Every year, Benedict Evans publishes a presentation about the "big macro tech trends" impacting the global economy. They are always excellent and I usually share them here on the blog. It's also becoming harder and harder to differentiate tech trends from the rest of the economy, and so in many ways this is just a presentation about important macro trends.

In this year's presentation, he focuses on the "unbundling" of retail, ecommerce, advertising and TV; China and the end of the American internet; and a few other timely topics. To view the presentation, click here. Benedict also delivered this same presentation at a recent event by Protocol and Nasdaq (video link) in case you'd prefer to consume the content that way.

I was both surprised and saddened to learn about the death of Tony Hsieh this weekend. Forty-six years old is far too young.

Though best known as a pioneer of e-commerce (he was previously CEO of Zappos) and for his brilliant/wacky management ideas, Tony was also a city builder, particularly in Las Vegas.

Here's an excerpt from a recent WSJ article:

In Las Vegas, Mr. Hsieh became beloved locally for investing $350 million into revitalizing part of the city’s downtown including real estate, restaurants, retail and a tech startup fund starting in 2012. His vision included the development Container Park, a quirky shopping and entertainment center where retailers operate in converted shipping containers. Visitors are greeted by a giant sculpture of a praying mantis that shoots fire.

But perhaps more importantly, everything I have read this weekend about Tony describes him as a good human being with a great sense of humor and a commitment to "delivering happiness."

Here's another excerpt from the same article:

Every year, Benedict Evans publishes a presentation about the "big macro tech trends" impacting the global economy. They are always excellent and I usually share them here on the blog. It's also becoming harder and harder to differentiate tech trends from the rest of the economy, and so in many ways this is just a presentation about important macro trends.

In this year's presentation, he focuses on the "unbundling" of retail, ecommerce, advertising and TV; China and the end of the American internet; and a few other timely topics. To view the presentation, click here. Benedict also delivered this same presentation at a recent event by Protocol and Nasdaq (video link) in case you'd prefer to consume the content that way.

I was both surprised and saddened to learn about the death of Tony Hsieh this weekend. Forty-six years old is far too young.

Though best known as a pioneer of e-commerce (he was previously CEO of Zappos) and for his brilliant/wacky management ideas, Tony was also a city builder, particularly in Las Vegas.

Here's an excerpt from a recent WSJ article:

In Las Vegas, Mr. Hsieh became beloved locally for investing $350 million into revitalizing part of the city’s downtown including real estate, restaurants, retail and a tech startup fund starting in 2012. His vision included the development Container Park, a quirky shopping and entertainment center where retailers operate in converted shipping containers. Visitors are greeted by a giant sculpture of a praying mantis that shoots fire.

But perhaps more importantly, everything I have read this weekend about Tony describes him as a good human being with a great sense of humor and a commitment to "delivering happiness."

Here's another excerpt from the same article: