Billy D. Aldea-Martinez

I have had the amazing opportunity to work with @TrevorNY over the past 5.6 years, and its been the most fulfilling period in my career learning directly from the best and in the field. Check out the piece, and come and join us at @piano_io

#Brazil’s #GDPR-style law, #LGPD, gives strong rights to users. 🎙️ This came up in a recent Signal conversation on data, AI, and privacy with @BrandChrist1 subs.com/signal Thanks to @SiliconComms #PrivacyLaw #DataGovernance #brazilprivacylaw #dataprivacy #ecommerce

Dario is wrong. He knows absolutely nothing about the effects of technological revolutions on the labor market. Don't listen to him, Sam, Yoshua, Geoff, or me on this topic. Listen to economists who have spent their career studying this, like @Ph_Aghion , @erikbryn , @DAcemogluMIT , @amcafee , @davidautor

Geopolitics is now a direct input into business strategy. This debate on a potential Strait of Hormuz blockade is worth your time. This debate on a Hormuz blockade is worth watching. Featuring @TomSwitzerMedia , @MearsheimerJ, @joshua_landis 👇

Instead of watching an hour of Netflix, watch this MIT professor deliver a brilliant masterclass on how to effectively present your ideas with clarity, impact, and purpose.

This 40-minute Peter Thiel lecture will teach you more about business than a 2-year MBA program: Summary: • Value Creation and Capture: A valuable company must both create value (X dollars) for the world and capture a percentage (Y%) of that value. X (total value created) and Y (share captured) are independent variables; a company can succeed with either a large X and small Y or vice versa. • Monopoly vs Perfect Competition: Monopolies are stable, profitable, and create long-term value, unlike perfectly competitive industries where profits are eroded away. The airline industry exemplifies a highly competitive market with very low profit margins despite large revenues, contrasted with Google’s search business that is smaller in revenue but much more profitable due to monopoly power. Thiel argues there are only two types of businesses: monopolies and perfectly competitive firms, with very few in between. • Market Size and Perception Lies: Companies distort their market descriptions depending on their position. Monopolists exaggerate market size by describing their market as a vast union of many different sectors to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Non-monopolists minimize market size, describing it narrowly to appear unique and attract investment. Example: A restaurant owner might claim to serve a tiny niche market (e.g., British food in Palo Alto) to claim uniqueness, while Google describes itself broadly as a technology or advertising company to dilute monopoly perception. Successful startups begin by dominating a small market and then expand outward. Examples include Amazon starting as an online bookstore, PayPal targeting eBay power sellers, and Facebook launching initially at Harvard. Starting with a large, broad market is often a sign of misunderstanding the market and leads to intense competition and failure (e.g., many clean tech companies). • Last Mover Advantage: The greatest value lies in being the company that dominates a market long-term, not necessarily the first mover. Most of the value of tech companies comes from future cash flows many years ahead, emphasizing durability over short-term growth. • Historical Perspective on Innovation and Value Capture: Throughout history, many scientific and technological breakthroughs created large societal value (X), but the innovators rarely captured substantial financial value (Y close to zero). Examples include great scientists like Einstein and industries such as railroads or early aviation, where competition or structural factors prevented wealth capture. Two main categories where value capture was successful: 1. Vertically integrated monopolies (e.g., Ford, Standard Oil) require complex coordination and capital investment. 2. Software businesses, benefiting from near-zero marginal costs and rapid adoption. • Psychological and Cultural Aspects of Competition: Society often romanticizes competition, seeing losing as a personal failure, but Thiel argues that competition itself is a form of losing, as it destroys value and capital. Human nature is mimetic (imitative), leading to overcrowded markets and irrational competition. Real success comes from escaping competition by finding unique, overlooked opportunities.

6000 Years of World History in 1 Picture

In 1985, 8 years before the launch of the worldwide web, James Burke spoke about the impact of technology on businesses, politics and society. This short video is simply stunning

In 2005, YouTube’s founders were sad because only 40 videos were uploaded. Today, YouTube generates $1 billion in revenue every 8 days.

This short film by former Pixar animator Rodrigo Blaas is genuinely disturbing. Alma (2009) delivers more unease in a few minutes than many full-length horror films.

@TheCinesthetic Cool story!

This is where it all started. Here, 19-yo Stanford dropout Sam Altman giving his first-ever startup pitch. He dropped out of Stanford to start Loopt, sold it in 2012 for $43.4 mn. Then invested via Hydrazine and later led Y Combinator before co-founding OpenAI in 2015

how is this possible

Our team at @a16z spends all day studying the future of consumer AI. We just dropped an hour-long podcast with our learnings so far and what we hope to see from startups. Takeaways, clips, and link 👇

Intel co-founder Robert Noyce predicting the future in 1981.

Nike employee memo from 1977.

@NotesByNiba a great stylish host!

EEEEEEEE so excited to be here!

Reminder: This is who you’re arguing with in the comments section…

Tim Cook explains why Apple chooses China for manufacturing. Can America replace this?

Taking a screenshot in 1983.

📢 ¡Ya están aquí los Benchmarks de Suscripciones 2024 de @piano_io En su quinta edición, este recurso esencial ofrece valiosos insights para ayudar a las empresas a diseñar estrategias efectivas para 2025. Estos benchmarks brindan una visión clara del rendimiento, permitiendo a las empresas obtener información accionable y adaptarse a un mercado impulsado por las plataformas, nuevas tecnologías, el comportamiento cambiante de las audiencias y los modelos de negocio emergentes. Tuve el honor de colaborar con @programaticaly para resumir el informe en castellano, haciéndolo accesible para los mercados de España y América Latina. Consulta el reporte original en inglés aquí: lp.piano.io/content/subscr… Aprovecha estos insights para mantenerte a la vanguardia en un mercado dinámico y en constante cambio de como monetizar los medio digitales. 🚀