In the latest episode of the Tech Strategy podcast, Jeffrey Towson delves into Microsoft’s use of bundles to launch Teams. And dethrone Slack. With Azure’s cloud services gaining market share and AI tools like Sales Copilot and GitHub Copilot driving productivity, Microsoft remains a tech powerhouse. As a digital strategy consultant, Towson highlights how Microsoft’s strategic moves are redefining the industry landscape.
In this podcast, digital strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson delves into the dynamics of Microsoft’s bundled offerings. When evaluating these bundles, several factors come into play. Microsoft strategically leverages competitive advantages to entrench rapidly.
BYD Auto is one of the most successful electric vehicle makers in China and the world. In this article, digital strategy consultant Jeff Towson explains how the company uses its innovation strategy to create competitive advantages in four key areas: batteries, motors, electronics, and software. He also discusses the challenges and opportunities that BYD Auto faces in the rapidly evolving EV market.
Expedia’s experience in China is a cautionary tale for any foreign company entering the market. The company made a number of mistakes, including failing to adapt to Chinese culture and underestimating the competition. However, there are also some lessons to be learned from Morgan Stanley, which has been successful in China.
I’ve been thinking about Luckin Coffee, which was a big story a few years ago in China. It was a digital upstart taking on giant Starbucks. It was Jack Ma’s “new retail” applied to retail coffee. It was a digital innovator. Blah, blah, blah. It was mostly a lot of hype. And the company crashed […]
In Part 1, I argued that Starbucks China most interesting competitor is not Luckin Coffee. It is HeyTea, an upscale Starbucks-type business focused on tea (something Chinese consumers really, really like). And to their credit, HeyTea appears to be mostly focusing not on digital innovation but on product development and continually thrilling their customers. Which […]
In 2009, Brian Acton and Jan Koum founded WhatsApp to ride the wave of mobile apps kicked off by the launch of the iPhone. The original purpose of WhatsApp was to put a status notification next to your name, to let people know “what’s up”. But the small team noticed three important things that would launch their […]
Take-Away 1: Hello bike-sharing is a marginally profitable, small services business. Its recent shift to ebikes (and subscriptions) is increasing its revenue and making it more defendable. But it is also changing the economics. Take-Away 2: Hello is trying to build a platform business model on its large user base. A marketplace for mobility (like […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses Huawei’s financial performance in 2019, as well as the recent fraud scandal at Luckin Coffee. He argues that Huawei’s strong financial performance is a sign of its resilience, and that the Luckin Coffee scandal is a reminder of the risks of investing in Chinese tech stocks. For example, he notes that Huawei’s revenue grew by 19% in 2019, despite the US government’s restrictions on its business.
Jeffrey Towson discusses what Ofo could have done to avoid its downfall. He argues that Ofo made a number of strategic mistakes, including burning through too much cash, expanding too quickly, and failing to innovate. Towson believes that if Ofo had taken a more conservative approach, it might still be in business today.