Most of this course has been about strategy. Well, the intersection of strategy and digital. Basically, Michael Porter meets Jack Ma.But an important part of the executive tool kit is M&A. If you’re going to run a company or be a senior manager, you have to know how to buy other companies. You have to […]
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. […]
I like audience builders as platform. They have interesting complexities and variations. They are more interesting than marketplaces and payment platforms. Plus, audience builder platforms are combining with e-commerce quite nicely. Spotify, TikTok, and China Literature are all audience builders I like. But they are really different, even though they all basically connect content creators […]
This past week, I’ve been talking about TikTok and Alibaba’s Tudou-Youku as examples of “audience builder” digital platforms. These are +2 sided platform that connect content creators (who want an audience and other things) with viewers (who want entertainment or other types of content.) And I’ve argued that audience builders are actually more fluid and […]
In my online Asia Tech Class, I talk a lot about digital superpowers, which are digital tools that upend established business. And one of these superpowers a dramatically improved user experience, such that the traditional offering is now unacceptable to users. And this sort of dramatically improved user experience is what is happening in luxury […]
When the SARS virus swept through China / Asia in 2002-2003, it resulted in millions of workers isolating themselves in their homes. And this phenomenon turned out to be pivotal for several, now dominant digital companies. For then small company Alibaba, it created a surge of activity in e-commerce. And for then physical-only retailer JD, […]
I attended the WeChat Open Class in Guangzhou and WeChat Work 3.0 was one of the big topics this year. There is a growing suite of digital tools for enterprise management, communication and collaboration. And they raise some fascinating strategy questions. It’s clear that enterprise tools in mobile-first China are going to evolve differently. These […]
Cheers from Laos, I’m in the capital Vientiane getting a new visa. And it turns out this is sleepy city is a good place to hide during the coronavirus situation. No crowds. No subways. I rarely pass anyone on the street. I’m literally sitting all alone in a café right now. In terms of Asia […]
I recently attended WeChat’s Open Class in Guangzhou. It is their big annual event for developers and there were lots of updates on WeChat Work and Mini-Programs. I will be writing about these in subsequent articles. But it was WeChat founder Allen Zhang’s introductory comments that have really stayed with me. He talked about how […]
In Part 1, I argued that Mark Zuckerberg’s memo on “privacy-focused messaging and social networking” is actually an aggressive and potentially stunning growth path for the company. I called it the ultimate gangster move. Their move to consolidate their messaging services creates a big global tool. And it looks a lot like the foundation of […]