Ben Thompson (analyst)
{{Short description|American business, technology, and media analyst}}
{{about|the industry analyst|other uses|Benjamin Thompson (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ben Thompson
| image = Ben Thompson - Innholdprodusentens død og mulige gjenoppstandelse - NMD 2016 (26890581672) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Thompson in 2016
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
}}
| occupation = Business, technology, and media analyst
}}
Ben Thompson is an American business, technology, and media analyst who lives in Taipei, where he founded Stratechery, a subscription-based newsletter/podcast featuring commentary on tech and media news,{{cite web |url=http://fusion.net/story/45024/the-ingredients-of-a-great-newsletter/ |title=The ingredients of a great newsletter |author=Felix Salmon |date=February 6, 2015 |work=Fusion |accessdate=June 25, 2016}} and cohosts tech podcasts Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp,{{Cite web |title=Sharp Tech |url=https://sharptech.fm:443/member |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Sharp Tech |language=en}} Dithering with John Gruber and Exponent with James Allworth, respectively.{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/04/03/10-tech-podcasts-you-should-listen-to-now/ |title=10 tech podcasts you should listen to now |author=Jordan Novet |date=April 3, 2015 |work=VentureBeat |publisher= |accessdate=June 25, 2016}}
Education
Thompson's undergraduate education was at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and his graduate education at Northwestern University, where he received a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School as well as a Master of Engineering Management from the McCormick School of Engineering.{{cite web |url=http://www.postmoderncomputing.com/people/ |title=Postmodern Computing Summit |date=June 2014 |publisher=Pixxa / Asymco |accessdate=June 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717142655/http://www.postmoderncomputing.com/people |archive-date=July 17, 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Career
Thompson's career includes stints at Apple, where he interned at Apple University;{{cite web |url=https://www.techinasia.com/stratechery-solo-ben-thompson-asia-apple-shifting-tides-online-media |title=Stratechery goes solo: Ben Thompson on Asia, Apple, and the shifting tides of online media |author=Josh Horwitz |date=April 16, 2014 |work=Tech in Asia |accessdate=June 25, 2016}} Microsoft, where he worked on its Windows Apps team;{{cite web |url=http://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/06/jony-ives-ios-7-influence-will-be-more-than-skin-deep/ |title=Jony Ive's iOS 7 Influence Will Be More Than Skin Deep |author=Juli Clover |date=May 6, 2013 |work=MacRumors |accessdate=June 25, 2016}} and at WordPress developer Automattic as a growth engineer.{{cite web |url=https://gigaom.com/2013/10/05/rise-of-the-prosumer-analyst-how-mobile-is-driving-a-new-brand-of-business-analysis/ |title=Rise of the prosumer analyst: How mobile is driving a new brand of business analysis |author=Jonathan Libov |date=October 5, 2013 |work=Gigaom |accessdate=March 2, 2017}}
Thompson launched Stratechery as a blog while still a Microsoft employee, and in April 2014 devoted himself to the site full-time, operating on a "freemium" subscription model.{{cite web |url=http://www.recode.net/2014/4/16/11625680/ben-thompsons-stratechery-expands-and-goes-freemium |title=Ben Thompson's Stratechery Expands and Goes Freemium |author=Kara Swisher|authorlink=Kara Swisher |date=April 16, 2014 |work=Recode |accessdate=25 June 2016}} He has stated his primary inspiration was John Gruber, author of the site Daring Fireball.{{cite web|author=Matthew Ingram|date=April 17, 2014|title=Can a little-known blogger turn his site into a business by selling memberships? Ben Thompson is sure going to try|url=https://gigaom.com/2014/04/17/can-a-little-known-blogger-turn-his-site-into-a-business-by-selling-memberships-ben-thompson-is-sure-going-to-try/|accessdate=June 25, 2016|work=Gigaom}}
As of April 2015, Thompson had more than 2,000 paying subscribers.{{cite web |url=https://gigaom.com/2015/02/02/ben-thompson-the-one-man-blog-isnt-dead-its-better-than-ever/ |title=Ben Thompson: The one-man blog isn't dead, it's better than ever |author=Mathew Ingram |date=February 2, 2015 |work=Gigaom |accessdate=June 25, 2016}} By 2017, Recode described Stratechery as having pioneered the paid newsletter business model.{{cite news|last1=Kafka|first1=Peter|date=16 October 2017|title=Meet the startup that wants to help you build a subscription newsletter business overnight|language=en|work=Vox|url=https://www.vox.com/2017/10/16/16480782/substack-subscription-newsletter-sinocism-bill-bishop-ben-thompson-stratechery}} The founders of Substack, a newsletter platform launched in 2018, called Thompson a major inspiration for their project.
Aggregation theory
Thompson is a proponent of aggregation theory, which describes how platforms (i.e. aggregators such as Google and Facebook) come to dominate the industries in which they compete in a systematic and predictable way. Aggregators have all three of the following characteristics:
- direct relationship with users;
- zero marginal costs for serving users;
- and demand-driven multi-sided networks with decreasing acquisition costs.{{cite web |last1=Brandom |first1=Russell |title=What does aggregation theory tell us about Google's antitrust case? |url=https://www.theverge.com/21790553/antitrust-google-amazon-facebook-aggregation-theory-ben-thompson-tim-wu |website=The Verge |date=2 December 2020 |access-date=3 December 2020}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.stratechery.com|Stratechery}}
- {{Official website|http://www.exponent.fm|Exponent podcast}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Ben}}
Category:American business writers
Category:American technology podcasters
Category:Kellogg School of Management alumni
Category:Northwestern University alumni
Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American technology writers