How Generative AI Services Are Disrupting Platform Business Models (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I did a podcast about how “Generative AI as a Service” is disrupting some particularly dominant platform business models. I mentioned YouTube, TikTok and OnlyFans. …Read More »How Generative AI Is Going to Disrupt YouTube, TikTok and OnlyFans (Tech Strategy – Podcast 152)
This week’s podcast is about more about generative Ai as a disruptive technology and business model. My argument is it is going to disrupt many …Read More »4 Types of Intangible Assets in Digital Businesses (Tech Strategy – Podcast 151)
This week’s podcast is about why intangible assets are so important in operations, competitive moats and valuation. They are central to digital businesses – but …Read More »Why ChatGPT and Generative AI Are a Mortal Threat to Disney, Netflix and Most Hollywood Studios (Tech Strategy – Podcast 150)
This week’s podcast is about how generative AI is disrupting content creation. This is a major tech shift and a lot of big incumbents (such …Read More »Valuing Amazon (Part 2): Good Frameworks for Intangible Assets (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I raised the problem of intangible assets in valuation and financial analysis. Value creation follows from growth, ROIC and RONIC, where the …Read More »Valuing Amazon (Part 1): The Problem of Intangible Assets, ROIC and RONIC (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Key take-aways for this article: The key to valuation is estimating growth, ROIC and RONIC. This is difficult for digital companies because of the opacity …Read More »4 Rules for CPG Brands Going Digital. Lessons from AB InBev, Nike, and Zé Delivery. (Tech Strategy – Podcast 149)
This week’s podcast is about how consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can go digital. It’s my 4 basic rules to get going. You can listen …Read More »The Winners and Losers in ChatGPT (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Key concepts for this article: The Brutal Economics of Digital / Information Audience-Builder Platforms *** ChatGPT and large language models (LLM) have everyone talking. The …Read More »Two Digital Strategy Lessons from AB InBev and Zé Delivery (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Key concepts for this article: DOB2: Never-Ending Customer Improvements and Personalization Economies of Scale: Geographic Density (CA13) *** As mentioned in Part 1, I recently …Read More »My Valuation for Microsoft (Tech Strategy – Podcast 148)
This week’s podcast is about Microsoft and how I approach its valuation. You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics …Read More »Microsoft’s 3 Big Upgrades to its 2 Big Platforms (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
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 …Read More »Mercado Libre vs. Magazine Luiza / Magalu in Brazil is an Awesome Strategy Question (Tech Strategy – Podcast 147)
This week’s podcast is about two leading and well run ecommerce companies in Brazil: Magazine Luiza / Magalu and Mercado Libre. Both companies have compelling …Read More »Alibaba’s 3 OMO Lessons for Brazil’s Magalu (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Jack Ma coined the term “new retail” in China in 2016. The idea was to merge the physical and digital assets of retail into one …Read More »3 Questions Will Determine the Future Value of Mercado Libre (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I recently visited Mercado Libre’s headquarters outside of Sao Paolo and had some interesting discussions with management. It was a great visit and Mercado Libre …Read More »ChatGPT and the New Machine Human Interface (Tech Strategy – Podcast 146)
This week’s podcast is about the arrival of ChatGPT, which is stunning people everywhere with its content generation. You can listen to this podcast here, …Read More »Baidu’s Search Engine Explained in 3 Slides (1 of 3) (Tech Strategy – Daily Update)
I like search engines. But they are very strange animals. They remind me of giraffes and ant eaters. Unique animals that you can’t really compare …Read More »Microsoft’s Azure Strategy Is “Two Platforms Plus Infrastructure” (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
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 …Read More »Elon Musk’s Strategy for Twitter is to Supercharge Performance – And Then 10x the Product (Tech Strategy – Podcast 145)
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 …Read More »What is Elon Musk’s Plan to 10x Twitter? (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
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 …Read More »The Digital Arms Race for Attention, Engagement and Spending (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I have long argued that there is an escalating “arms race” for online demand. There is an ever-increasing fight for the attention, engagement and spending …Read More »My Breakdown of Elon Musk’s Strategy for Twitter (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Elon Musk had an all hands meeting and Q&A at Twitter this week. It was in the Verge. That transcript, plus his frequent comments on …Read More »Why Most Incumbents Should Forget About Platforms and Build Consumption Ecosystems (Tech Strategy – Podcast 144)
