Learning From Quibi
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Learning From Quibi
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Re: Learning From Quibi
#2An interesting piece, though I would have liked more about the failures of YouTube/TikTok and other platforms that simply aggregate user content.
The author suggests a fund to help develop IP, but YouTube and TikTok don't need that. The YT/TT approach is "let a thousand flowers bloom and users/algorithms will pick the best".
I think a lot about the teenage girl who went viral on TikTok for writing musical numbers based on the 2000s TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender [1]. That is not content anyone would fund up front. If you're not a Zoomer/Millenial with nostalgia for the show, the idea doesn't even make sense! And yet it was a brilliant idea, hugely popular, and it didn't cost TikTok a dime. That's the future.
[1]: https://nerdist.com/article/avatar-the-last-airbender-musica...
Re: Learning From Quibi
#3You've got three choices. You either make it easy for people to make their own content, sell them content they already want but in a better way, or be the only way they're getting that content. Apple didn't try to invent a market for purchasing music when it didn't already exist; they said "hey, this is like buying CDs but easier and better." Netflix said "hey, all those shows you like? Come watch them at one place with no commercials, on demand." Youtube Red/Premium/Plus/Whatever the hell they're calling it now is just paying for a better version of the same experience. Whoever invents and patents a way to put a sticker on the side of your head and make you feel like you're having sex with a pornstar will make a billion selling it however they want.
Quibi picked the worst of every possibility. They weren't freer than Youtube. They didn't have the library of Netflix. They weren't more convenient to watch than either of them. Quibi would've worked great if it'd launched in 2007. Now, not so much.
Re: Learning From Quibi
#4This post is missing some numbers to put the size of Quibi's failure in context. "Quibi spent over $1 billion on commissioning original content in its first year, totalling 8,500 short-form episodes and including over 175 shows." according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quibi#Content. This is a cost of about $10k/minute.
(For comparison, SpaceX spent ~$85m (https://craft.co/spacex/funding-rounds) to blow up three rockets and launch a fourth one into orbit.)
Quibi's failure is on the same level as Theranos & Magic Leap given the amount that was spent. Quibi might not be a scam like the other two, but it's strange that they spent so much money before they had any users nor revenue. The most important lesson here is probably that launching & iterating will result in better outcomes than a giant investment on a speculative product.
Re: Learning From Quibi
#5> In this way, Jeffrey Katzenberg said to us, “I understand something about the world that others do not.” And yet, in saying so, he missed the essential lesson that could have been gleaned from his own industry: Popular culture is an existential conflict between what is “good”, what people like, and what people watch. This dialectic is the central feature of cultural businesses.
Dialectic and existential conflicts aside, I don't think the "gray area of public taste" really applies here. Quibi's content was BAD. [1,2,3] If there is an existential lesson here about entertainment platforms, maybe it's Don't:
* launch a $2B app
* with no library of content
* that is strictly walled off from your customer's social media
* and your customer's TV.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3IRvX9UaIk
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKyZWJ75nDM
3. https://twitter.com/zachraffio/status/1250273191810875392
Re: Learning From Quibi
#6I think we've hit peak mental masturbation....
Re: Learning From Quibi
#7This post is missing some numbers to put the size of Quibi's failure in context. "Quibi spent over $1 billion on commissioning original content in its first year, totalling 8,500 short-form episodes and including over 175 shows." according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quibi#Content . This is a cost of about $10k/minute. (For comparison, SpaceX spent ~$85m ( https://craft.co/spacex/funding-rounds ) to blow up thre…
It's quite amazing that they spent that much money and not a single one got shared to anybody I know.
That's a colossal failure.
They'd have been better off splitting that money up and handing that money to every single performing and visual arts student in the US.
They would have gotten at least one viral thing out of it.
Re: Learning From Quibi
#8I read that Quibi does not own its content. The content creators do.
I don't understand. How could Quibi possibly spend $2B in 6 months when it doesn't even own its content. What exactly did it spend those $2B on?
Re: Learning From Quibi
#9This post is missing some numbers to put the size of Quibi's failure in context. "Quibi spent over $1 billion on commissioning original content in its first year, totalling 8,500 short-form episodes and including over 175 shows." according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quibi#Content . This is a cost of about $10k/minute. (For comparison, SpaceX spent ~$85m ( https://craft.co/spacex/funding-rounds ) to blow up thre…
I don’t really see how those three have any similarities. Quibi is similar to a movie flopping - sometimes happens even to good movies. ML seems like they thought they can get the tech improved but were in too early. Also happens all the time. Theranos was a scam from very early on.
Re: Learning From Quibi
#10> In this way, Jeffrey Katzenberg said to us, “I understand something about the world that others do not.” And yet, in saying so, he missed the essential lesson that could have been gleaned from his own industry: Popular culture is an existential conflict between what is “good”, what people like, and what people watch. This dialectic is the central feature of cultural businesses. Dialectic and existential conflicts a…
Quibi seemed to do a lot wrong. But when it comes to how bad their content was, I've seen some writers say Quibi produced first draft scripts other studios had passed on without a re-write. They thought they could run with proof-of-concept quality scripts to avoid hiring writers.