Molefe Choane

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How a fast-growing payment processor uses AI to prevent payment fraud
Molefe Choane
Last modified on April 21, 2021 at 5:31 pm
Online payment processor Adyen uses AI and machine learning to reduce online payment fraud by accessing customer data.
How Square Capital uses traditional and non-traditional data sources to extend loans to merchants
Molefe Choane
Posted on March 23, 2021 at 5:20 pm
Square was able to democratize small business lending by using traditional banking methods as well as using machine learning algorithms to better underwrite small businesses .
WeWork – How mystic energy led to a superfluous valuation
Molefe Choane
Posted on March 2, 2021 at 5:06 pm
Capture the rise and fall of WeWork. Taking the lense of how WeWork created and captured value and then looking at how it wasn't scalable and sustainable.
Paypal reaches record growth numbers as ‘digital first’ world becomes a reality.
Molefe Choane
Posted on February 11, 2021 at 8:18 pm
Paypal’s financial performance highlighted in the Q4 has been nothing short of extraordinary. The acceleration of digital payments over the pandemic has been a key driver to their performance.

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On March 3, 2021, Molefe Choane commented on Quality Broadcast in Quick Bites :

Thanks for the article Cristina, I am still trying to grapple with the platform didn’t work and I think your article touches on it and maybe not directly. I think if you think about the format of your short-form video sites like Youtube and Tiktocks – they never sought to convert traditional media into ‘new’ media for young people. Their strategy was to directly create content (usually low quality vs. traditional media) which definitely worked and once having a strong base could then move upmarket.

This reminds me of Clay Christensen theory on low-end disruption. It works by creating a product that is of lower quality and cheaper than the incumbent product. This usually attracts less paying consumers. The incumbent (trad. media) has no incentive to compete as they make more money where they are. The issue is that the lower quality and cheaper product can easily move upmarket and supersede traditional media.

The issue with Quibi was that it wanted to be a high-quality product to directly compete with incumbents in a market that incumbents are interested in. This never makes for great strategy.

On March 3, 2021, Molefe Choane commented on Clubhouse – The Audio-Only Platform :

Great article Pranav. I see a lot of comments about how creators will struggle to monetize. I think of the analogy of podcasts and how people like Joe Rogan apparently made $30M of his podcasts. So the assumption on audio-only not making money is not true. The second basis for people saying that it will not make money is the unrecorded nature of the platform. I also see an analogy to how television originally works. The television shows with the most views are the ‘lives’ of first-time play and they garner most of the ad revenue. If Clubhouse were to grow to get a significant amount of listeners what is stopping it to get advertising revenue like recorded podcasts and not even more?

On March 2, 2021, Molefe Choane commented on OnlyFans: Revolutionizing the Online Sex Industry? :

Great post. My worry is on the sustainability of the company. 20% of commissions may also be seen as too high, why would a competitor – sponsored by a celebrity not charge 10% and get all of the users. The network effects on this business are low as all you have to do is attract the content creators to a new site promising lower commissions and then everyone else would move.