This week’s podcast is Production and Consumption Ecosystems as digital business models. This thinking is mostly by Professor Mohan Subramaniam, who wrote the book The Future …Read More »9 Digital Business Models: An Intro to Consumption Ecosystems (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I summarized my list of digital business model types. For Web2: Linear business models (i.e., pipelines) Production Ecosystems Consumption Ecosystems Company Ecosystems …Read More »9 Digital Business Models: An Intro to Production Ecosystems (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I have described digital business models as either pipelines or platforms. That’ s a standard distinction. In a pipeline, a firm creates value with a …Read More »What Grab Can Learn from Amazon About Growth – and Not From Meta (Tech Strategy – Podcast 143)
This week’s podcast is Grab’s growth initiatives, which are critical for getting to operating profits. They also provide a case for talking about core vs. …Read More »Grab Has 5 Compelling Growth Initiatives (4 of 4) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Grab recently held its 2002 Investor Day. They summarized their 1H results for 2022 and went through their current strategy, which is mostly about getting …Read More »Lessons from Grab in Geographic Density and Other Tech Enabled Cost Efficiencies (3 of 4)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Newly public Grab has recently had an investors day (September 2022), with lots of presentations by CEO Anthony Tan, COO Alex Hungate and others. It …Read More »Lessons in Purchasing Economies from Costco, JD and Pinduoduo (Tech Strategy – Podcast 142)
This week’s podcast is about economies of scale in purchasing power. I go through Walmart and Costco as traditional examples. And point to JD, Apple, …Read More »Geographic Density and How Meituan Finally Became Profitable (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Why do humans live in cities? And why does the urbanization rate of most countries keep increasing? Because there are lots of efficiencies when you …Read More »Snowflake, Alibaba and My 3 Favorite Cloud Business Models (Tech Strategy – Podcast 141)
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 …Read More »3 Strategy Questions for Brazil’s OMO Leader Magazine Luiza / Magalu (Tech Strategy – Podcast 140)
This week’s podcast is about Magazine Luiza / Magalu and how they ended up as the pioneer of online-merge-offline (OMO) in Brazil retail. They have …Read More »An Introduction to Magazine Luiza / Magalu, the Online-Merge-Offline (OMO) Pioneer of Brazil (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I recently visited the Magazine Luiza / Magalu headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And this company should be on your radar. Magalu is definitely out …Read More »Alibaba’s 11 Growth Strategies (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I keep an eye on the larger moves by Alibaba. Not the constant stream of announcements and endless initiatives but the larger strategic moves that …Read More »5 Lessons from Jumia on the Risks and Economics of Ecommerce in Developing Countries (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I was in Kenya last month and got a chance to play with Jumia and Jumia Food, the big ecommerce apps in most of the …Read More »How AB InBev and Zé Delivery Are Changing Ecommerce in Beverages (Tech Strategy – Podcast 139)
This week’s podcast is about AB InBev’s rapidly rising beverage delivery service Ze Delivery. I visited the facilities and spoke with CEO Rudolfo Chung. It’s …Read More »Zé Delivery’s “Wow” Experiences vs. Ant’s Sustained Innovation Imperative (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I recently met with Rodolfo Chung, CEO of rapidly rising Zé Delivery in Brazil. This is a beverage delivery service that was launched by AB …Read More »3 Big Digital Changes in Retail and Ecommerce (Tech Strategy – Podcast 138)
This week’s podcast is about important digital changes happening in ecommerce and retail, and that are mostly coming out of China / Asia. You can …Read More »Alibaba’s Cloud Platform is the Big Frontier (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
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 …Read More »Steam, Garena and Specialty Gaming Business Models (Tech Strategy – Podcast 137)
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 …Read More »Why I Don’t Like Netflix, Singapore Press and Most Digital Content Businesses (Tech Strategy – Podcast 136)
This week’s podcast is about digital content businesses, which are entirely digital economics. They can have great economics but absolutely need a moat. You can …Read More »Can YouTube or Facebook Catch TikTok in Short Video? SMILE Marathons vs. the Spill-Over Effect. (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
