Vartan Pahalyants's Profile

Thank you for sharing, Julia! I wonder if the farmers are getting any sort of training on how to interpret the data beyond of what is shown on their dashboard. I think this technology has the potential to benefit smaller scale farmers across the country.

Thank you for sharing Marcos! I wonder if Tempus can get behind the HIPAA and other regulations within the space to ever make it in broad scale clinical practice. I do not think people will easily give it up.

Thank you for sharing Omar! I wonder if Netflix’s recipe for success by using data analytics will stifle future production creativity. Netflix crushed it at the Oscar’s last year when it comes to nominations. They also clearly know how to make content that people will bing watch, but I wonder if the company can produce classics that we will keep rewatching when we are much older.

Hi Merrill, although I cannot find concrete proof of Netflix, some articles referenced above allude to them using popularity of certain actors in casting decisions. I too think it is interesting how formulaic they can get before every production starts to feel like something that their viewers had already seen.

Excellent post, Almas! Do you think Disney’s technology has not kept up with the times? With the COVID-19 pandemic shaking up the movie theater industry, much of the entertainment today is delivered through direct streaming. I doubt anyone will be watching Disney+ with their cameras on if they know that Disney is tracking them. Do you think these analytics of movie theater attendees will prove to be a worthwhile over investment into streaming user behavior on Disney+, the area where Netflix has found so much success?

Thank you for a great post, Francisco! Do you think Nike’s move to Data Analytics was intended to drive online sales or do you think it was a natural extension as a purpose brand of bringing the training of star athletes to the masses?

Thank you for a great post, Tim! Data analytics are being widely integrated into professional sports, as we most recently seen with the Footbonaut, it makes sense that for a game that relies so heavily on precision, tennis is going to follow suit. As a follower of professional tennis, I am personally a big fan of the Hawkeye feature, as it leaves no room for doubt in the linesmen’s calls that often seen questionable when watching from afar. However, so much of the game is mental, I wonder what impact the technology will have if its use in professional games in not limited to the 3 challenges per set that players have today. Additionally, Tiffany raises a great point about the equitable availability of the product. The history of the game is rich in rags to riches stories from Serena Williams to Maria Sharapova. I wonder how this technology will affect new player development. I am also curious to hear your thoughts on the criticisms that the Hawkeye technology received in the past with regards to its limited availability to the center courts at some tournaments, where only the top players get to use it.

Shekeyla, I definitely agree. I think Twitch faces the same problem that Reddit is facing in terms of needing to monitor toxic behavior. Unlike Reddit, however, it is much more difficult to moderate live content. I too think they would benefit from diversity at all levels of the company. Increased diversity can also help them ideate new ways of expanding into other content areas.

Great post, Tiffany! I am curious to see how much for the growth the industry has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic was captured by Sweat. I would not be surprised if Peloton and other competitors that cross sell their fitness apps with work out products saw most of the industry’s growth. Also, what are your thoughts on disintermediation? I am curious what stops Sweat’s star trainers, such as Kayla, from leaving the platform and offering a standalone product?

I am a big believer in telemedicine and loved seeing the industry’s growth over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. I think BetterHelp contributes to the availability of therapists, as it allows providers who see patients in-person as a full-time job, moonlight in the evenings and on weekends. However, given the pricing of the platform the increased availability might not be accessible to the underserved populations who are in great need for mental health services. Additionally, I am curious how the company might respond to an entrant such as Teladoc, which dominates the telemedicine market. Teladoc recently acquired Livongo, which offers mobile health solution to behavioral health. I believe it is only a matter of time before they begin offering teletherapy.

Having used the platform for several of my friend’s weddings, I found it to be very convenient. I find their gift exchange idea brilliant, as it allows the wedding couple to exchange the gift they have received for store credit, without their guests ever finding out. I am curious how popular this feature is and its impact on vendor order execution.

Regarding brand promotion, I wonder if Zola would benefit from a referral program as many peers marry in close time proximity to each other.

I wonder if life insurances will be a logical partner as they benefit from preventative health efforts much more than employers and payors, which on average lose its employees and members in less than 3 years.

I see a lot of potential for the company to leverage their strong relationships with hospital systems and public health departments to collect and monetize anonymized patient data by selling it to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, they have been able to build an expertise in guiding public health policies to mitigate spread of infections, which can be applied to future outbreaks. Although I am certain or perhaps hopeful that we will not have another pandemic in our lifetimes.

You raise a great point, Marcos. Despite making their technology and digital platforms available to other laboratories, few could justify investing in new equipment required to run CLIA testing, due to capital expenditures required, limited physical space in testing laboratories for new machines, and inferior ability to automate the entire testing process by focusing on a single test for COVID-19.

InstaCart has had an incredible year. I agree that their biggest accomplishment was to normalize the behavior of no longer having to do your own grocery shopping, previously limited to a select few, for the masses, which positions them well for the post COVID-19 world. I wonder what their exit strategy will be. Do they sell to a car-sharing company, as was done by Grizzly (sold to Uber for 1.1 billion dollars) or continue operating? It is also great to see the company thrive despite similar services offered by Amazon Fresh/Whole Foods, Stop and Shop/Peapod, and Walmart/Walmart+.

I think the key to success for companies like Nurx is making healthcare that is based on standardized algorithms. However, the barrier to entry is relatively low and the market is becoming crowded with players like Lemonaid Health, hims/hers, Pill, roman, among several others establishing large customer bases. I am curious to see how many of the companies born out of this pandemic will still be there a year or two from now.

Telemedicine has a bright future, with many patients and their providers not willing to go back to the “old ways.” As you astutely pointed out, reimbursement has been the greatest barrier to the adoption of telemedicine. Although telemedicine has greatly increased access to care, a real concern for payors and legislators is that it has made it “too accessible.” Within the field of dermatology, there is a concern that patients will utilize telemedicine to get evaluations for every new lesion on their body. However, I think it is important to note the indirect cost savings of seeing a provider remotely, such as commuting and time off from work. I see a promising future for telemedicine as a B2B business, boosting productivity by allowing employees to use their spare time at work to receive health evaluations as opposed to taking sick time.