David Anderson's Profile

Nice post, Arturo! I remember in its early days Zipcar required its customers to return the car to the same location from which they rented it. Do you know if this policy has since changed, and if not, do you think Zipcar will have to make such changes in order to create more value for its customers within such a competitive landscape, as mentioned in the comments above?

One of my favorite examples of a company with a very similar operating model is a local startup in Cambridge called Zagster. Zagster is a bike-sharing company that works with cities, universities, and corporations to create customized bike-sharing solutions (think Hubway within Boston). Check it out if you’re curious! – http://zagster.com/

Awesome post! My last company was a customer of Zenefits and I can attest to the fact that its management team has been able to effectively align its operating model to encourage its employees to provide excellent customer service. The sleek interface is designed for customers to be able to serve themselves, but on the couple of occasions in which I did require additional assistance, the staff at Zenefits was extremely responsive and helpful. I’m very interested to see how the more conventional players respond as Zenefits continues to expand its footprint and becomes a more serious threat.

Good stuff, Ranime! Like Ching-Ching, I’m left wondering about Pinkberry’s long-term potential. While you noted Pinkberry had the advantage of being a first mover, are you worried that Pinkberry will be forced to expand its menu as competition floods the market with a wider variety of innovative flavors for its customers? Do you see Pinkberry ever expanding into grocery stores or would that take away from the brand’s streamlined experience that its users have grown to love in its stores?

Hey Arturo – thanks for the feedback! I completely agree that Topgolf needs to strike a balance between attracting new customers (non-golfers) to the game without simultaneously neglecting its customer base comprised of true golf aficionados (myself included). They do currently offer membership options with varying benefits, most notably of which is the ability for cardholders to skip the line upon arrival. While these membership options have sufficed to date, it will be interesting to see if Topgolf finds a need to further differentiate its operating model in order to cater towards its different customer segments as the user base continues to expand.