Much of our discussion about digital platforms (Alibaba, Tencent, etc.) has been about their business models. And all their strengths, which are formidable. But I haven’t talked much about the experiences of the user groups on these platforms. What does this mean for merchants and brands selling on Alibaba? For restaurants on Meituan? For content […]
Two topics for Today’s Update / Lesson. Tencent Quarterly Results Are Awesome, Yet Again It’s almost boring how these digital giants keep putting up fantastic numbers. Numbers that any other business would dream of. Most businesses are long, hard slogs where you struggle and struggle. Margins are usually small. And growth is difficult and expensive. […]
In this class, I talk about the crazy collision of Ctrip, Meituan and Alibaba in services in China, particularly in hotels. You can listen here or at iTunes and Himalaya. How do Ctrip and Meituan compare in the following aspects? Bundling of services The Assets of a Marketplace Platform: Users, Activity and Data Network Effect […]
In this class, we discuss Chinese bike-sharing company Ofo. And their spectacular rise and fall. You can listen here or at iTunes here. The exercise for this class is: What should Ofo have done? 1) Partner with a major digital platform ASAP. No matter what it takes. 2) Copy Hellobike. Avoid the competition. Go to […]
Alibaba is confusing. The company just keeps getting bigger and more complicated. There is really nothing like it in other countries. For example, most e-commerce sites don’t own movie studios and soccer clubs. And now we are seeing the emergence of new retail, which is a dramatic change in Alibaba (and other Chinese e-commerce platforms). […]
Since visiting Meituan headquarters, I’ve written a quite a lot about the company (see Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3). And Meituan’s world is kind of fascinating right now. They have gone public. Awesome. Congratulations. A well-funded war has been launched against them by Ele.me (i.e., Alibaba) in food delivery. Ouch. Meituan and several […]
Kai-Fu Lee has released a new book titled AI Superpowers. It broadly compares artificial intelligence in China and the USA and it’s getting a lot of press. I was fortunate to hear him present part of his book at an Amcham event in Beijing. The book doesn’t go into AI or business questions too deeply. […]
This is Part 3 on my visit to the Meituan-Dianping headquarters in Beijing. Part 1 was my main take-aways. Part 2 was what I think people are getting wrong about Meituan. “Local services” has been a hot topic this year. And we have seen big local services moves by many of China’s digital giants. Tencent-backed […]