I’ve discussed Amazon’s basic business model in an article and podcast. What Amazon Should Copy from Alibaba and Pinduoduo (Tech Strategy – Podcast 124) Why I Really Like Amazon’s Strategy, Despite the Crap Consumer Experience (US-Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Article) And I basically argued that I look for 3 things in this type of […]
This week’s podcast is about Dingdong, a specialty ecommerce player in China focused on fresh groceries. It has gone public while still operating profit negative – but brings to mind a similar situation with Meituan at IPO. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. —–— Related articles: Should Vipshop Build a Logistics […]
When you look for big competitive advantages on the cost side, it is usually about economies of scale – when a company with a larger volume has a lower per unit cost. Or, to be more precise, when a company has… …lower per unit costs based on a higher volume of production or throughput being […]
The Didi financials are finally out. And they are an interesting mix of good and bad. Didi has market dominance and tech leadership in the largest market for shared mobility. But it is also chronically unprofitable. For investors, this could be a fantastic opportunity. Because Didi’s ongoing losses will scare off investors and likely lower […]
This week’s podcast is about the US-China DTC retailer Shein, which has rocketed upwards in the past months. Analysts are starting to pay close attention – but consumers have been noticing this company for a while. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. The mentioned article by Packy McCormick and Matthew Brennan […]
Take-Away 1: Chinese ecommerce company Shein is reaching Amazon-level downloads in the US. With similar numbers reported in other countries. And possibly 100% annual revenue growth, reaching $10B in 2020. Something important is going on in US-China ecommerce. Take-Away 2: With reports of +1,000 new products being added to Shein every day, there is a […]
This week’s podcast is about the Coupang of South Korea. An interesting case of local dominance (geographic) based initially on competitive advantages on the cost side. But potentially also on the demand side. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. The advantages for Coupang I mentioned are: Production Cost Advantage: Location […]
This week’s podcast is more on the well-known 7 Powers framework by Hamilton Helmer. I go through three of his 7 powers. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. His fundamental equation of value is: Value = M0*g*s*m = market scale * power M0 is Market at time zero. g […]
In this week’s lecture / podcast, I talked about how online retailers like early JD compete on different factors than marketplace platforms like Alibaba. JD vs. Alibaba: How Retailers and Marketplace Platforms Compete and Evolve in China (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 18) Specifically, I said: Alibaba and marketplace platforms compete on: Cost and […]