Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
Amazon recently agreed to purchase MGM for over $8 billion, and the reaction has been skeptical. Critics of the deal argue that Amazon overpaid for the MGM catalog, especially in comparison to Disney’s (admittedly brilliant) trio of acquisitions: Star Wars ($4 billion), Marvel ($4 billion), and Pixar ($7 billion). But this is allow hindsight to … Continue reading Why People Don’t Understand Amazon’s MGM Acquisition
The internet is abuzz with the rumor that Google is about to acquire Twitch, the videogame-focused spinoff of Justin.tv. The price? $1 billion. http://bit.ly/1sNODH9 A lot of the coverage has focused on Twitch’s monthly audience of 45 million unique viewers, which is certainly impressive. Just about the only TV program that exceeds that level of … Continue reading Live Video Is About The Broadcasters
Humans love to be surprised (as long as the surprise isn’t a nasty shock). As thinking creatures, our ability to develop an accurate working model of the world depends on our ability to spot the unexpected. Surprise is a great mechanism for rewarding that ability. Wharton conducted a study of viral videos. They had research … Continue reading The Power of Surprise
I’ve really been enjoying the pitch videos that BetaBeat has made available as part of its “The Pitch” webisodes. From what I can tell, “The Pitch” applies the classic webisode model (short I just watched a video that showed the founders of Silver Living, a super-Yelp for retirement homes, pitch to Steve Schlafman of Lerer … Continue reading BetaBeat’s “The Pitch” web series is smart marketing that should cloned for Silicon Valley
Every year, the Yeh family journeys down to southern California for the week of Christmas. I get to visit my ancestral home (Santa Monica, natch), the kids get to see their grandparents (whom they enjoy far more than their parents), and Alisha and I sneak away to Palm Springs for an archetypally American vacation of … Continue reading The Chris Yeh Travel Channel: The Pepper Tree Inn
Looks like SNL has its fastball back. The two biggest beneficiaries of this crazy year have got to be Barack Obama and SNL. In this sketch (which I found courtesy of Auren Hoffman), SNL puts the Democrats and American people on blast for trying to shirk responsibility for the crisis. It lampoons Pelosi and Frank, … Continue reading Best Mortgage Crisis Video Ever (Thanks SNL)
It’s seldom I have anything good to say about MTV, but their latest move is sheer genius. Here’s the scoop from NewTeeVee:Launching today, MTV’s Backchannel is a very cool-looking social game synergizing a very silly product— specifically, the network’s “reality” show The Hills. As the title suggests, Backchannel’s a chat interface that runs live online … Continue reading MTV Hits Home Run With Backchannel
Last month, I was one of the speakers at my friend Frans Johansson’s Medici Summit. It was truly an honor to meet so many fascinating people. I think I got more out of my short time there than any other conference I’ve ever attended. At any rate, the highlights video for the Summit is now … Continue reading The Medici Summit