#45 - Podcast Learning Medley with Shishir Mehrotra of Coda and Chamath Palihapitiya of Social Capital
July 9, 2020: A day of podcast marathons and two took up significant mindspace for me. One was on learning about bundling from Shishir Mehrotra (Founder of Coda and Product at Youtube) interview on Invest Like The Best podcast. Though I learned a lot about bundling, the big trigger was that he was coached by Bill Campbell. The second was Chamath’s interview on the Odd Lots podcast. It’s always entertaining to hear Chamath’s views but the most insight was on his views on addressing racism and that took me down a rabbit hole reflecting on my own experience.
Listen on:
Episode Notes:
Shishir Mehrotra – The Art and Science of the Bundle
Addressing the 4 myths of bundling: https://coda.io/@shishir/four-myths-of-bundling
Assessing value of bundle pieces using marginal churn contribution (MCC) => certain programs (like ESPN) are the major contributors of why people will no longer buy the bundle if it were missing. By figuring out which ‘part of the sum’ is worth most, you can depict the price of each.
Value of transparency in bundling: Sharing how much the price of each part is worth can help make bundle adoption easier for consumers. Consumers might think ESPN alone could be $10 instead of the full $60 of a bundle…. But if ESPN is worth the entire bundle given it’s MCC, then ESPN alone is worth $60 and the rest that come with the bundle are considered free
Many channels/programs cannot survive on their own. But they do add value. They will not be able to generate enough ‘casual fans’ and the ‘hardcore fans’ might not be enough. Hence, bundling may become an inevitability in the future. It’s just, the method by which it all gets showcased may change.
Not related to bundling but I loved the final segment of the interview where I learned how Shishir was coached by Bill Campbell. Given how I want to build a career like Bill’s it was awesome to hear what Bill had done for Shishir as a coach. The big takeaway here may be the scorecard by which Bill measures success…. Might even be that which he worships. Other people have money, fame, power… and other means… Bill’s scorecard was seeing how the people he coached succeeded. Another big learning was that Bill always made time for his coachees. It might seem small but that someone feels like you always make time for them is a special thing that is a conscious choice one makes.
Chamath Palihapitiya On The Future Of Big Tech
Majority of the interview didn’t share anything new outside of the populations 2020 interviews with CNBC.
The fascinating bit of the interview was near the end when Chamath was asked about the “tech” industry’s role in racism, equality etc… I thought Chamath’s response was marvellous and not one said enough. It’s not a problem you can blame on an industry or its leaders. It’s not one that a sector needs to handle. The problem resides in the microcosm in each individual in society. What is more important is that the change needs to be made in the mentality and behaviour of those in the oppressing class.
Chamath talks about how after 9/11 he had SSS on his boarding pass (even in first class) and how all his emails to the airlines didn’t fix any of that until he had his caucasian colleague send the same email of outrage. Only then was it changed. He also shares his experience of why he has an Asian driver. Because he is has an African-American one, the chance of being pulled over is higher, and having a Caucasian one might lead to Chamath being questioned if he stole the car. It humanized him and brought about the reality of bias that exists in North America but also how if we had lived with it for so long… that we might be programmed to just accept things. It reminds me of my own behaviour and how I am conscious of not doing various things that Caucasians might freely do because I don’t want to give others an excuse to label me with some stereotype for being Asian.
I’ve long adopted the idea that dealing with racism is to not make it a thing. Like the interview Morgan Freeman did with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes where when Freeman was asked how we should deal with racism, he said we should stop talking about it. That he wouldn’t refer to Wallace as a white man and Wallace shouldn’t refer to him as a black man. I do think this is the clearest path to not letting racism build into a narrative. When a Caucasian yells at me I am immediately inclined to think Caucasians are racist when the reality is that I met an asshole and that’s it. An asshole regardless of race. But the important thing Chamath stresses is how powerful it is for those in the group that oppresses have a greater say in making a change. It’s true. It just doesn’t sound like ‘complaining’ when someone from your own tribe says something.