mediatech Archives - Startup Economist

How Streaming Shows That AI Is Making the Product a Commodity, Here’s How Startup Founders Survive

Sunday, 01 March 2026 by Paul O'Brien

I find myself more oriented to media than most. I am a huge live music fan extending well beyond concerts and festivals into even musicals and Broadway. My career started in advertising by way of Yahoo! when “online” was little more than a concept. I was among the first with Netflix, familiar with The Pirate

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Published in Startups

7 Comments

How Substack Quietly Emerged as the Empirical Thinker’s Social Network

Thursday, 16 January 2025 by Paul O'Brien

It’s easy to miss a quiet revolution in a world dominated by the noisy chaos of Twitter threads, AI clickbait, and influencers slinging collagen gummies. But that’s exactly what Substack has pulled off, amidst the rise of AI content pushing audiences even more desperately in search of authenticity. What started as a niche newsletter platform

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Published in Social Media

24 Comments

Telling a Story that Raises Capital

Tuesday, 29 August 2017 by Paul O'Brien

Shehzad Bharwani and Adnan Merchant have helped start an incredible story; a story about the role Austin will play in FinTech. It was the fact that they have a story about the work they were doing as entrepreneurs – the experience Shehzad shared with me in transitioning his company, Dealytics, from New York to Austin,

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Published in Startups

4 Comments

The Vision For Austin

Wednesday, 08 March 2017 by Paul O'Brien

You know that licking of your lips and grasping at air that one does when trying to put in to words a dream. How you think through, as you’re talking with someone, something you just can’t quite simplify. What I’m thinking about is not a dream but a vision. Something magical is happening by way

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Published in Brand Marketing, Texas Startups

52 Comments