Free!

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Without further ado:

Meet Ilya Pozin:

Ilya is described as an entrepreneur, investor, and writer by Google, but I personally refer to him as the master of Free!

Ilya's notable achievement was building and selling the free ad-supported streaming television service, Pluto TV. This platform offers television programming for free, generating revenue through frequent advertisements. Pluto TV has formed partnerships with 110 content partners and features 250 entirely free channels. It is essentially a service that streams those random, peculiar TV shows that appear when you turn on your smart TV.

Interestingly, many people simply want access to TV content without much concern for the specific programming. Advertisers are willing to pay for a platform that captures viewers' attention, and as we will delve into further, the concept of Free! leads people to behave in irrational ways.

While you may initially question or be skeptical about providing something for free, assuming it cannot be profitable, Ilya easily proves such doubts wrong. In 2019, he sold Pluto TV to ViacomCBS for an impressive $340 million.

Recently, the master of Free! has made headlines again.

Ilya is the mastermind behind Telly, which you can find at https://www.freetelly.com/.

Telly takes the concept of free! to another level by offering a 55-inch TV entirely for free!

“but G, TANSTAAFL! there ain't no such thing as a free lunch!"

And that holds true, friend. You pay for the free telly with your attention. The TV comes with a second screen that displays ads as long as you have the TV turned on.

They have recently partnered with DirecTV Stream and attracted 100,000 customers within the first 36 hours.

Ilya's journey has taken him from providing free TV to now providing free TVs.

If you're anything like me, you've either already visited the website and entered your information, or you're seriously considering it for your next TV. Ilya is clever; he leverages both Moore's Law and the concept of the cost of zero cost, as explained by Duke University behavioral economics professor Daniel Ariely in his book "Predictably Irrational." It was while reading this book that I found inspiration for this article.

I came across this book after striking up a conversation with a random guy in a coffee shop during a visit to Nashville a few weekends ago. After chatting with him for a while, I was convinced of both his credibility as a discerning reader and the intriguing concept of the book itself. This book delves deep into the mind of consumers and challenges the assumption made by economics that we are rational beings.

Free! often triggers irrational behavior, as highlighted by the chapter subtitled "Why We Often Pay Too Much When We Pay Nothing." Daniel, like another renowned Daniel (Kahneman), is a master of experiments aimed at unraveling the mysteries of the invisible hand and understanding why we make certain economic decisions.

In one particular experiment, a table was set up in a large public building, offering two options: a Lindt Truffle for 15 cents and a Hershey's Kiss for 1 cent. The truffle is clearly the superior and more valuable choice. Initially, 73% of customers chose the truffle, while 27% opted for the kiss, willingly paying the extra 14 cents for the higher quality chocolate. Then, the offer was altered. The price of the truffle remained at 15 cents, but the kisses were now offered for free. As a result, 69% (a significant increase from the previous 27%) chose the free kiss, while only 31% selected the Lindt Truffle. The kiss being free! flipped the results even though it was listed at just 1 cent before…irrational behavior.

Yes, it's true that the $10 gift card is free, but if you analyze it critically, choosing the $20 gift card for $7 gives you a total value of $13 in gift card funds, which is more advantageous than the $10 option.

Ilya is offering a free TV, but can we truly consider it "Free"? It's free in the same way that social media is free – you pay with your attention. Ilya is providing advertisers with a billboard in every American home, one that can be easily modified and awarded to the highest bidder. It's a brilliant strategy. Moreover, many people probably don't even need this TV in the first place.

This prompts further inquiry as to whether Ilya is also playing the advertisers themselves. I genuinely believe that hardly anyone truly watches TV ads anymore. Instead, ads play in the background while viewers take the opportunity to check their phones or engage with social media. Many who are likely to take action in purchasing a product are concentrated on these digital platforms and buy directly from their phone. Nevertheless, I am intrigued to follow Telly, and I wouldn't be surprised if this venture leads Ilya to yet another significant exit.

It's important to be cautious of "free" offerings, as they often come with trade-offs. There might be a better deal, a clearer mindset, a healthier body, or a less cluttered home if we can resist the allure of the free option.

Freedom ain’t Free!

I genuinely enjoy writing these articles, and I hope you found this thought-provoking and gained a deeper appreciation for the Socrates quote, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

G