Fantasy Money – Crypto, Disney and Twitter

The Business Trendsetter Podcast

FTX recently failed, wiping out $32B of value in one week. Less than 3 years old, FTX’ 20-something CEO raised over $1.5B and charmed the media that crypto was the biggest thing since the internet. And the fad had been working. Listen in this podcast how all it took was one seller (most likely Binance) to cause a run on FTX’ reserves and expose the fantasy fad that crypto really is. Listen to why investing in trend will create long-term value, while fads are just speculation and risk.

Sometimes we have to pivot our Value Delivery System, and CEO Chapek has been doing that since appointed as Disney CEO when the pandemic hit. This podcast overviews how he failed to describe his pivot to investors and the media, and how he failed to alert constituents to the importance of ongoing revenue growth to win the war, while waiting on earnings until that makes more sense. Because he failed to describe his strategy effectively, even as he was winning the battle to unseat Netflix as largest streamer, he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by previous CEO Bob Iger. It’s a story about how even when you pivot toward trends, if you don’t tell your story clearly and often your pivot can be truncated.

And lastly this podcast revisits Twitter’s lack of a Value Proposition, leaving Elon Must with a dramatically downsized company that doesn’t have a direction. Twitter is a media company that must attract users every day, every hour – and that requires a well designed Value Proposition – which still appears lacking at Twitter.

Thinking points:

• Do you know the difference between trends and fads – and are you investing in the former to grow?

• Do you know your Value Proposition, and the difference between your Value Proposition and your Value Delivery System?

• Can you tie your business to growing trends? Do you have a strong story about how your using trends to grow?

• Are you able to clearly state your Value Proposition so that customers, employees, suppliers, communities and investors can understand?