Organising chaos - A Blog Recap

This blog has been running for just over three months now, so apropos of nothing I thought I'd put up a recap of some of the key posts.

I tend to write posts in a series, but this tends to get lost in the chronology of the blog archive. So I thought readers might find a quick recap quite useful.

Anyhow here are the key issues I've written about so far. Lot's more to come!

Bloomberg & Cloud Computing

I'd wanted to talk about Bloomberg for some time. A lot of the analysis here I haven't seen elsewhere - partly because of their extreme secrecy but partly because no-one was thinking about them as a cloud computing company. Of course as part of this I needed to set out what a cloud computing company was - hence a mini-series on cloud before getting down and dirty with Bloomberg.

• What Cloud Computing means for investors - Cloud computing explained in simply, unscary terms.
• Who get's killed by cloud computing - How the shift to cloud dis-intermediates vast swathes of tech companies.
• The biggest cloud company you've never heard of - An introduction to Bloomberg LLP
• The magical Mr Bloomberg and his amazing clouds - A run-down of some of Bloomberg's key cloud offerings
• Mr Bloomberg and his extraordinary moats - Bloomberg's key competitive differentiators
• Inside Bloomberg's secret financials - Reconstructing Bloomberg's (unpublished) financials
• Bloomberg eats the world - How Bloomberg is taking on its biggest customers - the banks
• Valuing Bloomberg - the $46bn question - An in-depth valuation of how much Bloomberg's business is worth

Apple, iPhones, iOS6 and Maps

Of course no self-respecting tech blog can ignore the big AAPL. What I've tried to do is put its business into the context of a wider war between competing platforms, rather than about what shiny boondoggle they will come up with next. In particular I've written extensively on Maps as I've got a fair bit of background in that area.

• Apple win's a battle but is losing the war - Android is outselling Apple by a scary margin
• Apple's Innovator's Dilemma - Why Apple's position as the smartphone incumbent is a disadvantage
• Capricious Apple - Why the iOS Maps fiasco is more damaging to Apple's brand than you may think
• What's wrong with Apple Maps (and when will they fix it) - A deep-dive into the problems with iOS6
• Why Apple should buy TomTom - Why TomTom is a good strategic acquisition for Apple
• How much will Apple pay for TomTom - Thoughts on TomToms' potential M&A valuation

Facebook

Facebook was an obvious topic to write on - not only because its at a make-or-break point in its evolution, but because as a relatively new public company surprisingly little analysis had been done about it. I'm looking forward muchly to picking apart their results tomorrow!

• Facebook: What's so great about the new Empire? - The good things about Facebook
• Can Facebook really treble it's sales? - Analysing Facebook's avenues for future growth
• The darker side of Facebook - The bad things about Facebook
• I gotta bad feeling about this - Facebook's maiden numbers - The crack's in Facebook's 2Q results
• Facebook - why its still expensive - Facebook is still pricing in aggressive growth
• More nuggets from Facebook's 10-Q - A couple more scary things in the detail of the 2Q results
• Facebook - What are you doing?? - Why Facebook's advertising is surprisingly dumb
• The snake in Facebook's garden - Analysing how Facebook users are getting younger and poorer

Connected TV & Appliances

The evolution from Appliance to Compute Device is one of the most powerful, but least-talked about, disruptions you see in consumer land. Most importantly the biggest appliance => compute device shift is about to take place in your very own living room. All hail the connected TV!

• Dead appliances and disruptive devices - How tech appliances evolve into computer devices
• Telly Addicts - Why connected TVs are (finally) poised to take off
• Telly Addicts Part 2 - What is the "Right Stuff"? - What boxes the internet TV winners will have to tick
• Telly Addicts Part 3 - Kicking Ass, Taking Names - Who is positioned to win the internet TV war?

Technology business models

While its fun talking about shiny boondoggles, what fascinates me as an analyst is how you connect the boondoggle to the cashflow - i.e. the business models which tech companies use to monitise their products. In terms of growth, capital intensity and rapid change I think these are absolutely extraordinary. And it also presents lots of opportunties for investors to make money..

• What's so special about Tech? - Why Moore's Law drives extraordinary growth
• The business of technlogy (1) - Why tech companies have great business models
• The business of technlogy (2) - Why the competitive landscape in tech is so disruptive
• Why platforms matter - Why Platforms as so important for tech companies
• What does a world of platforms look like? - Blog mission statement 101
• Why moats matter for tech investors - Introducing Warren Buffet's concept of competitive moats for tech companies
• Roman candles and breached moats - What happens when competitive moats go wrong
• The worst business model in the world - Why you should never open a restaurant
• The best business model in the world - But why you should start a software company
• The joys of Platform Risk - Introducing the concept of Platform Risk
• How to profit from Platform Risk - Analysing the economics of Platform Risk 

Nothing in particular

Sometimes something interesting catches my eye. Normally I try to make it vaguely tech or business related. Sometimes I don't succeed. 

• Why successful shares are like the Czech football team - What really drives a share's price
• Why the US Election is already over (and how to profit from it) - A cute little arbitrage opportunity around the Presidential election.