After more than a decade, Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, has stepped down from his CEO position, bringing to the spotlight an issue that frequently impacts tech companies—the founder dilemma. Today’s tech giants were touted as miracles born out of the minds of geniuses in the 90s or early 2000s. Among those entrepreneurs were Steve Jobs, […]
M&A and SPACs—how the media sector finally secures funds
The last 12 months have brought significant changes to the financial markets, with the rise of retail investors, the SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) boom, and the merger and acquisitions flow. Those trends have also reached the media industry. As an introduction, a special purpose acquisition company, also known as a blank-check company, is a […]
Spotify rides the wave of audio news
Spotify’s diversification strategy is finally showing results. The firm has been investing for years in podcasts to move away from its core business, music. So far, the tactic is working. Demand for audio news is still rising, and ads within those podcasts are bringing in revenue. Spotify has become the podcast king in little over […]
Social media wars 2021
It’s been only three years since TikTok landed in the US, and its success is unparalleled. The Chinese ByteDance-owned app garners around 100 million active users in the country, with most of them under the age of 40. With its short videos, its fantastic selection algorithm, and its strategy to increase the duration of the […]
Native-digital companies in deep trouble
In the early 2000s, a few visionaries set out to launch digital native outlets that would capitalize on the power of the Internet and social media. Today, those same outlets, which depend on digital advertising and virality, are in deep trouble. The latest news comes from the HuffPost, where the newspaper has laid off 47 […]
Twitter diversifies as newcomers take over the Internet
As social media giants like Twitter and Facebook grapple with content moderation issues, new platforms are monopolizing the online realm. The newsletter platform Substack and the recently launched audio-based social network Clubhouse are two of those newcomers that have seen their values soar. As a response, Twitter has tried to diversify its business in these […]
Spotify’s podcast aspirations
After two years of making massive purchases in the podcasting industry, Spotify may be planning to launch a subscription service for podcasts, a step that only a few firms have taken so far. Traditionally, podcasts have been open to consumers, funded mostly by advertisements but not subscriptions. The previous attempts to turn the sector upside […]
The death of Quibi, a six-month-old app
After a six-month run, the streaming service Quibi is shutting down. Its plans thwarted by the pandemic, its numbers in decline, and its shows lacking a loyal following, Quibi—short for Quick Bites—is closed for business. The streaming wars and the pandemic are partly to blame for Quibi’s failure, as is the rise of the social […]
