I made it onto John Oliver’s HBO show! Be careful what you wish for!
Earlier this week, Last Week Tonight ran a segment on subscription models, and they featured a 2018 interview with yours truly. I was talking about smart washing machines having the potential to detect when a new baby is in the family, which John called “unsettingly creepy.” Fair enough.
Honestly? I’m a fan, so getting roasted on HBO is an honor. It was yet another brilliant John Oliver rant: HP remotely bricking ink cartridges when trials expire, Amazon’s 15-option cancellation maze, monthly fees for car seat heaters, Taco Bell’s “Taco Lover’s Pass” (ie. the literal headline of someone’s obituary).
All jokes aside, it’s surreal to watch a topic like the Subscription Economy, something this community helped define and pioneer at Zuora, get the mainstream media spotlight. We went from a billing startup in 2008 to a topic of national conversation. It’s not everyday that a vision you came up with becomes such a pervasive part of daily life that it gets the full late-night satire treatment.
And for the record, all this stuff drives me nuts as well. I spent a whole chapter of Subscribed calling out shady subscription business practices, and I think “Click to Cancel” legislation is a no-brainer and needs to happen.
As the business world shifts through another massive evolution with AI and consumption models, seeing our early days featured on HBO is a great reminder: When you build something that genuinely changes the landscape, people take notice. (Even if it means getting poked fun at on national TV.)
If you haven’t seen the segment yet, check it out!
Also, HBO is a great subscription service. I highly recommend it.
