Come for the memes, stay for the Thinkboi stuff

A round-up of my best Twitter threads

Like most people, my iPhone is overflowing with screenshots of dumb memes and hilarious tweets. I wanted to archive my favorite ones…which is why I launched SatPost, a weekly round-up of the funniest tweets and memes on a trending topic.

I also like getting my Thinkboi on and write some Twitter threads people enjoy. Here are some good ones:

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

A Netflix user will browse the app for 90 seconds and leave if they find nothing. Thumbnail artwork is actually NFLX's most effective lever to influence a viewer's choice. A user will look at one for only 1.8 seconds, so NFLX spends huge to optimize them. Here's a breakdown🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

IKEA is the world's largest furniture brand. With annual sales hitting ~$50B+, it's the King of "buy stuff you never planned to buy". Unsurprisingly, IKEA designs its stores with various psychological tricks to get you to spend more money. Here's are 12 of them 🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

ASML is the most important company you've never heard of. The $300B+ Dutch firm makes the machines that make semiconductors. Each one costs $150m and access to them are a huge geopolitical flashpoint. Here's a breakdown 🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

Microsoft just reached $2T, pushing Steve Ballmer's net worth to $80B. Interestingly: when Ballmer joined MSFT in 1980, he was employee #30 and received ZERO equity. By its IPO in 1986, he owned 8% of MSFT. How did Ballmer get that stake? A contract quirk. Here's the story🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

1/ Steve Jobs famously said innovation is "saying no to 1000 things" before you say yes. For more than a decade, Apple has used Pablo Picasso's Bull to drive home the lesson. Here's a breakdown 🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

Costco is the world's 3rd largest retailer by sales, notching $190B+ annually (behind Amazon, Walmart). The company is all about "value" and uses psychological hacks in its business model and store design to get shoppers to spend dough. Here are 14 of them 🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

Birkin Bags are the crown jewel in Hermès $170B+ luxury empire. One bag can cost ~$50k and the record sale is $500k. Why so pricey? Hermès has perfected the psychology of scarcity and demand (or as its CEO Axel Dumas describes it: “creating desire”). Here’s a breakdown🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

In 2004, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos met for a meal to discuss space. It was one of their few in-person interactions. That conversation perfectly captures the different approaches they've taken to space (and why SpaceX has pulled ahead of Blue Origin). Here's the story 🧵

Trung Phan 🇨🇦 @TrungTPhan

Yesterday, Bernard Arnault passed Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest person. Worth $193B, he has spent ~40 years building luxury giant LVMH. His success is described as a combination of "generational" vision with "Sun-Tzu" business tactics. Here's the story🧵