In Part 1, I detailed two examples of how AI-powered services are going to be superior to digital platforms (in some cases). They were: Uber vs. Robotaxis. Autonomous driving as a service is going to mostly replace ride-sharing platforms. Google Search vs. Neema. ChatGPT and other LLM content creation services are creating alternate and sometimes […]
Key concepts for this article: The Brutal Economics of Digital / Information Audience-Builder Platforms *** ChatGPT and large language models (LLM) have everyone talking. The ChatGPT prototype launched on November 30 is stunning. ChatGPT, which stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, is basically a superpowered chatbot built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 suite of large language […]
If we look at Microsoft’s business lines, we can see 7-8 significant businesses. It’s a big company. But I think it’s mostly about 4 particularly dominant businesses. They are: Azure, which is part of a global cloud oligopoly (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). Windows, which has long been a global operating system monopoly. Office, which is […]
Years ago, I started mapping out the evolution of Alibaba with pictures. I was having a hard time keeping all the moving parts in mind. And I was becoming more and more convinced that digital company development is path dependent. What comes next depends on what just happened. Microsoft is only capable of its current […]
I’ve been looking a lot at Microsoft. It’s a really compelling digital business model. Like stunningly powerful. But it’s pretty confusing. Microsoft has an endless list of products and services. And so many user groups (consumers, enterprises, SMEs, developers, etc.). And, of course, so many types of revenue. For example, here are Microsoft’s major revenue […]
This week’s podcast is about Elon Musk’s take-over and turn-around of Twitter. Lots of cool lessons in what he has done in the first 3 weeks. You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts. Here is the link to the Asia Tech Tour. Here […]
In Part 1, I argued that Twitter 1.0 is about supercharging operating performance. That’s what I expect to happen in the 6 months. And it looks to me like Elon is making big changes in the Digital Operating Basics. Specifically, DOB1, DOB2, DOB5, DOB6, and DOB7. See Part 1 for details. I do like that this […]
This week’s podcast is about cloud business models. It’s a complicated and evolving subject. But I am trying to identify good cloud business models that aren’t obvious (like AWS, Azure and Google Cloud). Alibaba Cloud and Snowflake are examples. You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available […]
I wrote about Alibaba’s 5 growth strategies under “Domestic Consumption”. But CEO Daniel Zhang has also outlined 5 growth strategies for Alibaba Cloud. And their cloud business is what everyone has been speculating about. It’s the most exciting growth opportunity but it also has the greatest uncertainty. I’ve argued Alibaba is 100% in the platform […]
This week’s podcast is about Steam and Garena, which are good examples of successful specialty gaming business models. These are niche businesses that have thrived in the shadow of the giants. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes and Google Podcasts. Here are my criteria for specialty ecommerce businesses. Is the company sufficiently differentiated in […]