There was an interesting article in Insead Knowledge (Jason Davis and Vikas Aggarwal) about how innovation gets copied by imitators. I liked the question it …Read More »Facebook and WhatsApp Are the Wild Card of Asia Ecommerce (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg released a memo on “privacy-focused messaging and social networking” – and charted a new direction for Facebook. In theory, the memo …Read More »Why Economies of Scale Is Still the Default Digital Strategy (Tech Strategy – Podcast 135)
This week’s podcast is about economies of scale – and why it is still the standard strategy. Especially in specialized areas and niche markets. You …Read More »7 Reasons Digital Platforms Fail (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
One of my favorite articles about platform strategy is a 2020 article by the Boston Consulting Group. It was a really solid investigation of an …Read More »Buffett’s Airline Stocks and an Intro to Economies of Scale in Fixed Costs (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Economies of scale as a phenomenon goes back to Adam Smith, so it is, unsurprisingly, often described in industrial terms. It is the phenomenon where …Read More »My List of Web2 and Web3 Business Models (3 of 3) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I’ve been arguing that digital strategy is mostly about developing expertise in 4 areas. Digital economics Platform business models AI and machine learning Blockchain Each …Read More »Lessons in Competitive Advantage from the Fall of Star Wars (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
CA9: Scarce or Cornered Resources is a rare and quirky type of competitive advantages. It is a cost and supply advantage. You can see it …Read More »Ant Group, Yiren Digital (YRD) and OMO Marketplaces for Lending (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I’ve written a lot about Ant Financial because I think it is a cool example of a zero-human operation. It’s has been built from as …Read More »Lessons in Digital Operating Basics 5 and 6 from Majid Al Futtaim (Tech Strategy – Podcast 134)
This week’s podcast is about the human capital part of the digital operating basics. Specifically, DOB5: Leadership and management and DOB6: People, Culture and Teams. …Read More »More Important Strategy Concepts for Web3 (2 of 3) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I went through two strategy concepts for web3. Protocol Networks (i.e., Blockchains) with Property Rights Composability (i.e., Building Blocks) at Global Scale …Read More »The Big Strategy Concepts for Web3 (1 of 3) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Everyone describes their initial look at blockchain and web3 as “going down the rabbit hole”. It starts simply with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Then they go …Read More »The 5 Important Strategy Concepts of Web3 (Tech Strategy – Podcast 133)
This week’s podcast is about web3 strategy and business models. It’s a big confusing and still evolving space. But I think there are 5 really important …Read More »How JD Competes With Alibaba in Ecommerce (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I often get asked how JD competes with Alibaba (in ecommerce). Who is going to win? My answer is below. But first a little theory …Read More »Compelling Digital Business Models by Walgreens and Ping An Good Doctor (Tech Strategy – Podcast 132)
This week’s podcast is about Walgreens and Ping An Good Doctor. Both are using digital tools to create entirely new business models in healthcare. And …Read More »The Virality of Zoom and Pinduoduo Is Great. But Digital Word of Mouth Is Still King. (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Virality, viral loops, incentives and digital word of mouth all get sort of mixed together. They are all growth mechanisms for digital businesses. And they …Read More »Don’t Be Fooled by Rapid Growth, Money Wars, Blitzscaling and Other Tactics (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
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 …Read More »An Introduction to Searching Costs as a Competitive Advantage (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Think about the value proposition of a Walmart superstore. Most everything a customer needs is in the store and easy to find. Yes, Walmart is …Read More »Amazon, Tencent and When Rate of Learning Becomes a Competitive Advantage (Tech Strategy – Podcast 131)
This week’s podcast is about rate of learning as a concept. That is the digital version of what was originally called the learning curve and …Read More »When Tech and IP Become Competitive Advantages (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
For those of you reading the Moats and Marathons books, I have been slowly laying out the key competitive advantages for digital businesses. And this is …Read More »What Xiaomi Can Learn About Strategy from Apple and Amazon (Tech Strategy – Podcast 130)
This week’s podcast is about Xiaomi and ongoing strategy changes and moves. This is a good case for my 6 levels of digital competition. It …Read More »Get Ready for Alipay+ and Ant Group 2.0 (Tech Strategy – Podcast 129)
This week’s podcast is about Alipay+, which is Ant’s new international payment initiative. But it is also about the return of Ant Group after 2 …Read More »Ant’s Newly Launched Alipay+ Is Outstanding Platform Strategy (1 of 2)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
