Atima Lui's Profile
Atima Lui
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Interesting post! The right swipe has definitely lost value on the Tinder platform for sure, and not just because the swipes are ubiquitous, but also because the users are ubiquitous as well, resulting in matches that aren’t necessarily relevant or high quality — i.e. apart from both parties thinking the other person is physically attractive, matches aren’t based on common interests, common friend networks, or common values. That’s why I think your last point about competition is key. I don’t think Tinder can survive against other dating apps that take the aforementioned qualities into account unless it changes it’s value proposition from being the dating app for garbage swipes…. not speaking from experience, or anything 😛
$36MM?! What?! I swear they are always placing the most pity-inducing banners on their site asking for donations! I never donate, continue to use the site for whatever information I was searching for, and then feel really bad afterward. But now I certainly won’t feel bad next time I don’t give; apparently that banner is driving plenty of donations. The fact that they have “no apparent use for cash” is interesting, though. And their non-profit status is certainly problematic with net profit figures like that. Perhaps they should start donating those funds to knowledge-related public goods like libraries; or maybe they should start funding college scholarships, or non-profits focused on education in the developing world. Dang. I’m truly shocked.
Totally agree with you on the market size issue. I also agree that this solution was not targeted on a real need. People need to buy music and music rights for their projects – but it doesn’t need to be perfectly custom. For example, I was recently in the market for a song as the co-founder of a startup. We were making product how-to videos that needed some nice jingle set to it in the background. I did a quick search for music websites, and was able to find 10+ sites with filterable and searchable instrumental music ready for purchase. Interestingly, the inventory for these sites are also supplied by a community of musicians; but they are able to compose with creative freedom, and customers (like me) simply search for what works for them. I think this simplified approach to music composer crowd management makes more sense.
I really like your suggestion of having Yelp provide recommendations based on your preferences, instead of overall average star ratings. To make this happen, Yelp would need to figure out a way to collect what your preferences are, first. Maybe if there was a check-in feature to prove that you went somewhere, or collection of GPS data so Yelp could understand where you have visited for 20+ minutes at a time so they could make the reasonable assumption that you ate at that location.
Hi Alexander — I agree that Apple won’t sell the most wearables, and that some lower-cost competitor will likely do that. When I said “Apple is perfectly positioned to not only take over, but to also define the high-end of the market” I meant that they will maintain true to their brand, which is to compete on quality and to go after a more luxury consumer than the Android-type of buyer. I predict that there will totally be a world where you have two or three brands of wearables that capture most of the industry’s profits, with Apple leading the luxury category. Apple has never competed on price, and I definitely don’t see them doing so here.
In addition, not opening up their watch platform to other types of phone users is smart because luxury requires exclusivity. The minute the watch becomes too ubiquitous, it loses its value. While this might seem like a strange thing to do in the tech industry, which is all about scaling up at all costs, this strategy makes perfect sense for a fashionable product, and ensures Apple locks in a profitable business model for its hardware.
I honestly can’t imagine anyone competing with Open Table’s business, precisely because of the huge network of 32,000 restaurants you mention. It seems like a bullet-proof competitive advantage, as Open Table has become the standard for online reservation technology, and the cost to switch among restauranteurs is likely very high — you would have to redesign your website, change business operations, and retrain employees on a new platform if you ever tried to switch. Great post.
Great post. Totally agree that playlists represent high switching costs for users. However, with Apple Music attracting artists that aren’t on Spotify (like Taylor Swift) there appears to be a chink in Spotify’s armor. If competitors can get better or exclusive content, Spotify could lose its user base.
Great post — The fact that Amazon has made the Kindle App accessible to other hardware users is proof that “software is eating the world” — as we learned during the first week of class. As you say, the value is truly in the ecosystem and the content, not in the hardware itself. Although, the fact that Kindle is cheaper than iPad definitely serves as a strong value proposition for the mass market — it’s just very smart to see this as a short-term value creator, while the long-term play is the content.
Wow — loved seeing your demo of the pocket contour app. I’m also very impressed by the fact that Sephora have 4MM app users. My biggest question, though, is how much people are actually using all of the app’s functionality. Research suggests that it’s relatively easy to get someone to download an app, but hard to get them to open it again. And while Sephora does integrate cool technologies like the beacon hot spots in store, a user has to opt in, as well as have location services switched to on in order to receive beacon messaging. My guess is that retail is in the midst of experimenting with all these different functionalities, but that we will see some consolidation of features in the near future.
Great post! I was on the team that launched Walmart’s Savings Catcher. The biggest challenge (as you have aptly called out) is that Walmart is not top of mind amongst digital innovators, creating significant barriers to adoption of their digital services. When you think digital retail, you immediately think Amazon, or perhaps Apple Stores. Hopefully Walmart can be on that list some time soon.
Great post — It’s interesting to think about Tinder, OK Cupid, and Match as a play to win the dater at every stage of their life, allowing IAC Holdings to get us used to the concept of online dating as young adults on Tinder, more serious with dating through OK Cupid, and eventually bought into Match.com when we’re more mature. Smart segmentation of the market, without us even realizing it as a consumer.