Why We Like Clubhouse

Clubhouse's $100M Series B and explosive popularity sparked debate about the future of social audio. This analysis examines what Clubhouse represents in the broader evolution of media — and why the format matters more than the app itself.

It’s the latest plot twist in the unfolding story of media’s evolution In the weeks since late January when it was announced that Clubhouse had raised a $IOOM Series B, there has been a flurry of news articles, discussions, and debates about the future of the app. Clubhouse has, according to the New York Times, “exploded with popularity,” as weekly users grew to ~10M within a year of launch. For those who aren't familiar, Clubhouse is a mobile app that the Guardian described as "part talkback radio, part conference call, part Houseparty" (TechNexus is an investor in Clubhouse via Podfund ). Clubhouse enables large numbers of users to meet-up to host, listen to, or join conversations in "rooms" on virtually any subject. There are no pictures or text—it is wholly audio. That's part of the intrigue. Evolution of Media Many of the discussions about Clubhouse have occurred on the app itself, as rooms of people debate the value proposition, the nuances of the experience, the risk of hateful and misleading speech, and the relative merits of a bevy of competitors entering the market with similar offerings. Discussions have also centered on what apps like these portend for the future of media: "Will Clubhouse displace radio?" "Will Clubhouse eclipse podcasting?" "Does Clubhouse threaten Facebook?" The future of media has been a topic of discussion since, well, the beginning of media. Throughout history, media has been continuously re-shaped as technology has unlocked new capabilities. Spoken word content was augmented by print; print by radio; radio by film; silent film by "talkies;" film by television; analog media by digital, and so forth—with augmentation being enabled each time by a new technology. I use the word "augment" because new technologies did not generally lead to the replacement of previous forms of media, but enhanced the media macrocosm. Video didn't kill the radio star. The way to think about technology's influence on media is in three dimensions. First, new

By Andy Annacone at TechNexus Venture Collaborative