GitLab, AI Eating Software, and Syndrome from The Incredibles: Welcome to Tidal Wave, a research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. And as always, if you’ve been forwarded this email (you know who you are), you can become a subscriber by clicking the link below. Last week GitLab held a Fireside discussion
May 12, 2023, 3:03 p.m.
Notes & Takeaways from Sohn Conference: Below are key takeaways and notes from the Sohn Conference that was held yesterday. The Sohn Conference is an annual investment conference hosted by the Ira Sohn Foundation. Proceeds from the conference support MSK Kids, the pediatric program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). You can (should) donate to the cause through the link below:
May 10, 2023, 2:17 p.m.
Atlassian Part 2: Muddy Waters Even After Pullback: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Given this is an investment-focused post, a quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author holds positions in the securities discussed.
May 5, 2023, 6:03 p.m.
Atlassian Part 1: The Everything for Everyone, Everywhere All at Once Platform: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Given this is an investment-focused post, a quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author holds positions in the securities discussed.
May 2, 2023, 8:53 p.m.
Transcript: Druckenmiller [April 2023]: This is a lightly edited transcription of the interview that Druckenmiller did at Norges Bank's Annual Investment Conference on April 24, 2023. The video for the talk can be found here for reference (h/t to adrivalue), the emphasis below is mine. Interviewer:
April 27, 2023, 2:30 a.m.
Resources for Investing in Internet Businesses: Hi All — Yesterday, I shared on Twitter the resource page I published for understanding and investing in internet, marketplace, and media businesses. Since not everyone lives on Twitter, I wanted to quickly share the link and list here as well. If people have other suggestions, feel free to
April 26, 2023, 5:26 p.m.
Generative AI, Adobe, Shutterstock, and Andy Warhol?: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. In case you missed it, here’s a link to last week’s deep dive on Databricks. Later this week I’ll be publishing a two-part piece on Atlassian, subscribe to receive it. Quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author may hold positions in the securities discussed
April 25, 2023, 2:24 p.m.
On NVIDIA, Fading the Hype, and a Look Back at the Dot-Com Bubble: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author may hold positions in the securities discussed. About once every two weeks, as I am doom-scrolling Twitter, a thought crosses my mind:
April 21, 2023, 5:56 p.m.
Databricks (Pre IPO) Primer and a Requiem for Hadoop: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Please subscribe so I can meet Matt Levine one day. Given this is an investment-focused post, a quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author may hold positions in the securities discussed.
April 18, 2023, 5:22 p.m.
Messy Middle and When Religion Isn't Enough: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Please subscribe so I can meet Matt Levine one day. Given this is an investment-focused post, a quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author may hold positions in the securities discussed.
April 14, 2023, 1:26 p.m.
Workday vs. Salesforce's Efficiency and The Cost of Churn: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Please subscribe so I can meet Matt Levine one day. Given this is an investment-focused post, a quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author holds positions in the securities discussed.
March 31, 2023, 10:32 a.m.
Deep Dive: Workday, Power of the SOR, and the Platform Opportunity: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Please subscribe so I can meet Matt Levine one day. Given this is an investment-focused post, a quick disclaimer: this is not investment advice, and the author holds positions in the securities discussed.
March 28, 2023, 12:03 p.m.
Balancing Growth with Margins and the Software Profit Curve: Private equity, activists, and usually passive investors are coming to rationalize software company’s spend and align the cost structure for future prospects. Investors want software/tech companies to strike the balance between growth and profitability. Historically,
March 25, 2023, 2:46 p.m.
Ellison’s Gospel, The Evolution of Salesforce, and the (AI Driven) Re-Bundling of Software: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Please subscribe so I can meet Matt Levine one day. Larry Ellison’s Gospel Software companies can be generalized into three categories: systems of record (“SOR”), workflow systems, or middleware tools that help bring these systems together. Few examples of each:
March 16, 2023, 3:43 p.m.
Private Equity's SBC Opportunity: Investors, including myself, have historically lionized the ability of private equity sponsors to drive efficiency and get software businesses to 30%+ EBITDA margins. This has been the basis for underwriting private equity “put” for high-quality software businesses, at least in some part. But how durable is this rationale? And are private equity firms actually delivering on this thesis for their software investments?
March 15, 2023, 9:51 p.m.
Spotify’s Bet on Video and The Spotify Standard: Welcome to Tidal Wave, an investment and research newsletter about software, internet, and media businesses. Please subscribe so I can meet Matt Levine one day. Spotify recently hosted their event for creators, Stream On. The company debuted a number of new features with a focus on the following:
March 15, 2023, 12:50 p.m.
