Charu Manglani's Profile

Hey Yi…I wrote on a similar concept of VisualCommerce which is aimed at the retailing and manufacturing industry. Enterprise Solutions is the way to go for them. It looks like this market seems to provide a ready interface to the VR industry and has an easy application. It might get overcrowded soon and therefore there is a need to build a market and gain the first mover advantage.

Hi Caroline…it’s not just their brand that they are leveraging upon. They have added chat features for paid members where you can instantly connect with shortlisted candidates. And all the security measures and detailed information helps establish a connect. Yes, there’s a strong culture and community for marriages which can be arranged. This platform while keeping that tradition liberalises it in a great way

Hi Cathy…the post explains about the differentiating factor. It’s is not just about a 3d visual but extends to the customer being able to experience the furniture in their own home settings. That’s where the customised apps come into play where they charge more.

Hi Caroline…as of now this is a niche space they have got into and are trying to redefine the way these traditional sectors can incorporate technology. The threat of a Google and an Amazon has become a pervasive question we need to live with. Although I don’t see synergies in the business model.

While crowdsourcing companies like Kaggle can help to invite minds to solve complex probems related to machine learning, the challenge for using crowdsourcing in knowledge domains is the ability to accurately communicate the issue in the form of a challenge for it to be resolved. It requires a great amount of interaction with the client to be able to understand their needs. Once that is taken care of, it can certainly help reduce research costs.

99 designs is certainly one of the best crowdsourced companies in the design space. This mode helps the clients have a variety of options to choose from and leverages upon the creative power of a crowd which for an artistic space is a great advantage. However, what can be a deterrent is the ability of managing this crowd and to choose from such a huge variety which the clients are not used to. There is a need to have account managers who can filter these choices for the clients.

Waze is certainly one of the best ways to use crowd-sourcing. I remember tuning in often to FM radio to know roads where traffic is jammed so I could could avoid it. People calling in to give information…its is a good example of how the same information can be channelized to an app and create a more organized platform. The social element added to it is another ace up their sleeves.

This post has been quite a revelation. I agree with Yun and Kunal that HR has always been looked at as a cost centre. I have personally wondered what happens to the 360 degree feedback that I fill each year. Does it yield results? It is good to learn how Google is using that data to actually take decisions for employee management. Hope they are able to build a an enterprise wide platform which can be bought by other organizations.

That is quite a novel way of using wearable devices and applying them to help insurance companies. While it indirectly does help the insurance companies in planning their funds for long term, I do wonder if this can be mass marketed so that every consumer be it current or potential participates.

Very Interesting post Yun. It is especially good to learn how traditional companies are using the power of data to enhance their sales and improve product offerings. We generally hear about data being used only for new age platform based businesses.

Hi Kunal…You have raised a very important point through your post. It is very important for the internal hardware to be able to support the speed and efficiency required to support any AR/VR app. Qualcomm has already started working on this by offering processors chips for smart phones which can be inserted into VR headsets. So this is clearly a growth area for NVIDIA.

That is a very interesting post Boris. Most healthcare VR that I came across were targeting the surgery area of healthcare. This one seems to have caught on a very pertinent problem which is common today and even affects young people. However, they may think of eventually bringing down the cost of the gear and mass market it considering that this can be used both for preventive and curative care.

Good post Andrea. I have been a user of Stay myself and can vouch for the collection they have. I ordered earrings sitting in India and they were delivered to me on the exact promised date. They sure seem to have captured a huge market and created good entry barriers for other players.

Very well written post Kathy. Wechat certainly has become a one stop shop for most needs. I didn’t realise untill I read this post that they had diversified into so many areas through a single application. Not just that, they have carved a well monetized plan while scaling up.

Hi…Thanks for this post. Banking is an area of interest for me and it is interesting to read your well explained post on how some of the tricky aspects like lending have been moved to the internet platform. The challenge here is managing the regulatory environment and how that evolves eventually.

Hi…interesting post. Telemedicine seems to be the next area for technological innovation. The revenue model seems to be pretty sound. It is definitely a growth area in platform business.

Hi Jing,
Payment Banks are now allowed to lend or even issue credit cards. The model Paytm is adopting is to lend working capital loans to the merchants listed with them through tie ups with banks. They, as an entity cannot lend or accept deposits. Or else they would be a Universal Bank which is a separate license.
Thanks

Excellent Post! Very lucidly explained as to how AirBnB creates value both for the consumer and the owner and captures some of that value for it’s own growth. It is indeed a novel concept and has opened up a new option for the traveler, that traditionally would have no option but to book expensive hotels. There are many people who have traditional homes and would not like to sell them but need the property to be in use for it’s maintenance and up keep.

Hi…the title says it all. Netflix certainly is the new age media enabling customers to watch content at their will and of their will. As you rightly pointed out their next growth area would be from global markets. However, it remains to be seen whether they focus more on local content in each market that they expand into or provide global content as well. Are there any regulatory challenges in showing U.S. shows in let’s say India where some of the American shows are still not available on the Indian IP address.

Hi Carolin,
It’s interesting to see that you covered Venmo, since I use the app myself and it’s extremely convenient. I covered Paytm which is also a digital wallet in India. This is certainly an exciting space for the financial services industry. However, my concern with Venmo is that I do not see a robust revenue model in place unless it scales the Pay with Venmo option and ties up with various vendors. In a market like U.S. where debit c card payments are easily acceptable with every vendor, I do not know if Venmo can actually cause disruption in this space. Would be interesting to see them evolve their model further.