Thoughts On Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report
Each year since 1995, investor, analyst, and icon Mary Meeker releases her Internet Trends report. It’s heralded as one of the most important overviews of the digital world, serves as a snapshot of where things stand, and provides robust information about what to expect next.
Put plainly, it’s a 333 slide deck. You can review it for yourself here. This is the first of several times that I will tell you that while it is long, it is 100% worth your time. I would say I’ve been aware of the report for about 3 years, and this is the first time I decided to read it for myself. It moves quickly and, though dense, is broken into sections that present a clear through line. It’s the most easily digestible 333 slides you’ve ever seen.
After taking a look for myself, and reading some other opinions about the report, here are what I think are the main takeaways.
Growth is strong, but slowing
51% of people are now online. That’s up from 24% in 2009, and of course means that more than half of the world uses the internet. As that number rises though, the potential rate of growth slows. Throughout Meeker’s slides, one can see this trend manifesting itself. While the internet and the businesses it powers are still growing steadily, you have to work harder to find the exponential…
