## Usability/monetization death spirals

Certain categories of web2 websites and apps fall into a usability-monetization death spiral. 🧵 Relying on ads and monetizing at low CPMs, the incentive is to add ever more intrusive ads to increase click rates. User experience degrades, requiring more intrusive ads, in a downward cycle. News sites, cooking sites, games, music, Q&A, travel, and many other web2 categories that didn’t figure out subscriptions or high-CPM business models fall into this trap. This isn’t the fault of the sites or... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/usability-monetization-death-spirals-2)

## What’s next in web3

What’s next in web3? 🧵 First, where are we today? Let’s start with some anecdotes. We have an awesome games team led by @Tocelot that invests in founders out of top game studios like Riot, Epic, Blizzard etc. Almost 100% of founders they've met with recently are exploring NFTs in some way, or are already building NFTs into their games... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/what-s-next-in-web3-2)

## Composability is to software as compounding interest is to finance

Composability is to software as compounding interest is to finance 🧵 A very high percentage of the software in the world is open source. Most datacenter software is open source, mobile phones OSs make heavy use of open source, most next-gen devices like self-driving cars, drones, and embedded computers run mostly open source software... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/composability-is-to-software-as-compounding-interest-is-to-finance-2)

## How open lost to closed in web2

How open lost to closed in Web 2 — and how Web 3 can bring open back 🧵 As @alexismadrigal wrote in this excellent essay, back in 2007 it looked like open services would dominate the internet going forward... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/how-open-lost-to-closed-in-web2-2)

## The web3 playbook: using token incentives to bootstrap new networks

The Web 3 playbook: using token incentives to bootstrap new networks. 🧵 The killer app of the internet is networks. The web and email are networks. Social apps like Instagram and Twitter are networks... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/the-web3-playbook-using-token-incentives-to-bootstrap-new-networks-2)

## Why web3 matters

Why Web 3 matters 🧵 Web 1 (roughly 1990-2005) was about open protocols that were decentralized and community-governed. Most of the value accrued to the edges of the network — users and builders. Web 2 (roughly 2005-2020) was about siloed, centralized services run by corporations... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/why-web3-matters-2)

## The internet treats bad business models as defects and routes around them

1/ Topic: The internet treats bad business models as defects and routes around them.
2/ Let’s start with this fascinating chart (from https://matthewball.vc) which raises the question: why has the video game industry grown alongside new technologies, while the music industry has not?
3/ For a long time, video games and music had the same, straightforward business model: charge money for a perpetual license to the base content — the game or music itself.
4/ When the internet came along, video games evolved rapidly... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/the-internet-treats-bad-business-models-as-defects-and-routes-around-them)

## A few common ways new technologies can be misunderstood

1/ New technologies often arrive with flaws: toy-like, expensive, janky, lacking clear applications, etc. To predict how they’ll develop, it’s important to dig deeper. Here are a few common ways new technologies can be misunderstood.
2/ “It’s just a toy.” This was the mistake made early on about breakthrough technologies like the telephone, personal computers, and social media... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/a-few-common-ways-new-technologies-can-be-misunderstood)

## Turning networks into economies

1/ Topic: Turning networks into economies 🧵 2/ We spent the last 20 years building networks on the internet. Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Discord are networks... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/turning-networks-into-economies)

## Going from Web 2 to Web 3 - “Your take rate is my opportunity”

1/ Topic: Going from Web 2 to Web 3 - “Your take rate is my opportunity” 🧵 2/ Jeff Bezos famously said "your margin is my opportunity" referring to the way Amazon took market share... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/going-from-web-2-to-web-3-your-take-rate-is-my-opportunity)

## Blockchains are the new app stores

1/ Topic: Blockchains are the new app stores 🧵 2/ If you were an ambitious, risk-seeking founder in the mobile golden age circa 2009-12, you built a new mobile app... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/blockchains-are-the-new-app-stores)

## Tokens are a new digital primitive, analogous to the website

1/ Tokens are a new digital primitive, analogous to the website 🧵 2/ Major computing waves generally have two eras: the skeuomorphic era and the native era... [Read more](https://paragraph.com/@cdixon/tokens-are-a-new-digital-primitive-analogous-to-the-website)

Written by [cdixon.eth](https://paragraph.com/0xe11bfcbdd43745d4aa6f4f18e24ad24f4623af04)