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Trung Phan 🇨🇦

@TrungTPhan

13 Jul

In less than 2 years, Disney+ notched 104m subscribers and is prob worth $100B+ as a standalone entity.

How did Disney build a Netflix competitor so fast? By acquiring a tech firm spun out from MLB (yes, Major League Baseball) for $2.6B.

Here's the story 🧵

1/ It starts in 2000: the height of Dotcom.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig wants to consolidate digital rights and create websites for the league's 30 teams.

To make sure the project is "fair" to every team, he creates an independent arm: MLB Baseball Advanced Media (BAM).

2/ To fund BAM, Selig asks for a $4m commitment ($1m per year for 4 years) across all 30 teams = $120m.

The first big project -- MLB .com -- is outsourced to a consulting firm. It's a complete disaster.

Lesson learnt: BAM will now create everything in-house.

Read 23 tweets

Trung Phan 🇨🇦

@TrungTPhan

9 Jul

In 1981, Absolut Vodka launched the longest-running ad campaign ever.

The Swedish brand produced 2k ads over 25 years, all in the same format. Its success -- with help from Andy Warhol -- is a testament to simplicity and the persuasive power of repetition.

Here's the story 🧵

1/ Absolut Vodka was founded in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith.

The brand would become a Swedish staple but didn't venture outside the country's borders for a century.

In 1979, Absolut entered a crowded US vodka market with no brand equity and a plain-looking product.

2/ While vodka brands competed on taste, ad agency TBWA advised Absolut to market itself on the aesthetics of its bottle (designed as a 19th-century Swedish pharmacy vial).

The first ad -- in 1981 -- was the bottle matched w/ a pun ("Absolut Perfection"). No models. No celebs.

Read 14 tweets

Trung Phan 🇨🇦

@TrungTPhan

9 Jul

Stumbled into maybe the greatest Spotify playlist ever

This playlist goes very very hard (“Sweet Caroline”, check)

You’re welcome: open.spotify.com/user/666welhwv…

Read 4 tweets

Trung Phan 🇨🇦

@TrungTPhan

8 Jul

Jack Dorsey doesn’t use a laptop or tablet. All work done on the phone, to avoid distractions. Kinda baller.

This might be the better productivity move: only 2 hours on Twitter a day LOL

businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-ip…

@jack

Here’s his home screen from a few years back.

He’s a *huge* fan of Notes (it’s in the home area) and has a work folder with Apple’s productivity and Google Workspace apps.

Still the same @jack ?

Read 5 tweets

Trung Phan 🇨🇦

@TrungTPhan

5 Jul

1/ Amazon is well-known for its writing culture:

◻️ "Mock press releases / FAQs" for new product pitches
◻️ "6-page memos" instead of Powerpoint

It force clear thinking and encodes a specific approach to innovation (especially for a post-Bezos world).

Here's a breakdown 🧵

2/ The "Working Backwards" philosophy

Instead of creating a product then finding customers, Amazon asks "What does the customer need?" and works *backwards* toward the product.

✔️Customer need --> Create product
✖️Create product --> Find customer

3/ Write a mock press release

To determine if the customer need makes biz sense, employees write a press release:

◻️ What problem is the new product solving
◻️ Why it's better than existing options

To persuade a customer, the document has to be jargon-free and tell a story.

Read 16 tweets

Trung Phan 🇨🇦

@TrungTPhan

1 Jul

Microsoft just reached $2T, pushing Steve Ballmer's net worth to $80B.

Interestingly: when Ballmer joined MSFT in 1980, he was employee #30 and received ZERO equity. By its IPO in 1986, he owned 8% of MSFT.

How did Ballmer get that stake? A contract quirk.

Here's the story🧵

1/ Ballmer's Microsoft tale begins in 1975, his sophomore year at Harvard.

He lived down the hall from some dude named Bill Gates.

While Gates dropped out to start Microsoft, Ballmer was a total Harvard head -- playing on the Football team and writing for The Crimson.

2/ After graduating, Ballmer tried his hands at a few things:

◻️ Product Manager at P&G, where he worked with future GE CEO Jeff Immelt
◻️ A brief attempt at Hollywood screenwriting
◻️ Stanford Business School

While at Stanford, Ballmer was convinced by Gates to drop out...

Read 14 tweets

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