James Thomason on Muck Rack

James Thomason

  • Contributor, VentureBeat
  • Managing Partner, Next Wave Partners
Napa
As seen in: VentureBeat, MDPI, Flipboard, Network World, The Code Project, War on the Rocks, Denton Record-Chronicle, RealClear Defense, Tech News Tube
Author | Technology Analyst | Portfolio Manager | Venture Investor | Not investment advice

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Articles

Narratives pick the KPI, and the KPI picks the losers

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By James Thomason
| jamesthomason.com
In every technology cycle, investors look for a number that feels like progress. Something observable, comparable, and plausibly connected to future cash flows. That number becomes the key performance indicator of the era. At first, the choice feels reasonable. Early in a market’s life, revenues are small, margins are unstable, and business models are still forming. Traditional valuation tools struggle. A proxy is needed. So the market elevates a KPI that seems closest to value creation.
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The option premium view of bubbles

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By James Thomason
| jamesthomason.com
In 1876, Western Union turned down an opportunity to buy the patent rights to the telephone for $100,000. The company's leadership couldn't see how a device that required two people to be connected by a wire at the same time would ever compete with the telegraph. Fifteen years later, there were over 150,000 telephones in the United States. Western Union had missed one of the great business opportunities in history. But here's the thing.
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When dirt meets data: ScottsMiracle-Gro saved $150M using AI

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By James Thomason
| VentureBeat
How a semiconductor veteran turned over a century of horticultural wisdom into AI-led competitive advantage For decades, a ritual played out across ScottsMiracle-Gro’s media facilities. Every few weeks, workers walked acres of towering compost and wood chip piles with nothing more than measuring sticks.
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