Contrary Research Rundown #2
Research Rundown
Welcome to Contrary Research! Let's dive right in to some of the new things we shared this week, the most popular work in our research library, and the interesting company stories we've been enjoying.
Each company's story evolves all the time. New teams build new products, and work to attract new customers. One of the fun parts of working to tell the stories of private companies is the detective work that comes with better understanding the details behind how these companies are changing. We shared a thread on some of the research resources we use most often to understand the private companies we write about. For professional and hobbyist private company researchers, dig in!
Speaking of a rapidly evolving company story; we had the chance to share a thread on Replit's journey to 10M+ users that we covered more fully in our light memo. As recently as this month, Replit released AI Mode, and their flagship feature for AI Mode: GhostWriter. AI pair programmers aren't new, with existing tools out there like GitHub's Copilot or Amazon's CodeWhisperer. But early users are saying GhostWriter is 2-3x faster than existing tools.
Finally, we shared a thread on the way Epic Games is taking on behemoths like Apple and Steam in their seemingly endless list of battles; all while growing three different products. As the gaming market heats up, you're seeing big players come together. Microsoft can publish, but they needed Activision's IP to grow into cloud gaming. The current battleground is for distribution, with platforms like Apple's App Store and Steam's game store taking 30% cuts. Epic Games has some wins and some losses, but the battle in gaming is far from over.
This week we saw a lot of interest in the companies we've covered, but a few shot to the top as people dug into company stories across gaming, design, and security. See our full collection of reports here.
Discord: As more content, communication, and relationships move online, people struggle to find a seamless way to interact. Modern communication tools can be limiting, especially during social experiences like gaming. Discord is built around enabling users to create digital communities around their passions. Read the full piece here.
Snyk: Over 67% of developers say they believe they've shipped code with security vulnerabilities, and that problem is only getting worse as the software development lifecycle gets faster and faster. Snyk is a developer-focused cybersecurity company specializing in automatically fixing code vulnerabilities. Read the full piece here.
Canva: Design has become an increasingly important part of our digital experiences. Canva's platform democratizes access to high quality design, and enables creators without professional design experience to easily create their own graphic designs, videos, or presentations. Read the full piece here.
Turner Novak laid out the details around Canva's newest product announcements, and why they might be one of the most significant product announcements ever. Digital images are front and center in the way people consume information online, and Canva is expanding to address more and more of that visual design surface area. You can see Turner's deep dive alongside other great resources, and our own light memo, here.
Jeff Burke shared an overview of Anduril's product vision and the dynamics driving the defense industry, from the consolidation of defense contractors to the changing landscape for global combat. You can see Jeff's deep dive alongside other great resources, and our own light memo, here.
What's going on in the Creator Economy? Adam Ryan lays out the evolution of companies like Substack, Maven, Cameo, and Patreon as they work to balance audience attention with the intention to pay for creator's products. Already, companies like Maven are pivoting away from focusing on creators to serving experts.
Muji @ Hhhypergrowth shared a deep dive on the modern data stack (paywalled). When we wrote our Databricks vs. Snowflake deep dive, Muji was a wealth of perspective, having built some of these data stacks himself.
Contrary Research Fellowship
At Contrary Research our vision is to cover hundreds of companies. We can't do it alone, nor would we want to. We focus on bringing together a variety of different perspectives.
That's why we're opening applications for our Research Fellowship. In the past we've worked with software engineers, product managers, consultants, and more. If you're interested in researching and writing about tech companies, apply here!