Viria Vichit-Vadakan's Profile

Thanks for the piece Ali! I appreciated your insights on looking at Paloton’s TAM. I would assume that the market is not saturated in the international market, and this could yield interesting opportunity for expansion globally. Paloton was very well-positioned to grow in this crisis and before considering the quality of product they have had and the brand trust created even before this crisis. As spending for users become limited, ensuring the quality and service becomes important when purchasing.

Great piece Megan! Thanks for sharing. June is extremely well-positioned for this crisis and beyond. June’s target customers is a population that is truly undeserved with a strong pain point that can greatly benefit from June’s offerings. I like June’s approach to make reliable information accessible, and for June’s customers to feel supported with a community that care. The situation that expected mom’s face is already is social isolating even without the COVID 19 pandemic, so I see great potential for the company beyond this pandemic.

Great article Cherish! It’s very interesting to understand how the dating apps have been able to adapt so quickly, and it shows that they are very good at understanding its customer during this crisis. It seems like the growth has been due to those who are feeling isolated because of social distancing and wanting to “connect” more with others versus “dating”. I’m curious to see after the pandemic if the dating apps will be able to retain its new users that started to use it due to social distancing.

Great piece Cherish! As someone who was once an Etsy customer, the change in its value proposition, as you greatly detailed, appearing to the mass as it is forced to scale definitely created a negative impact on myself as a customer. In times that we are facing with COVID 19, where people are buying things that are “needs” versus things that can be viewed as “luxury” it will be challenging times for Etsy as a niche player in the e-commence business to appeal to users sentiment.

Great analysis Rocio! MasterClass compared to other online learning education in the market seems to have a clear value proposition that is differentiated–attracting best in class athletes, artists, and entertainers to teach the course. I’m curious about the retention rate and the types of users its truly attracting. In a world where credentialing is still highly valued by companies, and as we know the online education still suffers from completion rates and positions itself as a career pathway, I wonder if this is a product that could really sustain in the long run? Will we pay to learn purely for enjoyment? It’s definitely an exciting company with a unique focus in the intersection of education and entertainment.

Great article and analysis Zoom’s strength in both network effects and also network bridging. It will be interesting to see if Zoom will able to maintain its market dominance in the video conferencing market post epidemic. The success of Zoom is signaling a huge opportunity in this space. Currently a public company with Zoom’s recent IPO, it will be interesting to see how Zoom maintain its innovation and growth. Will it focus on its core technology or will it need to develop adjacent products to expand its scale and better service its existing customers?

It’s great to read how commitment Sephora is to digital transformation and its knowledge on customer pain point and in-store experience. I’m curious to know its long term strategy in regards to digital and how to find the balance especially in the in-store experiences. For example, what is the right formula for a great customer experience between a digital assistant AI and a in-store beauty adviser/customer service rep?

Great analysis of Stitch Fix Cherish! I appreciated the context to understand the customer pains in regards to retail before Stitch Fix existed. As other clothing brands become more sophisticated in utilizing personal data, I wonder how defensible is Stitch Fix model compared other competitors or even potential new entrants from larger players who also have power brands?

Super interesting piece. It seems to be that the product Fitbit it promising more than it can delivered considering the lack of significant research shown that the technology can lead to improvements in health outcome. The fact that users also abuse their data to feel better hacking the system also doesn’t lead to health improvements. I think of relationships between input and outcome. There is more work to be done on the proving outcomes. I’m curious to know your take whether wearable technology is the right intervention, and if so, what needs to happen in both the product and strategy side to make it a success and not a failure.