This week’s podcast is about Barriers to Entry, which is one of my 6 levels of competition. You can listen to this podcast here or …Read More »

In Part 1, I detailed some of the basics of SenseTime, China’s leading computer vision company. I argued it was basically a linear business model, …Read More »

In Part 1, I discussed Snowflake and its compelling business model for a “data ecosystem”. I argued it was a collaboration (CCS) platform based on …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about SenseTime, which is a leader in computer vision in China / Asia. It’s a fascinating company for looking at the …Read More »

In Part 1, I detailed some of the basics of SenseTime, China’s leading computer vision company. And I argued it was basically a linear business …Read More »

Chinese computer vision company SenseTime has finally gone public. This was after years of setback after setback, including being placed on the US Treasury Department’s …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about my discussion with Abel Deng, the CEO of Huawei Thailand. And about how the next generation of digital infrastructure is …Read More »

Last week, I went to the Huawei headquarters in Bangkok and interviewed Thailand CEO Abel Deng. It was a fascinating discussion and it really got …Read More »

I have broken moats and structural advantages into three levels: Competitive Fortresses. This is the highest level and quite rare. The symbol I use is …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Snowflake and Confluent. But the main topic is how to think about coordination, collaboration and standardization (CCS) platform business models. …Read More »

I recently wrote quite a bit about Snowflake – and their strategy for building a “data ecosystem”. It’s a big idea and my explanation was …Read More »

In Part 1, I laid out how to think about physical networks. For logistics, that means lots of warehouses and trucks doing various routes between …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about the external view and the importance of base rates. Berkshire-invested Kroger supermarkets is a good example of a company that …Read More »

Ok. Let me see if I can impress you today. In Part 1, I wrote about ANE Logistics, an interesting Chinese company. But I really …Read More »

Logistics in China / Asia has been on my short list for a long time. There is a lot to like about this space. Logistics …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about ANE Logistics, which is a compelling business model for digitizing and consolidating less than truckload logistics in China. You can …Read More »

So much of the discussion about enterprise software and services is about the giants who dominate. Think Microsoft, Salesforce, etc. But what about the smaller, …Read More »

In Part 2, I laid out the story of Stone Company, a Brazilian digital native that is building out payment, financial and enterprise services for …Read More »

This week’s podcast is Brazilian Stone Company (STNE), the Berkshire Hathaway-invested payment platform that has fallen in share price by +80%. You can listen to …Read More »

Stone Co is a Brazilian company that is attempting to build a new payment platform in a country with +5,000 cities. And they are targeting …Read More »

Stone Company in Brazil is a really interesting contrast to Ant Financial in China. And to Square in the USA. All three companies are trying …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about how to assess specialty companies within enterprise software and services. And about Tuya, which an interesting example of a specialty …Read More »

This is the big hole in everything I have laid out over the past +700 articles and +100 podcasts. How do you identify cultures and …Read More »

B2B and enterprise software / services is a big, new frontier in digital China / Asia. It is far behind the West but it’s an …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Alibaba and Singles’ Day. Just my thoughts on what really matters. You can listen to this podcast here or at …Read More »

In Part 1, I made a distinction between the development of cloud and enterprise software. There is a sweeping new cloud architecture emerging at the same …Read More »

In the past months, I’ve been looking at companies are on the enterprise and cloud side.  As opposed to the B2C side, which is where …Read More »

This week’s podcast is more about Snowflake, the “data ecosystem” company. And how multiple companies are competing to create the standards and architecture for cloud …Read More »

A subscriber suggested I look at Russian ecommerce company Ozon Holdings (OZON). It’s outside of Asia Tech Strategy, but I thought it was an interesting …Read More »

As many of you know, my focus / obsession is on how to measure the competitive strength and defensibility of digital businesses. I want to …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Snowflake, the “data ecosystem” company. It is one of the most compelling digital business models out there. It is one …Read More »

My writing is mostly on business models and digital strategy. As these are can give you insight into value creation over the longer-term. It’s really …Read More »

