Weekly Roundup 21-04-24

0.1% Ideas: 18 Useful Razors & Rules - George Mack

A collection of razors. The one I noted:

The transfer of thoughts and ideas to different mediums unlocks different views of it.

Creativity Razor - If struggling to think creatively about a subject, transform it: Turn a thought into a written idea. A written idea into a drawing. A drawing into an equation. An equation into a conversation. 

In the process of transforming it, you begin to spot new creative connections.

Aggregation Theory - Ben Thompson

A theory for the new state of consumer-based businesses and how they are affected in the post-internet era.

Before, mass production and distribution was integrated so everyone bought and and read the same things. I got the same newspaper, and other products, as my neighbour. Distribution was localised.

Post-internet I can get my news, clothes, etc from wherever I want. The internet enabled "personalised" distribution. The new scarcity is now that consumers only have 24 hours a day, and the hardest problem is now actually capturing the end-users’ limited attention. The big question now becomes: where do consumers actually look? The answer is, you guessed it: aggregators.

First, the Internet has made distribution (of digital goods) free, neutralizing the advantage that pre-Internet distributors leveraged to integrate with suppliers. Secondly, the Internet has made transaction costs zero, making it viable for a distributor to integrate forward with end users/consumers at scale.

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This has fundamentally changed the plane of competition: no longer do distributors compete based upon exclusive supplier relationships, with consumers/users an afterthought. Instead, suppliers can be commoditized leaving consumers/users as a first order priority. By extension, this means that the most important factor determining success is the user experience: the best distributors/aggregators/market-makers win by providing the best experience, which earns them the most consumers/users, which attracts the most suppliers, which enhances the user experience in a virtuous cycle.

Age of Abundance: How the Content Explosion will Invert the Media Industry

The internet will move from programmatic recommendations to human curation.

This a 2016 prediction for the future state of media. And it has been a pretty spot on one. The shift from algorithms to curators is still in play and there's still time for anyone interested to create a personal brand through curation.

Don't choose your niche — be prolific instead

I guess that's a good advice not only about finding your niche but exploring life in general.

I was thinking like an architect, trying to design my niche before getting started, when I should have been thinking like an archeologist, slowly uncovering my niche with every little thing I created.

Keep creating whatever happens. Keep creating and you'll find your way.

Which paid and organic channels should you pursue?

Excellent guide on organic/paid growth channels.

Distribution-first is how I think. This guide makes it easier to think about growth costs (time or money) and if a business/idea is worth pursuing.