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My brain kept leaping to this analogy...

Chef : Software Engineer

2017 : 2010

Donaldson : Apple

Alcohol : iMessage

Food Hall : App Store

30% : 30%



My biggest takeway, too, was the amount you paid for rent was based on the percentage of sales.

Also of interest was the 20 - 30% of spending was done on the bar, which the person running the food court got, too. So, basically the Food hall is taking in 60% of the revenues.

Not a bad business model. Naturally, they are incentivized to make the individual stalls work as a business, so I imagine there's some negotiation that can go around for the price they charge....


>Alcohol : iMessage

What? Alcohol is high margin. iMessage has zero revenue and is a loss leader. Also, you can offer/sell any chat apps you want on the App Store, unlike with alcohol in Donaldson's food hall.


Yeah, that's true. I could have chosen a better example there. I was trying to pick a tech that Apple tended to prevent competition in back then. Perhaps Safari/Webkit would have been a better example.


iMessage is more like... seats or heating in the food hall.




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