Napkin Math

Profit and power in technology.

Jul 16, 2024

What I Got Wrong About VR

Whoopsie, I may have gotten a little excited

Aug 28, 2020

Uber and Lyft Live Once Again

What drivers think of AB 5, why it was written, and the pricing differences between services

Jul 28, 2021

Twilio’s Second Act

Twilio rode its API to a $66B valuation. Now it’s trying to become the Universal Switchboard for the internet.

Jan 13, 2022

3 Thoughts On Justworks

The newest SaaS company to hit the public markets

Mar 24, 2022

Planet of the Billion Dollar Bored Apes

Is Bored Ape Yacht Club a Decentralized Disney?

Apr 18, 2024

Don’t Dismiss the Apple Vision Pro

Apple has a hit on its hands. Will it seize the opportunity?

Sep 23, 2024

What Are AI Agents—And Who Profits From Them?

The newest wave of AI research is changing everything

Apr 22, 2021

Am I getting ripped off writing at Every?

Screenshots of my contract and the financial model I used to decide

Jul 23, 2024

Vibes Are a Legitimate Economic Indicator

In her debut book, Kyla Scanlon makes the case for feeling the numbers

Oct 28, 2021

The Creator Power Scale: A Formula to Determine if Platforms are Ripping You Off

An examination of the Twitch Hack data

Feb 10, 2022

Is YC the Monopoly It Thinks It Is?

The Pricing Power Flex

Jul 30, 2020

GPT-3 Will Accelerate The Privatization of Internet Communities

What GPT-3 is, GPT-3's capabilities, if GPT-3 will replace jobs, and how it affects social media.

Apr 29, 2021

Gross Margin: An Indicator of Market Power

What America's Oldest Jeweler Can Teach Us About the Value of Bling

May 13, 2021

In Defense of WeWork’s Community-Adjusted EBITDA

Clarifying the murky middle ground between Gross Profits and Net Income

Apr 3, 2024

The One-person Billion-dollar Company

Can AI agents make you a billionaire?

Apr 11, 2024

Can the Truly Moral Billionaire Please Stand Up?

My quest to find Jesus Christ with a Gulfstream

Aug 13, 2020

Sometimes You’re The Datadog, Sometimes You’re The Hydrant

The history of cloud computing, how DevOps and Observability became so big, and the fate of Datadog

Apr 10, 2025

How to Write Online

It’s less about capturing attention, and more about deserving it

Aug 12, 2022

A Tale Of Two Acquisitions

The Unity Conundrum

Mar 23, 2022

BIG announcement incoming

I'm going full time on Napkin Math

Nov 4, 2020

Can Political Betting Markets Predict Election Outcomes?

Polls and pundits don't do a good job of predicting election results. But what about prediction markets? In this post, we discuss what makes a good market and what could cause it to be wrong.

Jun 18, 2020

Explaining the Hertz Situation

A layman’s guide to bankruptcy

Aug 16, 2024

Feasting at the Trough of AI Slop

AI imagery is more popular, more powerful, and less harmful than you think

Oct 14, 2021

Who is Making Money in Space?

Exploring the SPAC Frontier