Chris Dixon
@cdixon.eth
“Death of the middle'' is a useful framework for predicting how new technologies will affect markets. The classic example is retail, once dominated by department stores like Sears and Kmart, until the internet drove consumers to two extremes: high-status premium brands and hyperscale internet retailers.
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Matt
@zkmattwyatt
Rare case where I disagree here. I think many such cases of death by 1000 cuts, bundling/unbundling, or blue ocean swallows red ocean for any product trying to do too much on any extreme. Think Netflix and YT. They grew from blue ocean from the middle, killed cable from either side (+ social), and now rebundle it
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Matt
@zkmattwyatt
To drive this home — you can even use your own example of sears Sears was trying to do everything on retail extreme. An everything store, a catalogue, and a consumer credit card company. It got killed by 1000 cuts — internet as a catalogue, Amazon, and focused credit card conglomerates
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