Elisa's Profile

Great blog post Megan! I think a big factor for success in this space is trust given how intimately the doula will be involved in this special moment. As such, referrals will likely be really important for June. Although a given woman many only have a few children, I think is a big opportunity for June to offer a creative referral rewards programs to broaden their customers base.

I think this is an interesting point to bring up Jona. Personally, I love in person work out classes. However, Covid has given me the opportunity to try out many at-home workouts and I’ve found I really enjoy them and could see myself continuing with them in the real world instead of going to as many in person classes. I wonder how the free trials offered right now by Peloton, Down Dog etc. will impact people spending money in the future on in person classes.

Great article! This really resonated with me as I bought the Switch – my first gaming console – as soon as classes were cancelled. Since then, I’ve bought many games and feel firmly locked into the Nintendo ecosystem so I think you’re spot on with this assessment. I agree that they are missing a big opportunity to capture value by not being able to bring more consoles to market. I wonder if they can make up for this bottleneck by expediting a new blockbuster game and try to lock in as many users as possible while they have a captive audience.

Of course!

Thanks for writing about this! I remember once reading that one of their early hires was from the Netflix data science team and this created a culture building out robust capabilities in this area. For me this highlights the importance of picking the right early executives as they will have a lasting impact on the the DNA of your company. Based on your blog post, it sounds like Katrina made an excellent choice in this respect as data analytics has been key to Stitch Fix’s success.

Thanks for writing about this! I agree that group think is a big challenge with their business model. Further, I question how likely employees are to publicly disagree with someone senior on the platform and that it can lend itself to everyone agreeing with the person who has the most power. I think this could be particularly true at large financial institutions – which they are targeting – as they typically have a very rigid hierarchy.

Thanks for writing about this! I think the piece you brought up about attracting talent is really key in Walmart’s case. It’s really challenging to drive large scale innovation without the right team in place. The high competition for tech talent, especially in the bay area and New York where their teams are located, seems like it will be a consistent challenge for the company in the future. Although they might have many ideas for how to use AI and machine learning to improve their business it will be interesting to see the extent to which these can be deployed quickly.

I agree that this service sounds great. I found your point about the buffer time added to appointments interesting. I wonder if this barrier to scaling and improving the economics will be reduced at scale if a given provider can book appointments at locations close to each other.

I think your point about ASOS’s global reach is really interesting. More than any other retailer I’ve used, they’ve built out a truly global distribution network for both delivery and returns. I wonder if this access to previously unreachable markets will help keep brands on the platform despite sales being squeezed by ASOS knockoffs.

I think the points you raised about Faire’s sustainability are really interesting especially with the payment terms. I am curious to see their ability to maneuver the current environment and a recession. On one hand, large gatherings, including trade shows, being canceled and may lead to small businesses and makers turning to Faire out of necessity driving both sides of the platform. On the other, recessions typically hit small businesses the hardest which will be challenging to makers, retailers and Faire.

Such an interesting topic! I had no idea about the partnership with Nintendo and its heavy use of data analytics. I’m curious if other museums around the world have followed suit or if the Louvre is pioneering innovation in the industry.

Definitely think Glossier is a winner too! As a customer, I never considered how user engagement with impacted the product development cycle and provided Glossier with key customer insights. I’m curious as to how Glossier is systematically capturing data and using it when designing new products.

I agree that entering into the grocery market was a great move on Amazon’s part! It will be interesting to see if Amazon will expand its footprint beyond urban and suburban areas where Whole Foods are typically located or if it will leave less populated areas to other competitors.