feedback on content or format, or have any ideas for topics I should touch on in the future, you can find me on Twitter @brettbivens and to stay up to date, you can sign up to the Venture Desktop newsletter at here. You can find all of the links from the episode below.  Maffei — "When you sum it, we believe the ear is under-monetized versus the eye." "Audio...Liberty still loves you" (Sirius XM / Liberty Media Investor Day) Greg Maffei on CNBC Pandora — "We want a bigger Share of Ear in the expanding Audio Day" Gavin Baker — Monetization follow attention and engagement. Nicola Korzenko (Podfund) The Podcast Monetization Gap Spotify Q3 2019 Business Model Leverage BAML Research on Podcasts Blending genres of audio...Deep Cuts Retweetables — Semil on Followability Rereadables — Bill Gurley on the 10x Revenue Club Relistenables — A16Z, A Podcast About Podcasting This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit venturedesktop.substack.com