00:00 Ben Thompson, the founder of Stratechery, a business strategy and technology impact newsletter, is interviewed about the history and strategy of his company, which has become a powerhouse in shaping the thoughts and conversations of the technology industry worldwide.

06:45 Ben Thompson emphasizes the importance of consistency and building a back catalog in order to establish credibility and attract subscribers to his content.

13:12 Ben Thompson started his blog, Stratechery, because he saw a gap in the market for analysis and opinion on the intersection of strategy and technology in the business world.

19:55 Apple University was originally intended to define the culture of Apple, but there are concerns that writing down culture could lead to ossification and a lack of flexibility in the future.

26:14 Ben Thompson started Stratechery as a way to produce highly differentiated content and maximize revenue per user through subscriptions, rather than relying on advertising, which he believed was not a scalable possibility.

32:39 Ben Thompson wanted his subscription model for Stratechery to feel like a value-add for customers, rather than a paywall, and focused on creating visually distinct content and leveraging social media to build a following.

39:01 Ben Thompson made a grammatical error in an email to John Gruber, but Gruber ended up posting a full article praising Stratechery and its author, leading to a significant increase in Twitter followers and the start of a strong relationship between the two.

45:08 After a rocky start and a lot of stress, Ben Thompson's subscription model for Stratechery started to gain traction and show signs of success, leading him to pay off his credit card debt and continue to grow his business.

51:09 After reaching his one-year goal of a thousand subscribers and a $100,000 run rate, Ben Thompson experienced a significant increase in subscriber growth, with 250 new subscribers in 24 hours, as people became more confident in his business and were no longer afraid to give their money to a random writer on the internet.

57:14 The subscription model allows for a better customer experience and provides valuable feedback for writers, while also allowing them to ignore negative feedback and focus on their larger subscriber base.

01:04:01 The host discusses how the growth of his subscription revenue has tapered off, but he still considers it a success and contemplates raising prices to increase revenue further.

01:10:02 Ben Thompson discusses his plans to expand his podcast offerings and create a bundle of different shows, highlighting the importance of cross-promotion and the potential for this new class of internet-based businesses.

01:16:24 Ben Thompson discusses the importance of being the biggest fish in your own pond on the internet, the potential for success in niche markets, and his plans to expand his podcast offerings and improve the marketing and technological aspects of his business.

01:22:26 Ben Thompson discusses the potential for writing a book on aggregation theory, but cites logistical issues, fear factors, and the transient nature of the internet as reasons why he hasn't done so yet.

01:28:30 Ben Thompson reflects on the timing and impact of his article on aggregation theory, and discusses the challenges and incentives of writing timely pieces versus timeless pieces in the online business.

01:35:11 Ben Thompson discusses the risks and challenges facing TSMC, including geopolitical risk and the potential for running out of technological advancements, but ultimately believes they should double down on Taiwan and continue their current strategy.

01:41:49 AWS is able to maintain customer loyalty and lock-in by not deprecating features and ensuring long-term support, unlike other cloud providers who remove features and APIs, making them less trustworthy and reliable.

01:47:55 The host discusses his decision to conduct interviews as part of his product strategy, ensuring that he provides unique analysis and information to his subscribers, including interviews with CEOs and other analysts, as well as founders of startups.