Joseph Carlson After Hours·2025-10-01 16:52Spotify Analysis - Spotify's core thesis revolves around the spoken word, including music, being the most undervalued form of communication on the web [1] - Spotify's business model focuses on delivering an exceptional search and discovery user experience in exchange for user data and premium subscriptions [1] - Spotify has made significant progress in closing the monetization gap between audio and video [2] - As of June 4th, Spotify's 145 million US users can directly purchase within the app, bypassing Apple's App Store 15% commissions [4] - Advertising and related revenues represent approximately €2 billion, or 10% of Spotify's total revenue [11] - Spotify's valuation is optically expensive, but could look cheap if management achieves their goals of $20 billion of operating earnings [12] Uber Analysis - Uber operates a network-based marketplace, aggregating supply and demand for transportation services in over 70 countries with more than 170 million monthly users [17] - Concerns regarding autonomous vehicles (AVs) are misplaced, as AV adoption will be longer than expected and ultimately beneficial for Uber [21][22] - Uber's marketplace model with human drivers can naturally adjust to peak demand, allowing for optimized utilization [24] - AVs could lead to more consumers forgoing car ownership, accelerating Uber's business [25] Google (Alphabet) Analysis - Alphabet is successfully executing on its AI potential, with key advantages stemming from industry-leading models and a full-stack approach to technical infrastructure [34] - AI-powered summary responses called AI overviews are now served to more than 2 billion users across 200 countries [37] - Google's cloud segment is a $50 billion run rate revenue business growing at a 30%+ rate [41] - The cloud segment has increased to a 21% profit margin in the most recent quarter [43] - Google has seven different apps with over 2 billion users each [36][45]