In Part 1 and Part 2, I laid out a framework for Snowflake’s “data ecosystem” business model. I described it as +3 complementary platform business …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about core vs. adjacency growth. This is a good framework for thinking about growth in digital businesses’. You can listen to …Read More »

In Part 1, I laid out the basics for Snowflake, a “data ecosystem” or “data warehouse as a service” company. The company appears to have …Read More »

In late 2020, it was revealed that Berkshire Hathaway had an investment in newly public Snowflake, the “data warehouse as a service” company. That was …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about how digital impacts society, business, news and politics. And how centralized planning might be the best solution in a digital …Read More »

I’ve covered three topics that relate to digital valuation: DCF Discount rates and Cost of Capital Growth, ROIC / RONIC and value Plus I did …Read More »

I’ve covered three topics that relate to digital valuation: DCF Discount rates Growth, ROIC / RONIC and value However, I have made one big assumption …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about growth and how it relates to value and valuation. ROIC vs. RONIC is an important part of separating past and …Read More »

This is my third article on digital valuation. In Part 1, I talked about DCF – and where it works and where it doesn’t. In …Read More »

In podcast 101 (Why DCF Sucks for Digital Valuation), I went through how I use DCF for digital valuation. And I basically argued that much …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about how to apply DCF in valuations of digital companies. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes and Google Podcasts. …Read More »

I have been expanding from digital strategy to digital valuation as a topic. I recently summarized (briefly) how I do valuation long hand (i.e., pen …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Hillhouse Capital and how they are buying and digitizing Chinese and increasingly Asian companies. I talk about their deals with …Read More »

Chinese recruiting company Kanzhun has gone public on the Nasdaq. It runs a pretty interesting recruiting platform called Boss Zhipin. An Introduction to Boss Zhipin …Read More »

This week’s podcast is my second on Ram Charan’s new book “Rethinking Competition Advantage“. I think it has a lot of great insights about the …Read More »

I’ve been trying to get a handle on the growth and development of cloud in China. But the four companies that account for about 80% …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Ram Charan’s new book “Rethinking Competition Advantage“. I think it has a lot of great insights about the basics of …Read More »

Pinduoduo (PDD) has really stood out in digital – both for its ability to break into a market dominated by Alibaba and JD and for …Read More »

I first went through the financials of Bilibili in 2018, shortly after it went public. It was a very interesting company because of its rapidly …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about assessing specialty ecommerce companies (i.e,. the anteaters) vs. the ecommerce giants (i.e,. the lions). Which will survive? Which will thrive? …Read More »

Given the political shake-up in China tech, I’ve been shifting my focus to smaller companies that: Are not of a size that puts them on …Read More »

I have been re-assessing my focus in China tech. The tech giants are now, likely perpetually, on the government’s radar. That will likely create more …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about the recent political issues around China tech and Alibaba in particular. You can listen to this podcast here or at …Read More »

Grab, Gojek and especially Shopee are really getting international attention now. As I’m writing this, Sea Ltd is at +$125B market capitalization. SE Asia has …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Ctrip, Didi and their current situation as subscale services marketplaces in China. You can listen to this podcast here or …Read More »

I have mentioned a few times on the podcast that I use a one page sheet to do an initial estimate for valuation. I got …Read More »

Legendary emerging markets investor Mark Mobius commented that the China “crackdown” on big tech is likely going to help some smaller digital companies. Those that …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about how to profit from political involvement in China tech. But really it is about how to think systematically about the …Read More »

In my latest podcast, I teed up the idea that the State is not just a source of risk or uncertainty in China. It can …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about how to profit from political involvement in China tech. But really it is about how to think systematically about the …Read More »

There are a lot of interesting ecommerce plays at the intersection of food and on-demand services. Meituan, GoJek, Grab and Dingdong to name a few. …Read More »

I did a podcast about how to assess the political risk of China tech. But really, I was talking about the Role of the State …Read More »

