Value Capture · Data businesses · The five decisions
Value goes where the work is. Most data businesses are built as if it went to the data.
I write about the hidden economics of data businesses: who ends up with the money, why, and the five decisions that settle it before any negotiation begins.
The book
Value Capture: The Hidden Economics of Data Businesses. A book for the people who own, price, sell and buy data businesses. Out in 2027. Read more
Start here
If you read one essay first, read this.
28 September 2026 · 4 min read
Foursquare did the work. The buyer's decision sat one link further on.
Foursquare did its own enrichment for a decade. The deal shows what that work was worth one step short of the buyer's decision.
Read this first →
Latest
More from the writing
16 September 2026 · 8 min read
The identifier on loan
rakeunder-extractionthe-boundary
16 May 2026 · 6 min read
The rake is decided before the negotiation begins
rake
25 February 2026 · 4 min read
Wrap is the architecture
configuration
11 February 2026 · 3 min read
In advertising, wrap is the product
configuration
The register
Data monetisation deals, read from the data owner’s seat.
Data licensing agreements, partnerships and acquisitions, classified by where the value goes.
100 deals · 33 reviewed · updated
Latest reviewed
Simbe launches quarterly retail benchmark from billions of shelf images and store observations
Simbe Robotics
Bank of America launches Payments Insights using proprietary treasury data for CashPro clients
Bank of America
Reddit weighs ending $60M/year Google AI training licence as renewal negotiations stall
Reddit · Google · OpenAI
Newsletter
Each essay, by email, as it is published.
For operators, boards and investors who have to decide where value goes before the dust settles.
Speaking & teaching
Where the thinking gets tested.
Keynotes at Forbes, Richmond, Confartigianato and Confcooperative; guest lectures at Bologna Business School, LUISS and Università Cattolica.
See the rooms →