A few years ago, I wrote about how Alibaba.com was launching an ambitious global platform strategy around B2B cross-border transactions. Alibaba.com was attempting to build …Read More »Why GE Failed in Digital (For Now) (Tech Strategy – Podcast 128)
This week’s podcast is about GE and their big digital transformation initiative from 2011-2018. However, I am not a GE expert by any stretch. I …Read More »The Pros and Cons of Farfetch’s Global Luxury Marketplace (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
My standard question is: What is the quality of the business? I go through lots of checklists for this. It generally takes me 40 pages …Read More »Epic Games, Apple and Ecosystem Competition (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
We are a couple of years into the epic (pun intended) fight between Apple and Epic Games over the App Store. This is really the …Read More »Alibaba, Amazon and the Power of Externalizing Capabilities (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I’ve mentioned externalizing capabilities as a strategic move many times. I thought I would detail that out. It’s common strategy in digital business models. And …Read More »Audience Builder Platforms Are Really Powerful. So Why is Baidu Selling iQiyi? (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I’ve talked a lot about why KOLs and influencers are so important in a connected world. Live streaming and short video are currently the big …Read More »Can Elon Musk Fix Twitter and Save Civilization? (Tech Strategy – Podcast 127)
This week’s podcast is about Elon Musk’s attempted purchase of Twitter. But it is really about how the control and curation of information flows how …Read More »Abel Deng and Huawei’s 4 Big Projects in Thailand (3 of 3)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Parts 1 and 2, I wrote about how digital infrastructure is being developed in Thailand, which is a good proxy for digital infrastructure SE …Read More »Huawei and How Thailand Is Becoming a Leader in Asian Digital Infrastructure (2 of 3)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1 and a podcast, I covered the history of Huawei in Thailand and my interview with Huawei Thailand CEO Abel Deng. In this part, …Read More »Two Frameworks for Predicting Tech Disruption (Tech Strategy – Podcast 126)
This week’s podcast is about digital disruption. It’s a big and difficult topic for management teams. And it usually leads to discussion about innovation. Here …Read More »5 Ways AI Can Make Your Business Dumb (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Use cases are a good way to approach the subject of AI. Just hunt industry by industry and see what companies are using AI for …Read More »My B2C Super Chart for “Ecommerce + Entertainment + KOLs / Influencers + Social Media” (US-Asia Tech Strategy)
I have one B2C “super chart”. It’s a bit ridiculous but stick with me. I think it is actually a good prediction of the future …Read More »Why Netflix and Amazon Prime Don’t Have Long-Term Competitive Power. (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I argued that Amazon’s ecommerce business was getting stronger over time (in terms of competitive strength). It has an impressive series of …Read More »Amazon’s Moat is Growing in Ecommerce. But Falling in Video. Just Like for Netflix. (Tech Strategy – Podcast 125)
This week’s podcast is about Amazon’s competitive advantages. We can see clearly growing moats in ecommerce. But increasing competition is revealing the lack of defenses …Read More »Amazon Has a Winning Long-Term Strategy. Amazon Prime and Netflix Don’t. (1 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I’ve discussed Amazon’s basic business model in an article and podcast. What Amazon Should Copy from Alibaba and Pinduoduo (Tech Strategy – Podcast 124) Why …Read More »Why I Really Like Amazon’s Strategy, Despite the Crap Consumer Experience (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
For the past five years, I’ve been watching Alibaba pull farther and farther ahead of Amazon in its consumer offerings. Alibaba’s ecommerce products have integrated …Read More »What Amazon Should Copy From Alibaba and Pinduoduo (Tech Strategy – Podcast 124)
This week’s podcast is about Amazon vs. Alibaba and Pinduoduo. There are some important strategy differences between the ecommerce leaders of the US and China. …Read More »The Future of Switching Costs is B2B (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
I break competitive advantages into those on the demand-side and those on the cost / supply-side. Plus government-granted advantages. It results in a list of …Read More »3 Big Questions for GoTo (Gojek + Tokopedia)(2 of 2)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I laid out some basic theory about marketplace platforms for services, which is a fascinating interesting subject. And it is much more …Read More »Will GoTo “Win it All” in Indonesia? (Tech Strategy – Podcast 123)
