Mercedes Bent

  • Consumption v. Creation Breakthroughs and How AI Can Revive Consumer Social

    It’s been nearly a decade since a major social platform broke through — you can argue the last was either TikTok which bought Musically in 2017 (and then spent billions on acquisition), or Discord (200M MAU), founded in 2015.  But the time may be now. The newest wave of AI has created a perfect storm…

    mercebent

  • Consumer Products and the Utility v. Entertainment Tradeoff: Be Fun, Be Essential, or Be Nothing

    I constantly see really smart people launch consumer products, get little to no reception, and wonder why. There are a ton of possible culprits.  One common one I see is that their product lacked a captivating hook that chooses a side: to be singularly entertaining or provide extreme utility.  It is my strong belief that…

    mercebent

  • Omnichannel Social: How the Pandemic Transformed Social Products

    Social startups understand that consumers desire products where the memory of an experience is the product itself. Companies like Soulcycle, The Nudge, Museum of Ice Cream, Rosé Mansion and Drybar focus on delivering not just a service, but a memory. 15 months ago, I outlined my focus on startups who had excelled at building physical-first…

    mercebent