Digital Winners and Losers

September 13, 2015

Read The Full Prompt

The basic thesis of our course is that digital technologies are upending many industries and companies. Think about Uber’s impact on the taxi business or Spotify’s impact on music downloads and the record industry.

For this module, we would like you to identify companies/organizations that you think are winning or losing. Just work on either winners or losers. Please focus on just one organization. Tell us why they are a winner or loser. Discuss elements of how they create and/or capture value that is leading you to call them a winner or loser.

Create an approximately 500-750 word post to make your contribution. Please create appropriate tags for your post including if it is a “winner” or “loser” Please also respond to and comment on three other posts per module. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos and links to other sites to corroborate your points.

Selected posts will be discussed in class and also featured on the HBS Digital Initiative website.

Submitted (145)

Airbnb: Stop Locking Guests Out!
Sara Alsadi
Last modified on September 15, 2015 at 2:28 am
How can Airbnb innovate to sustain growth, attract more customers, increase customer loyalty, and create more value?
Pa(in)Pal: A Company In Denial
Chrisoula Kapelonis
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 9:59 pm
    We’ve all used Paypal. It’s the lesser of two evils when deciding between the manual input of payment information, or clicking a few buttons. But, in a world of shifting payment systems, and increasing disruptions in the transaction [...]
Get a Slice of This: Domino’s Dominates Pizza through Digital
Won't Not
Last modified on October 19, 2015 at 6:03 pm
Domino's builds customer loyalty and lowers costs with best-in-class digital tech
Instacart: Shopping for groceries has never been more fun
Nazli O
Posted on September 13, 2015 at 11:41 pm
Instacart is a clear winner among many other players who are trying to make same day delivery experience the most appealing to consumers. Google Express and Amazon Fresh, both part of tech giants with deep pockets, could not emerge as [...]
Digital Matchmakers Win!
Madrid
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 11:35 pm
Tinder, OKCupid, and Match.com create aggregate value for their owner, IAC Holdings.
How Nike swooshed away from its competition
HelloSof
Last modified on September 14, 2015 at 10:13 am
When I was a teenager I would happily showcase Nike, Adidas, or Puma shoes on my feet. All brands looked just as appealing to me. Yes, there were the exceptions and for a couple of season one brand just got [...]
The Boston Red Sox: A Game Changer?
Drew O.
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 4:24 pm
“We recognize if we don’t connect with the next generation of fans, we are dead” – Sam Kennedy, Red Sox Chief Operating Officer For over a century, baseball has been one of America’s favorite pass-times. Major League Baseball (MLB) saw [...]
5 Reasons Buzzfeed is a Digital Winner. Plus, an AMAZING cat video.
HM
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 1:06 pm
From 'listicles' and cat videos, Buzzfeed is now moving into coverage of conflict, disaster and global politics. Is 'social' the future of news?
theSkimm: A Digital Weapon for the Modern News Consumer
AJT
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 7:12 pm
@theSkimm is a digital winner for news consumers wanting a consistent, convenient, curated news experience
Venmo: Rapidly Replacing Cash in the Pockets of Millenials
CEA
Posted on September 13, 2015 at 4:50 pm
With an acute recognition of its customers’ preferences, a simple and intuitive interface, and strong network effects, Venmo is rapidly (even virally) making its impact in peer-to-peer transfers, replacing cash and checks among young adults.
Not so Frozen in Time – National Geographic
Caribou
Posted on September 13, 2015 at 10:27 pm
National Geographic's mission has allowed them to survive death-by-print, and to become king of Instagram.
Getting your grande latte without the grande lines
SC
Last modified on October 19, 2015 at 6:03 pm
Mobile ordering and payment app brews success for Starbucks.
Burberry: Leader in Retail Tech
Anndrea Moore
Last modified on September 14, 2015 at 12:44 am
Burberry leads luxury brands in use of technology
How is Slack killing email?
S
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 11:52 pm
How is Slack killing email?
WTG, Valve! Steam FTW!!
John R
Last modified on October 19, 2015 at 6:03 pm
Valve is currently “pwning” the video game industry with its flagship product, Steam.
Squaring off the Competition: How Square is Changing Transactions
Chrisoula Kapelonis
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 10:07 pm
  Square: we’ve all seen it. Every farmer’s market, every craft fair, every food truck. But this revolutionary piece of hardware has exploded into a network of innovative solutions infiltrating all parts of the transaction sector. Ranging from near invisible [...]
Netflix in the ever changing home entertainment space
Pipedreamer
Posted on September 11, 2015 at 7:26 pm
Disrupting an old industry in light of new technoligical innovation Netflix set out in 1997 to revolutionize the way we watch home entertainment. Initially built on a DVD-by-mail service, they were a tremendous disruption to the home movie rental industry [...]
Politico: A sharp focus on digital audience
moniguzman
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Few industries have been disrupted more brutally in the last ten years than the news industry. More people are reading and sharing news stories than ever before, but few of the companies that create those news stories are in a position to capture the value they create. [...]
DraftKings – How a fantasy is changing the sports industry
Faisal
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 3:10 pm
Through daily fantasy competitions, DraftKings is changing the way sports fans consume content.
Quip and the end of the paper communication protocol
BS
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 2:14 pm
Word, PowerPoint, Google Sheets, and Google Slides share the same fundamental, analog constraint as did the typewriter: the printed page. Paper as the primary workplace communication protocol is still at the core of these products, and it is fundamentally outdated.
Viber: Who needs a cell phone plan anyway?
Ola
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 10:54 pm
How Viber is winning the telecom war.
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL: REBECCA MINKOFF’S STORE OF THE FUTURE
JP
Last modified on September 13, 2015 at 11:52 pm
Rebecca Minkoff's fashion-driven, tech-focused store caters to shoppers' every need.
Snapchat – Threatening Incumbent Social Media and Content Providers with Strong User Empathy
Fbalestra
Posted on September 13, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Snapchat threatens incumbent social media and content providers by listening to its young users
ClassPass: Workouts just got easier
AS
Last modified on October 19, 2015 at 6:03 pm
ClassPass has revolutionized traditional fitness classes by developing a two-sided marketplace attracting both studios and end-users to its platform.
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