Tech Deciphered

Tech Deciphered


#10B – A review of the past decade in tech, the 2010s, and its impact on the world we live in

May 27, 2020

We split this episode into two parts: in this, the second and final part (10B), we discuss the significant shifts in business models and the funding landscape that happened in the 2010s. We deep-dive into these business models, e.g. freemium, advertising/free at the point of consumption, subscription, and we give you the no-BS view on the fundraising landscape, what REALLY changed and what (mostly) stayed the same.

Please also listen to the first part of this episode (10A), in which we discussed the macro-trends of the 2010 decade and the underlying technological tectonic shifts, including analyses of the OS, platform and product & application spaces

Navigation:

Introduction (01:24)
Section 1 - A brave new world ... of business models (01:56)
Section 2 - The switch in funding landscape (27:59)
Section 3 - The end ... of the world, as we know it?! (37:38)

Our co-hosts:

Bertrand Schmitt, Tech Entrepreneur, co-founder and Chairman at App Annie, @bschmitt
Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, co-Founder and Managing Partner of Strive Capital, @ngpedro

Our show: Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news.
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Full transcription: may contain unintentionally confusing, inaccurate and/or amusing transcription errors

Intro (01:24)

Bertrand: Welcome back in this , the second part of Episode 10, Episode 10B, we're still focus on the 2010s, that incredible decade that we spent some time discussing in Episode 10A and now, we are going to be focus on the dramatic changes in business model that happened, as well as the switch in funding landscape. For further reference, listen to the first part of this Episode, Episode 10A. Let's start today with dramatic changes in business models.  

Section 1 - A brave new world ... of business models

Nuno: So software is eating the world, Marc Andreessen famously wrote, I believe in 2011 and the world was going to be basically not only fully digitized as software was going to entrench itself and disrupt every single industry. Part of that promise, I believe, was realized in the last decade where we have the advent of a lot of things that we discussed in episode 10A, but also I believe that the whole thesis around software is eating the world is not the full story.

In some ways, the world got totally digitized, but the physical world didn't catch up. And one of the stupid examples I always give is in a world where, for example, we are going to have self driving cars, well, the cabin of a car needs to change because you don't need to drive anymore. So what is it going to become?

Is it going to become an office, a living room, a bedroom? Is it going to be a flexible space or not. So Mark's comment I think is well taken. The comment that digitalization is going to overrule many industries. There is not any other moment, but the current moment in which we're in the midst of COVID, that would make that point.

But I do think it missed part of the story. Part of the story is that the physical world will have to change as well. And it's very interesting that Marc just published a manifesto of sorts on how the world needs to change going forward. And he talks a lot about core infrastructure in that manifesto, which is, by the way, an exceptionally well written piece of text.

But as I said, I think software wasn't the only part of the story. There is also a hardware and physical part of the story.

Bertrand: Yes, totally. It's as you say, pretty interesting that he started the decade with this very famous article and is starti...