In this class, Jeffrey Towson discusses how companies can develop digital superpowers to gain a competitive advantage. He compares and contrasts four companies in Asia that have successfully used digital technology to transform their businesses: Lazada, Grab, Luckin Coffee, and Hellobike. Towson argues that digital superpowers can be used to dramatically improve the user experience, enable a platform business model, create network effects, or provide other competitive advantages.
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the competition between Grab, GoJek, and Lazada in the Southeast Asian services market. He identifies the most important factors for success in this market, including consumer engagement, merchant engagement, and platform business models. For example, Grab has been successful in capturing a large share of the consumer mind by offering a wide range of services, including ride-hailing, food delivery, and payments.
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses whether Baidu can become the new AT&T in China. He considers factors such as Baidu’s strengths in search and artificial intelligence, as well as the challenges it faces from rivals like Alibaba and Tencent. For example, Baidu has a strong foothold in the Chinese search market, but it faces competition from Alibaba in the e-commerce market and Tencent in the social media market.
Didi and Uber are two of the largest ride-hailing platforms in the world. However, they are facing increasing competition from other companies. In order to maintain their market share, these companies need to make it difficult for drivers to switch to other platforms. One way to do this is to create high driver switching costs.
The Chinese services market is a hotly contested space, with Meituan, Ctrip, and Alibaba all vying for market share. In this episode of Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, Jeffrey Towson discusses the factors that will determine which company wins in this space. He talks about the importance of bundling services, network effects, and switching costs.
Zoom is a video communications company that has seen explosive growth in recent years. In this episode of Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, Jeffrey Towson discusses the factors that contributed to Zoom’s success. He talks about the company’s early focus on usability, its ability to scale quickly, and its strong marketing campaign.
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 […]
Jeffrey Towson, a China tech expert, believes that TikTok’s success is due to its addictiveness, ease of use, and highly shareable content. He also credits the app’s ability to tap into China’s growing digital consumer network.
In this podcast episode of Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, Jeffrey Towson discusses the competitive advantages of JD and Alibaba, two of the largest retailers in China. He argues that JD’s competitive advantages include its strong logistics network and its focus on customer service, while Alibaba’s competitive advantages include its large user base and its ability to connect buyers and sellers.
SF Express, YTO, and the other China express delivery majors have been racing to go public. Faced with shrinking profits and mounting competitive threats, the dream of being the “FedEx of China” is quickly morphing into an arms race in capital and capabilities. Here’s my take on what is going on and what to expect. […]