1. Destroy the Village. 2. Save it.

[Commentary] Venture capitalists believe that, with the hard work of laying those digital pipes now behind us, there’s an enormous opportunity waiting for those who can figure out how to create an endless stream of content to flow through them.

Ken Lerer compares it to the content revolution he watched unfold in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Cable television, at first little more than a punch line to the gatekeepers of the big three broadcast TV networks, had by this time built out its distribution pipes across the country. Soon, ABC, CBS and NBC were joined by dozens, then hundreds, of new channels.

The need for content exploded. New channels -- TNT, TBS, Bravo, National Geographic Channel and hundreds of others -- flowed into the vacuum, satisfying niche audiences and generating billions of dollars in profits.