This week’s podcast is newly public GoTo, which is an interesting business model combining a platform for products (Tokopedia) with one for services (Gojek). You …Read More »GoTo Is Going for an “Ultimate B2C Marketplace” in Indonesia. But Alibaba Couldn’t Do It in China. (1 of 2)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
The recently merged Gojek and Tokopedia (i.e., GoTo) has gone public in Indonesia. And I finally got a look at their filings (thanks to a …Read More »Forget Scale. Moats in Production and Variable Costs Can Be Really Powerful. (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
A quick recap. I have broken moats (i.e., structural advantages) into three levels. I wrote some recent articles on Barriers to Entry and Soft Advantages: …Read More »Don’t Underestimate Growth Plus the Digital Operating Basics (Tech Strategy – Podcast 122)
This week’s podcast is about combining two previously covered topics: growth and the digital operating basics. This can be surprisingly powerful. You can listen to …Read More »Grab and Why Operating Cash Flow is Part of the Digital Operating Basics (2 of 4) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I went through the basics of newly public Grab. It’s one of the first tech unicorns of Southeast and it’s an interesting …Read More »3 Strategy Lessons from Huawei’s 2021 Financials (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Huawei has just announced its 2021 financial results, with the title “Solid Operations, Investing in the Future”. That is actually a pretty good summary of …Read More »Will Southeast Asian Grab Become Meituan or Didi? (Tech Strategy – Podcast 121)
This week’s podcast is about Southeast Asian tech giant Grab, its impressive execution and its chronic unprofitability: You can listen to this podcast here or …Read More »Grab’s Big Strategy and Cash Flow Question (1 of 4)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Southeast Asia unicorn Grab is now public via a SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth Corp. The company trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol …Read More »How to Assess the Growth of Sea Limited / Shopee / Garena (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In the past 3-4 months, Sea Limited stock price has fallen from $350 to $90 per share. That is interesting. The business model is as …Read More »Why Uniswap’s Protocol Is a Threat to Coinbase’s Marketplace (Tech Strategy – Podcast 120)
This week’s podcast is about how web 3.0 is creating three types of marketplaces: Digital platforms (web 2.0), such as a Taobao Platform-protocol hybrids, such …Read More »Web3 Companies Can Use Tokens and DAOs as Competitive Weapons in 3 Big Ways (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I did a quick summary of the strange mix of ideas that is “web 3.0”. Blockchain, a new technology paradigm. Decentralization, which moves …Read More »Coinbase vs. Uniswap: How DeFi is Really Disrupting Platforms (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
There is a lot of talk about how web 3.0, which is about protocol networks, is going to disrupt web 2.0, which is about platform …Read More »An Intro to Customer Capture as a Competitive Advantage in Digital (Asia Tech Strategy – Podcast 119)
This week’s podcast is about customer capture as a competitive advantage. And how digital is really changing this type of moat. You can listen to …Read More »A Checklist for Demand-Side Competitive Advantages (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Traditionally, revenue and demand-side advantages are described as “customer captivity”. It shows up as a company that gets higher pricing and/or more repeat purchases from …Read More »Alibaba, WeChat and How Nike Won as a “Platform Participant” in China (Tech Strategy – Podcast 118)
This week’s podcast is about Nike in China. But it really about how you win as a participant in large platform businesses in ecommerce and …Read More »Coinbase and the Tech Uncertainties of Platform-Protocol Hybrids (3 of 3)(Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1 and Part 2, I laid out my approach to web 3.0 business models. These are sometimes called “decentralized platforms”. Or “protocols”. I …Read More »An Intro to Soft Advantages: Bundling, Cross-Selling and Complements (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Digital economics are just very strange. As soon as a service or business becomes infused with software and data technology, the economics start to change …Read More »Coinbase and How Web3 Is Different (Tech Strategy – Podcast 117)
This week’s podcast is about web 3.0. I view most successful web 3.0 companies like Coinbase as platform-protocol hybrids. You can listen to this podcast …Read More »Platform-Protocol Hybrids and Why DeFi is the Center of Web3 (2 of 3) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
In Part 1, I did a quick summary of the strange mix of ideas that is “web 3.0”. Blockchain, a new technology paradigm that will …Read More »How to Think About Web3 Business Models (1 of 3) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)
Right now, the venture capital types are all talking about “web 3.0”. Very big names are arguing that this is the big new tech paradigm. …Read More »