@Jesse's Profile

First, I would totally buy a Tray for events and parties. Secondly, it is interesting to think about how a CPG company utilizes digital technologies when their products are by nature not technologies. The A/B ad testing seems like a mechanism that allows the company to more closely monitor its marketing spend, but it does not fundamentally change the way a consumer interacts with the product. The tray is interesting to me because Pernod Ricard is actually attempting to use digital technologies to foster a new product and behavior change (now anyone can be a mixologist and fancy bartender). I agree it will be interesting to see how the company handles the logistical challenges of the refills for the system.

Thanks for a thought provoking post. It is an interesting question as to whether commoditization has finally caught up to the iPhone. Based on investor reactions, it seems that many think that it has. I do see immense opportunity for Apple in the platform/services model that you describe. I do wonder how Apple will balance their notorious data privacy friendly position with this new strategy. Apple is the closest to its users and could serve very customized discovery to each iPhone user. As long as Apple retains the data and does not share this information with third-party developers, I would think that they could begin to do this.

Thanks for a great post! Although it makes sense given market trends to move into more casual mobile gaming, I do wonder what the consequences might be for Activision’s biggest power users. Might they think that Activision is ‘selling out’ or no longer focused on developing in depth console games that have generated so much loyalty to the brand? I am particularly excited about the potential of eSport leagues such as Overwatch League. If Activision can succeed, they can actually create an entirely new industry around jersey sales, live events, etc. However, one question is how to best build this out for a constantly changing landscape of popular games (overwatch today, something else tomorrow). If this is the case, it might be hard for Activision to market ‘Superstars’ because the sport is constantly changing. An analogy being it would be hard for the NBA to market Lebron James if they were constantly switching from Basketball to Hockey to other sports.

Thanks for a great post. I like your idea of ‘Uberifying’ this technology. In order to do so, I think that Otis would need to spin this out as a separate entity that can leverage a disruptive innovation model.

Thanks for this post! I completely agree with your conclusion about the importance of questioning the data being inputed into these algorithms to account for biases. Because of this, it does not appear we are close to a future where human judgement is no longer required even as ML starts to become more common place in different technological applications.

Thanks for a great post! It is fascinating that teams are assigning value to the location of shots such as the restricted area and the corner three point shot. As you mentioned, if a team does not have great three point shooters, then this strategy will fail. I wonder if an analysis of each players most valuable shooting locations could create custom play creation to maximize the most efficient locations for each player.

Great post. I agree that curation was probably the best strategy in this case. I think that this is especially important when crowd sourcing reaches out for input from users who are not personally invested in the outcome (as opposed to individuals who wanted to see the cherry blossoms in the weather news example). Hopefully, Boaty McBoatFace serves as a reminder to platforms trying to leverage the crowd to the potential downsides of no curation.

First, I would definitely try a pina colada oreo. I think it is interesting that different companies have had various levels of success of building community through these type of campaigns particularly related to ‘trolling’ and inappropriate content. Are there differences in technological solutions being used or did Modelez just do a better job of monitoring submissions in real time? I would be interested to learn more about technologies that are trying to catch offensive posts, this seems like a perfect application for current machine learning capabilities.

In my mind, Wikipedia is one of the most fascinating cases of crowd sourced information gathering. It has become so commonplace and ubiquitous that the notion of it being both free and accurate exist in the minds of most without any considerations of how the organization foots the bill. Given its ubiquity, I wonder if Wikipedia could reconsider Ads as a form of monetization without sacrificing the accuracy or experience for users.

Thanks for a great post. I think that you tapped into a great insight.. deeply understanding a niche customer persona and building a product specifically for that vertical can help overcome multi-homing and allows platforms to build network effects. By focusing on gamers, Twitch was able to grow into a major platform despite incumbent free video platforms such as YouTube. Secondly, I think it is interesting that Twitch is moving into video game sales and investing so heavily in eSports. It seems that Twitch is positioning itself as the center platform for video gamers, and creating monetization opportunities for all different stakeholders in the value chain.

I find the conflict inherent in the business model fascinating. As you said, the better The League is at its intended purpose, the worse off the platform is. I believe that the exclusivity might serve as a type of competitive advantage.. users who are accepted likely feel special and important. I would be curious to know how network effects work in a market such as this. For example, is a person who found love on the platform more likely to refer friends than someone who didn’t? Do consumers have any understanding of various matching statistics across different platforms? I think that online dating will remain prevalent in the future, but I also wonder if The League is doing enough to differentiate itself from a growing number of apps.

I find the issue of multi-homing interesting here. Assuming that all EV’s have the same input for charging in the future, I find it difficult to imagine a scenario where this does not become a commoditized offering in the long run. Of course, ChargePoint might be able to sustain a large value capture for a long time given the nascency of the industry.

I am intrigued that ChargePoint is generating sales through a variety of different business types and proving the economics of this hardware in different locations. I don’t know much about the industry but I thought that these chargers were mostly being implemented at gas stations.

I think this is a worthwhile business and will do a lot of good for the world as it will continue to reduce the hesitancy of consumers to purchase fully electric vehicles!

Thanks for this post. It is thought provoking to see how quickly these types of software startups can rise (and fall…). I like the idea of Dropbox moving into blockchain, and given their brand recognition and reach, I imagine they could gain market share quickly. I think the challenge will be customer education (particularly at the enterprise level) about efficacy and safety of using blockchain for internal documents.

Great post! I think it is incredible how by utilizing a simple strategy of IOT locks to remove docking station requirements, Mobike was able to grow and spread so quickly. This is also a great example of a company using technology and a business model that has external benefits to customers. Not only are there now more transportation options, but it is a green solution which is desperately needed!

Great Post – I like what you said about AMC creating a ‘white space’ for new theater entertainment experiences by new market entrants utilizing AR, etc. Unlike GE, AMC is not a technology business so I imagine any major strategic changes that focus on integrating new technological experiences in the theater will be difficult. This leads me to agree that a company like AMC is geared for decline in the upcoming years.