​Following up on my previous post, we got a nice surprise yesterday in regard to the topic of live streaming and discovery. Twitter’s TV apps have dropped so I thought some might like to see what the experience is like. This is from our Fire TV device at home; I downloaded the app last night and watched their sports show The Rally:

​In looking at the pictures in the Tweet in order you have the home screen on the left and scrolling down brings various Vine and Periscope content into the mix as well as Moments. The second picture (top right) is the show they recently inked a deal with called The Rally in full-screen (this is on our 55 inch TV and the picture was high-quality). I'll also say this show totally gives SportsCenter a run for its money; it's good. Then the third picture (bottom right) is where you can click on the right-hand arrow on the remote and go from the full-screen picture to having the show playing while incorporating the Twitter feed on the right. You can see on the first picture the tile also for Bloomberg, so it's probably safe to assume that this home screen will continue to fill with tiles of shows and leagues they sign on.
 
The football game tonight is obviously the big attention-getter, but these TV apps are going to bring a lot of content into play going forward. I imagine we'll see plenty of iterations that make it even better, but this is an encouraging first step in my opinion. Because of the live nature of the content Twitter is targeting (sports in particular) and the fact that you are not signed in to your Twitter account on the TV app (anyone can use it, you don't even need to have a Twitter account) Twitter has basically become a network on-demand Internet TV station that can advertise like any other during any sports event and we all know how lucrative that market can be, particularly with the data advertisers can glean via Internet distribution. While Twitter's MAU number of 313 million is nice (and also heavily criticized), this app really opens up that total audience opportunity and probably helps modestly grow that MAU number over time assuming they execute. As the media space continues to morph in the coming years thanks to the Internet and its profound impact on content distribution, there appears to be quite a bit of potential with offerings like these. It's great for consumers and could be quite nice for us investors as well.

​One of the big questions right now on Twitter users’ (and investors’) minds is in regard to their big NFL debut on Thursday night and specifically how we are going to actually be able to find where the game is on Twitter. And it’s a good question too. Here's a Tweet from CFO Anthony Noto today:

Discovery is going to be key to Twitter's success over the long-haul with its live streaming effort. The last thing management needs to do is play right into the age-old argument that Twitter is tough to use. But it's also important to remember that this is the first game, the first big event that they're promoting of ten all season. Everything to this point has been test and learn with a priority on video quality and timeline curation.  So this one game is not make or break, but it's crucial they learn everything they can from every game. Based on what we know I can see mobile discovery going one of a few different ways (and hey, possibly more):
​

• They use Moments at the bottom of the mobile screen and have it in one of the current tabs at the top.
• They use Moments at the bottom of the mobile screen and add a tab at the top for all #GoLive stuff.
• They actually add a #GoLive button somewhere that is dedicated solely to live streaming content. (I'm going to go ahead and say I hope this is what we ultimately see and I know a lot of you feel this way too.)

My concern is that this stuff needs to be in-your-face obvious for users to find so I’d be more inclined to go with option #3. I can absolutely see a #GoLive button somewhere on the screen that then takes you to a screen with all of their live streaming content nicely organized. It would be sweet and I can only hope that someday we see it.

Based on Noto’s Tweet however it appears that Moments is indeed going to be the vehicle for delivery, at least in the beginning. I do at least understand their wanting to use Moments as a way to do this. It helps the cause and brings more people to it. It utilizes real estate that's already there and designed. And it's probably a pretty easy win for progress on the discovery front for #GoLive content, at least in the near term. As a power Twitter user I do check Moments daily, but I’ll also be the first to admit that it’s totally hit or miss for me content-wise.

The process seems simple enough in that we'd go to Moments and find the game somewhere. But here’s where they could screw things up if they aren’t careful. What if someone goes to Moments and the game isn’t the first thing showing on their screen? Now in theory this shouldn’t be a problem because the first time you check Moments when you first open the Twitter app it goes to the “Today” tab which is an obvious place to put the headline to the game on Thursday (and they should have that headlining that tab all day too). But maybe this is only obvious to me. Maybe they don't even put it on the "Today" tab (and I'd be on record with disagreeing with that move.) But if you go to Moments and swipe a few tabs over then go check your email (or another app) and then go back to Twitter later in the day it’s going to be on the last tab you were on in Moments before you checked your email or whatever app. And if enough time has gone by during the day between Twitter visits, you may not have that in-your-face notice that the game is going on. Not good. Now with this said, I'm pretty sure they're going to hammer the timeline with the game as well and it will be trending for the evening.

Adding a #GoLive tab at the top in Moments could solve a lot of problems. We'd go to Moments and then swipe to the #GoLive tab at the top and then scroll down the screen to see all of the live offerings. But organization is going to be crucial because live streaming on Twitter isn’t just about the NFL. They've got a lot of different stuff coming in sports, finance and other news and entertainment. Whatever they do one of the biggest mistakes they can make as I see it is to have these live streams scattered all over the place with no rhyme or reason. They MUST ultimately live in one location. It seems obvious enough, but hey, I don’t work there so I’m just spitballing here.

There has been a lot of testing leading up to this game on Thursday and I’m excited to see where they stand at this point in the live streaming strategy. I do not expect them to have it all figured out right out of the gate but I do know they've built a great experience thus far and I'll be watching. One of the big advantages to having these ten games is that they can learn, incorporate feedback and iterate. And if it’s one thing I’ve noticed generally speaking with Jack and Adam, they do care what we think and listen to users in trying to make the platform better. These are exciting times for Twitter users and investors, but remember this is one more step forward on Thursday and not the finish line.

Finding the best businesses just comes down to knowing what you’re looking for and then identifying the ones that meet most of if not all of your criteria. Here’s an entry level framework I use to try to determine if a business is worth investing in. Understand this is the first step, not the last, and to be sure they don't all carry equal weighting. But if you can come up with some compelling answers to these questions it can help get you on your way. Try taking one of your favorite current holdings and running it through. You're bound to learn something that will make you a better investor.

• Do you understand the business and how it makes money?
• Is there a large and/or growing market opportunity? What's its position in that market?
• Are there switching costs?
• Are there network effects?
• Are there any barriers to entry?
• Is there any pricing power?
• What is its competitive advantage?
• Is it growing revenue? Profitable? Cash flow positive? State of the balance sheet?
• Is there a short-term catalyst or long-term trend in play?
• Is management capable of leading this business? Do they own any of it?
• Is the price fair? Does it maximize the opportunity to beat the market over the next 3-5 years?