Ads Not Just For The Poor; European Ad Tech Is Popular With Buyers; You're Invited To Our Drinks
This is the FirstPartyCapital weekly newsletter. It covers news and updates about the FirstPartyCapital fund and its portfolio companies.
Ads Not For The Poor, As Reality Bites For Netflix's Ultra Sub Model
Netflix announced this week that it lost nearly 200,000 users in the quarter and warned Wall Street that it is likely to shed 2 million more subscribers by year end. The stock is down 40%.
It's official: Netflix has hit “peak subscription”. The company is now realising that the majority of the world cannot afford a Netflix sub.
In the quarterly earnings call, Reed Hastings announced that the company is working on an ad funded model. What that looks like is anyone's educated guess.
This flies in the face of the subscription mullahs who bleat that users hate ads, preferring instead to pay for an ad-free experience. The insulting mantra we keep hearing: advertising is for the poor.
Well that proved to be total BS. The ad-funded model is back, people.
Netflix's emergence on the CTV stage is going to accelerate the move to addressable TV advertising. It does mean we will have yet another oversized walled garden in the TV channel. But that’s ok.
There has never been a better time to build aggregation, targeting and measurement technology for the $300 billion global TV ad market.
FirstPartyCapital is looking forward to seeing Netflix enter the ad market - and the effect it will have on an evolving TV ad tech landscape. Welcome to the big show, Reed and team.
European Ad Tech Is Popular With Strategic Buyers
European ad tech is in popular demand. And it's not because it is cheap - enabling a value arbitrage versus more expensive US equivalents.
Ad tech startups in Europe have had to build technology that not only addresses an aggressive privacy legislative framework but also remain bullet proof against the ever litigious PACs (privacy ambulance chasers).
We are now seeing a new wave of privacy-first madtech emerging from Europe. This Digiday piece talks about the healthy M&A space in Europe - and why it is such a hot market right now.
“In the last six months alone, M&A deals across Europe have chalked up over $4 billion, of which 15 were over $50 million, according to specialist venture fund First Party Capital. The growing importance of first-party data, particularly when owned by publishers, will only intensify interest in companies that keep it secure and private as certain aspects of it are shared.”
It’s no wonder M&A is hot here right now. There is so much innovation in MadTech outside the US. FirstPartyCapital continues to invest in the best of these companies - and we are excited to bring them to you, dear reader.
Join Us At Our Monthly Drinks
We will be hosting a monthly drinks event, starting on Thursday, 28th April. The event will take place after New Video Frontiers. If you are interested in attending and rubbing shoulders with the great and good of ad tech please sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/firstpartycapital-happy-hour-tickets-324084243697.
Looking forward to seeing you next week.