There was an interesting article in Insead Knowledge (Jason Davis and Vikas Aggarwal) about how innovation gets copied by imitators. I liked the question it posed: “In the game of digital innovation, imitators often outrace the original innovators…at the heart of this race is what we call the innovator’s imitation dilemma. This dilemma arises because […]
I’ve talked a lot about why KOLs and influencers are so important in a connected world. Live streaming and short video are currently the big focus of influencers, but this is a much larger phenomenon. So why is Baidu is selling iQiyi, China’s #2 video streaming platform? Consumers Are Networks It begins with this simple […]
This podcast is Alibaba’s 2020 earnings and the strategy implications. But it is really about how Alibaba is positioned as a “product / service + commerce infrastructure” business. And whether ByteDance can break into Chinese ecommerce with an “attention + mini programs strategy”. It’s really a cool and important question. You can listen to this […]
Kuaishou Technology went public in Hong Kong. From the IPO filing, the basic story is that Kuaishou does short videos and live streaming. It’s a video company. And these were the combined numbers reported at IPO: 305M average DAUs, in their apps and mini-programs in China. 769M average MAUs, in their apps and mini-programs in […]
Matthew Brennan has published: Attention Factory: The Story of TikTok and China’s ByteDance It’s a great read, with lots of interesting ideas about how to fight for attention. And how to manage information flows in a world overflowing with content and ideas. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts […]
I like Bytedance. I think they make great apps. Super engaging. With fantastic user interfaces. They are one of the most innovative mobile app companies on the planet. But they suck at internationalization. Their attempt to become China’s first international digital company has been a slow moving train wreck. Lots of us have been predicting […]
In this class, I talk about the role of the state as a key factor in certain industries and countries. This tends to be a fuzzy, uncomfortable aspect when it comes to analysis. But it is fairly common for government to act as both policeman and player. And it can often be easy to […]
In this class, I talk about the share of the consumer mind as a revenue competitive advantage. And how companies like WeChat and TikTok are changing this with digital tools. You can listen here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. Related podcasts and articles: Why Didi Needs Driver Switching Costs. Uber Too. (Jeff’s […]
I like audience builders as platform. They have interesting complexities and variations. They are more interesting than marketplaces and payment platforms. Plus, audience builder platforms are combining with e-commerce quite nicely. Spotify, TikTok, and China Literature are all audience builders I like. But they are really different, even though they all basically connect content creators […]
I recently went to the WeChat Open Talk meeting and founder Allen Zhang raised some questions that have really stuck with me. He talked about about the increasingly important role of information flows in daily life and who controls this. His talk is here but my basic take-away is the below question. How do you […]