Wabantu Hlophe's Profile

Really interesting post, Eleanor! Main question I have for you is what the overall impact of this tech can be for the energy industry. Is this going to move the needle, particular in terms of affecting carbon emissions, or is it a band aid over a gunshot wound?

Thanks David – this is a fascinating post! The question I have for you is whether you think this will become the standard, given the difficulties of working with governments. This could save tax payers billions but is government ready to join the AI revolution?

This is a cool post, Sam! The question I have for you is whether the potential for AI in gaming can be unlocked without the use of cloud computing, meaning always online games. With Xbox leaking a hybrid console for 2028, I think it’s interesting to consider whether we’re going to see the real arrival of AI in games when we get next gen consoles.

Thanks Carmen, this is fascinating. As someone who rents cars often, I’m curious to know if you believe Turo will eventually have to vertically integrate somewhat and have teams of mechanics, etc. ready to service vehicles as they scale? In other words, once they have a large enough number of people on the platform, doesn’t it necessitate a minimum quality guarantee to ensure user retention, limiting the platform’s scalability?

Really interesting post! One question I have for you is whether the TAM is limited by sophistication of the restaurant and maturity of the business. You mentioned the 30% failure rate but I wonder if that actually becomes higher if you account for restaurants on a global scale and you consider mom & pop shops that might well have too little working capital to sustain this sort of investment. Should Toast eye a particular segment to ensure long-term sustainability?

Interesting post! As a Bumble user, I’ve always wondered about the potential conflict of interest – if Bumble do their job, users should use the app for a few months and then never again. To what degree do you think Bumble limits its functionality to drive scale and vice versa?

This is a super interesting post, thanks David! I’m keen to hear your view on how Tesla will overcome growing geo-political tensions between its major markets? In particular, it’s critical to the Tesla business model to have a DTC business model enabling them to control the full customer journey and associated pricing. Part of that equation also involves reliance on owning all the data along that journey. As different territories become increasingly paranoid about what data firms can and cannot own, will Tesla have to de-couple its approach and adopt a dealership model in some places e.g. China? If so, how might that break their model and R&D trajectory?

Thanks for this, Aliza! I’m curious to understand whether you think this was a good idea to begin with? It may seem odd given that it’s a big business (though obviously performing poorly), but I wonder whether the use of big data brings anything genuinely unique to the equation. If one gave top-tier stylists from different backgrounds, the same individual’s measurements, could they not more cheaply and perhaps more creatively suggest outfits and styles that were genuinely stand out? Put differently, is big data primarily useful to capture the mean preference and if so, to what degree does that defeat the purpose in arenas like fashion where individual expression is typically intended not to conform to the mean?

Fascinating post Asra! I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the tension between the creation of art and meeting consumer preferences. Past executives of great renown in the entertainment industry have often argued that as much as meeting customer preference is desirable, it’s also true that “people have no clue what they want until we give it to them.” To what degree does data analytics in this context miss the broader need for great stories to be told? As an example, until the (English speaking) world experienced Squid Games, it wasn’t all that obvious that there was room for Korean-language media content. Now it might seem absurd not to view it as possible. Is Max focusing on the wrong part of its strategy?