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But let's assume we're not in a bubble, so raising funds isn't an end in and of itself. Where does the money come from to give investors a return when the enti
by x0x0 11y ago
But let's assume we're not in a bubble, so raising funds isn't an end in and of itself. Where does the money come from to give investors a return when the entire app is free?
- seiji 11y agoHow did whatsapp's investors get a return? Sure, they had some income, but not enough to "pay back" investors. But, lo and behold, sugar daddy comes along and drops some of that high fructose acquisition syrup on their heads. The best business model is still: make rich people afraid of you so they'll do anything to shut you up or control you.
- Touche 11y agoAds of course.
- shalmanese 11y agoPodcast advertising is fantastically profitable even though it's extremely unsophisticated. As the profit margins shrink due to increased competition, more sophisticated ad formats are going to come along to keep the lights on. Right now, every podcast listener hears the exact same ad regardless of where or when they are listening. It seems obvious that at some point soon, podcasts will include a custom code for "insert ad here" and an ad exchange will bid on that 30 second spot and put a targeted ad there. Currently, the MP3 + RSS format of podcasts doesn't support this degree of sophistication which is what Marco is alluding to with it's walled gardens comment. There's a goldmine for whoever can figure out how to move podcasts into a vertically integrated format and define the platform.