3 Lessons in Conversational AI from JD’s Head of the Deep Learning (1 of 2)

I had a fascinating discussion with He Xiaodong of JD. He is the head of Deep Learning, NLP and the Speech Lab. And the Deputy Managing Director of JD AI Research. I did a podcast about this called Products with Personalities (Podcast 31) but I wanted to post some of his slides from our talk. […]

Grab vs. GoJek vs. Lazada: Who Will Win in Services in Southeast Asia? (Tech Strategy – Podcast 32)

In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the competition between Grab, GoJek, and Lazada in the Southeast Asian services market. He identifies the most important factors for success in this market, including consumer engagement, merchant engagement, and platform business models. For example, Grab has been successful in capturing a large share of the consumer mind by offering a wide range of services, including ride-hailing, food delivery, and payments.

The Next Big Trends in Chinese E-Commerce (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Daily Lesson / Update)

There was an interesting report about China ecommerce trends released by Coresight Research, which specializes in retail meets tech consulting. It’s run by Deborah Weinswig, who I’ve crossed paths with a few times in the last couple of years. I find their research to be very data-driven and generally close to my own thinking. So […]

To access this post, you must log in as a member, purchase Subscriptions.

Ctrip and Hospitality’s Big Balance Sheet Challenge (Daily Update – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)

Ctrip has forecast its revenues will drop 45-50% in first quarter. From KrAsia: Coronavirus spurs somber outlook for online travel companies Chinese major online travel agency Trip.com announced on its recently released Q4 earnings report that revenues would decrease by about 45% to 50% year-on-year (YoY) as a result of the coronavirus. Trip.com has already […]

To access this post, you must log in as a member, purchase Subscriptions.

Covid-19 Drives Live Streaming. But Private Traffic Pools Are the Solution. (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)

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 creators […]

To access this post, you must log in as a member, purchase Subscriptions.

JD and Competitive Advantages vs. Entry Barriers in China Retail (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)

A final short discussion about this week’s lecture / podcast on JD vs. Alibaba. And how they compete on different factors. The talk is located here: JD vs. Alibaba: How Retailers and Marketplace Platforms Compete and Evolve in China (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 18) I expanded on this in yesterday’s Daily Lesson, where […]

To access this post, you must log in as a member, purchase Subscriptions.

JD vs. Alibaba: How Retailers and Marketplace Platforms Compete and Evolve in China (Tech Strategy – Podcast 18)

In this podcast episode of Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, Jeffrey Towson discusses the competitive advantages of JD and Alibaba, two of the largest retailers in China. He argues that JD’s competitive advantages include its strong logistics network and its focus on customer service, while Alibaba’s competitive advantages include its large user base and its ability to connect buyers and sellers.

Alibaba, Complementary Platforms and Why Dinosaur Packs Are Scary (Daily Update – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)

I consider digital platforms the super predators of the business world. They are like that Indominus Rex dinosaur in the movie Jurassic World that is part T-Rex and part velociraptor (photo here). And when it breaks free (which always happens in those movies), it runs around eating everything on the island. Because it is the […]

To access this post, you must log in as a member, purchase Subscriptions.

Alibaba and How To Cheat in Innovation Marathons (Daily Update – Asia Tech Strategy)

In previous Daily Updates, I presented 4 slides that showed the evolution of Alibaba as a powerful marketplace platform. A 3 Slide Summary of Alibaba and Marketplace Platform Strategy (Daily Update, Jeff’s Asia Tech Class) Alibaba and the Power of Externalizing Capabilities (Daily Update – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class) In the first one, I argued […]

To access this post, you must log in as a member, purchase Subscriptions.