In Part 1, I wrote about hypermarkets as business models. It is one of the few retail business models I kinda like. But it is the combination of Sun Art’s hypermarkets and the Alibaba ecosystem that is really interesting. That combination puts it at the frontier of new retail. And it makes it almost entirely […]
Alibaba is facing increasing political risks in China. In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the potential worst case scenario for Alibaba and provides 9 questions investors should ask themselves when considering an investment in the company.
Alibaba is facing increasing political risks in China. In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the potential worst case scenario for Alibaba and provides 9 questions investors should ask themselves when considering an investment in the company.
A subscriber suggested I look at Sun Art Retail as a potential investment opportunity. And, wow, thanks for that. There is a lot of fascinating stuff going on with this company. First, the basics of Sun Art. An Introduction to Sun Art Retail Group Founded in 2000, Sun Art is a leading Chinese retailer with […]
This is Part 2 of two articles on Alibaba Investors Day. In Part 1 (Dissecting Alibaba’s 11 Growth Strategies), I wrote about their 5 growth strategies in “Domestic Consumption” (i.e., stuff Chinese consumers spend money on). But CEO Daniel Zhang also outlined 5 growth strategies for Alibaba Cloud. And their cloud business is what everyone has […]
So Alibaba Investor Day was this week. Actually it was three days. And there were lots of presentations and publications. But people generally want to hear from Maggie Wu (CFO) and Daniel Zhang (CEO). Their two presentations on the final day are a big deal. I went through everything (so you don’t have to). And […]
Ruhnn Holding is a Chinese company that not many people follow. Based in Hangzhou, tied with Alibaba and vaguely described as a talent agency and/or social commerce company, it’s a strange animal. And it is currently being taken private and off the US exchanges (maybe). But the company is fascinating and has some really important […]
Luxury marketplace platform Farfetch has had a long courtship with JD, Alibaba and Chinese consumers. In the next update, I’ll go into my thoughts on Farfetch as a stand-alone company (basically, not good). But the more interesting questions for investors are: Is Farfetch going to get bought? What is the private market value to Chinese […]
I spent Singles’ Day 2017 visiting Alibaba and meeting with management (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). And one big highlight of the visit was a group influencer dinner with Alibaba Vice-Chairman and co-founder Joseph Tsai. He was always the guy I listened to about Alibaba. Jack Ma is famous but doesn’t really speak the language […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson argues that the term “Alibaba ecosystem” is misleading, and that the company’s success is better explained by its focus on collaboration-based industries and business models. He discusses the importance of open and inclusive ecosystems, and provides examples of other companies that have been successful by following this approach. For example, Towson cites the success of Android, which has become the world’s most popular mobile operating system by creating an open and inclusive ecosystem that allows developers to create apps for a wide range of devices.