Bruce Willis's Profile

Thank you, NCB (“National Commercial Bank a.k.a. AlAhli Bank”?) for your post. Your post was a joy to read as it brings up a theme that I, Bruce Willis, have heard repeatedly (yes, I engage in thoughtful conversations, not just “Die Hard” movies). The theme is: Everyone speaks about data, but how to use it? Especially for old industries such as yourself in an emerging market (do confirm if you are NCB). Helping companies such as yourself make use of data will help emerging countries improve productivity and advance in their pursuit of becoming a developed country.
Reading your post gave me further food for thought. First, will McKinsey stifle Quantum Black’s growth? Quantum Black appeared to be a threat to all consulting firms, and now being owned by one of them raises the question if McKinsey will let Quantum Black grow unhindered or if in protecting their current business model, McKinsey will try to integrate them limiting Quantum Black’s full potential. I understand the benefits you describe but being in a still nascent field (as machine learning) I would be afraid (and I’m normally not afraid) that the parent company, won’t be nimble enough to adapt to new fast moving requirements.

Thank you, Michelangelo, for your post. It is informative and has enabled me to understand a new benefit of having the Model 3 on the road – it is normally touted by Tesla as a way to bring affordable electric car to the masses, but your analysis shows that it also has benefits for the company, bringing in larger streams of data to feed its algorithms.

Shifting gears (will need a new expression for electric cars) to your point on collaborating with NVIDIA or AMD. I understand the benefit of collaborating with firms that their sole purpose of existing is the development of a specific product. Though, having followed the company for a while (my ex-wife Demi Moore is a Tesla Fanatic) I have seen that the pace to which Tesla moves is unprecedented, putting to much stress on suppliers which eventually don’t move as fast as Tesla needs them to do. A case in point of this has been integrating the seat manufacturing. Given the low response of Tesla’s previous supplier it has now brought it in-house. If Tesla did this for a “low” value part of their car, I imagine developing a custom chip for autonomous driving justifies itself to bring it in house even more so (at least during this stage were the industry is barely starting). I am sure this resonates with you Michelangelo, wanting to own the whole Sistine chapel ceiling.

Thank you, Tyrion Lannister. I have seen BuzzFeed news before without having any idea on their business model. Your post has enlightened me. Two things intrigued me from your post.

First is the knowledge that crowdsourcing has its downsides if not managed well. BuzzFeed constraint in prohibiting political content makes the case for this. I would be very interested if this restriction came after a mishap or if it was just an area where BuzzFeed preferred not to concentrate.

The second that I found interesting is the feature for telling their contributors what stories have yet to be told. BuzzFeed, having the data of what their customers read and enjoy, is in a prime position to nudge contributors to certain areas. Your analysis of the deficiencies that this feature has is very thoughtful, laying a concrete set of ideas that BuzzFeed could enact to further promote submitting the “untold” stories.

To conclude, your final consideration warning on having non-credible stories/Fake News is on point (I’m sure you this issue is close to your heart having worked with Varys and Little Finger). Facebook decided to counter unfounded stories by hiring dozens of curators. BuzzFeed could go down this road as well, but not having the financial capabilities that Facebook has might find it difficult. I would be interested in the development of the ideas you stated (e.g., utilizing software). Potentially they could use open innovation to find a solution.

Thanks for sharing your post King Mbaku. First, glad to know Airbnb arrived to Wakanda. Second, you should use Airbnb to escape your cold mountain.
Regarding your post, it has been an eye opener on how Airbnb operates. I did not know multiple of their new features (e.g., trips, plus, experiences) had come through their own network. I appreciated your detailed explanation of how Airbnb has approached open innovation. Setting up super hosts and open forums seems like a simple thing, but their impact has been incredible. About the open forums, it has sparked the interest in me on how Airbnb nurtures the forum and avoids it on diverging into meaningless communication. Monitoring and guiding the conversation in a natural way must be a skill on itself.
I also found interesting your statement that Open Innovation does not forcefully need financial incentives for it to occur. Though generally this may be true, I find that in Airbnb’s case there is a financial incentive. For example, “Experiences” provide a new way for hosts, and/or new people to make money. This I find is the edge that Airbnb has, and must have to avoid being disrupted as you warned. If Airbnb continues to enable other people to use its platform in different ways for their livelihood, Airbnb will have a prosperous future. But, if it starts protecting areas of its business and inhibiting innovation, there might lie the chance for a new entrant to disrupt their business.

Mr. Ruffin, thank you for posting your article. Reading the Nike shared with us by our Marketing professor I was very surprised by the time to market Nike professed to have per product. Three years! “Just doing it” seemed flat. With your post, I know appreciate that Nike is aware and “Just doing business” with some thought behind it. I appreciate your explanation on how 3D printing will bring faster prototyping and testing, enabling them to shorten the time to market.
Furthermore, I agree with you that Nike should double down on 3D printing and start promoting its bet. I, Bruce Willis, having been born in Germany to a German mother, am very aware of the leaps Adidas has been doing in 3D printing, and had the a priori conception that Nike is a laggard in this area. Nike is still in time to reverse the idea that is losing its technological edge. I hope, as an American patriot, that Nike leadership listens to you.
Your article has also given me food for thought, specifically in two areas. First, finding shoes that fit just perfect is rare to find. I would be interested in knowing if Nike is exploring or already developing ways to print shoes specific to each customer. Second, understanding that all main players are moving into 3D printing, I dwell on what can Nike do to differentiate itself. Are there new possibilities apart from doing lighter shows? What is the next frontier?

Thanks for sharing the post TH. Facebook ads of MoS have started to appear in my news feed that up until now I completely ignored. With your post now, I may become a customer.

This new-found credibility comes because of how you laid out the benefits of 3D printing in the apparel industry. Two areas stand out for me.

First, I, Bruce Willis, have a top-notch body form, but given my enormous muscles I understand the difficulty of finding clothes that just fit perfectly. Tall skinny colleagues (e.g., Eliot) in your section might suffer from the same issue, where a medium size might just be bit short, and a large size might make them feel as a dad with no taste for fashion. MoS will start a revolution if it is able to make clothes designs specific for each body with a price that is comparable to current apparel.

Second, is the current trend of millennial life. Studying your class closely, your generation wants to be flexible and ready for any new challenge while remaining stylish. (It is a quality that resonates with me, as you can appreciate my Die Hard movies). I hadn’t appreciated that by using 3D-printing seams disappear in clothes. As stated by you, this simple thing becomes a major improvement in durability.

Shifting gears to your questions and concerns.

Regarding innovations that can be made with machine learning: I would say that further improvement can come by monitoring the use of MoS clothes. With the Intelligent Heat Jacket you mentioned, MoS is introducing a power source in their apparel. Having this asset in, MoS could start monitoring variables such as time of use, sunlight exposure, humidity, friction, heat generation, and associate these variables with material, moment of tear, area of rip, among other factors. Having this data, may provide insights to MoS on which materials are better, what products are used the most (bring more benefit to their customer), and many more options. It would be an interesting moment to be in the apparel industry.