I was mulling over investing in Expedia during the beginning of the pandemic. It made sense that travel would take a hit for a couple …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about political risk in China tech, but really it is about how to think systematically about the role of the State. …Read More »

There is a lot of political uncertainty around China tech stocks these days. But this is not anything new. China and other rapidly developing economies …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Warren Buffett and combining competitive advantage with compounding. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya. Here are …Read More »

I recently wrote about Shein and how they are increasing on rate of learning (plus low prices). That article is here. And I characterized their …Read More »

In Part 1 – and in Podcast 90 (Can Dingdong Win in Groceries and Specialty Ecommerce?), I teed up questions about how specialty ecommerce companies …Read More »

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 …Read More »

Softbank-backed Dingdong and Tencent-backed Missfresh have both gone public, to minimal investor enthusiasm. Both companies were launched: To solve the difficulties of selling perishable and …Read More »

In Podcast 89 (Truck Alliance’s Fight for Complicated Network Effects), I laid out some of the basic information about the company – and why it …Read More »

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 …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Full Truck Alliance, a B2B marketplace platform for freight and cargo. There are a lot of lessons on the difficulties …Read More »

In the past weeks, I have sent you multiple emails with various types of competitive advantages. Such as switching costs, network effects, purchasing economies and …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Skillz and Electronic Arts. There are some interesting and evolving strategy aspects to gaming – especially as it goes to …Read More »

When you look for big competitive advantages on the cost side, it is usually about economies of scale – when a company with a larger …Read More »

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 …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about Didi’s upcoming IPO. They have released their numbers and it shows market dominance but operating losses. This is my explanation …Read More »

Digital transformation and disruption are usually about attacking the cost structures of established business models. Software companies have long used digital economics to devastate traditional …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about separating networks (an asset) from platforms (a business model) from network effects (a phenomenon). And the three standard types of …Read More »

Network effects are the brass ring of the digital age. Companies and investors, especially venture capitalists, are actively reaching for them. And, like platform business …Read More »

I look for four types of competitive advantages on the revenue and demand side: Share of the Consumer Mind, Share of the Producer Mind and …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about “criticality” as a type of switching cost. And specifically about Wabco, one of Warren Buffett’s companies that has fairly powerful …Read More »

Strategy thinking has traditionally been focused on linear processes that create mostly tangible products and services. It’s a legacy of the industrial age when everything …Read More »

This week’s podcast is about how “traditionally great” logistics businesses like DHL and ecommerce giants like JD Logistics are both doing major digital upgrades in …Read More »

Competitive moats (i.e., structural advantages) tend to be viewed as one thing. But it is usually two. And it is helpful to view it this …Read More »

Take-Away 1: With reports of +1,000 new products being added to Shein every day, there is a lot of speculation that this is a newer, …Read More »

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 …Read More »

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 …Read More »

I wrote about Alibaba’s 11 growth strategies in the fall of 2020. At their investors day, management laid them out in pretty good detail. You …Read More »

This podcast is Alibaba’s 2020 earnings and the strategy implications. But it is really about how Alibaba is positioned as a “product / service + …Read More »

There is a lot to like about Alibaba (from a strategy and competition perspective). Massive, almost unprecedented, competitive strength. It’s a complementary platform and a …Read More »

Sea Limited is rocking and rolling. Jumping from gaming to ecommerce. Then to payment and financial services. And now to Mexico. There is a growing …Read More »

This podcast is about the super cool economics of Adobe Inc. And how they capture the economics of digital by also building strong competitive moats. …Read More »

Take-Away 1: Adobe Inc. is a good example of many of the strengths of traditional software economics. It has evolved and expanded over decades to …Read More »

On a 2018 earnings call, Elon Musk said he disagreed with one of Warren Buffett’s core investment principles — that companies should use strategic “moats” …Read More »

Competitive advantages can be build on the demand and the supply side. And advantages on the demand (i.e., revenue) side are usually about customer capture …Read More »

It’s easy to get lost in all the factors and phenomena emerging as digital and data technology transform industry after industry. As I have argued …Read More »