Google vs Uber: The Battle to be the Autonomous Driving OS

Uber’s the most successful pre-IPO startup in history. Google is insanely profitable as the operating system of the internet. Both these tech giants overcame huge odds to get to today. Yet both may be on the verge of extinction. NOTE: I have covered these topics extensively. Rather than reiterate old point, below are links to the...

How the Tech Giants Beat Innovative Startups at their Own Game

Profits accrue to people on top. That’s the way most markets work, especially those with strong network effects (for more on 5 types of network effects and how to hack them, see this post). As an angel investor, my job is to spot startups and trends looking to disrupt incumbents and create massive new markets...

Uber is Going to Zero and Benchmark Knows It!

“Moving first is a tactic, not a goal….It’s much better to be a last mover.” — Peter Thiel On the surface this seems contrarian. When is being last better than being first? Steve Jobs understood this. Apple didn’t make the 1st MP3 player or the 1st smartphone. Yet in consumer tech, Apple is synonymous with both. That was no accident....