Haley's Profile

I think we often hear the cool stories of a new startup coming in and disrupting a traditional industry, so its always good to get a perspective of the flip-side, an incumbent staying tune to trends in innovation and outperforming the startup. I’m assuming that Schwab weighted the cost/benefits of creating its own software vs. attempting an acquisition of Wealthfront or Betterment. Recently that has been an area of interest for me is looking at the strategies behind acquisition vs. internal generation. In the case of asset management, I find it hard to believe that Wealthfront or Betterment will be able to sustain a strategy of “our software is better than yours” given the decades of data, brand recognition, and experience that Charles Scwab has, but time will tell.

Very interesting post! For a lot of Westerners, arranged marriages are almost inconceivable, so it is so interesting to see the comparison here to Match.com and how in a lot of ways they are not that different. While the idea of marriage differs greatly across the globe, it is interesting to see that the barrier toward getting people to look for partners online is strikingly similar. In the US, only 15% of adults have used a dating website or app, with 23% still finding people that use dating websites “desperate” [1]. In terms of their “freemium” business model, I’m curious to see if this remains successful for them and what their conversion rate may be, as we have seen in our marketing classes that the key to success with this model is converting to paid subscribers.

[1]- http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/29/5-facts-about-online-dating/

Interesting post! I didn’t realize there was a separate acronym for IoT in the medical field, but it make sense given how important digitization is to this industry. I liked how you framed the post into two different possible business models. I’m curious as to what other big players in the industry are doing, and if increased acquisitions into tech companies is the primary growth strategy for most in the medical device industry. I’m also curious as to what effect this may have on employees? It seems like there will be a need for more employees with more advanced knowledge of technology, so hopefully the company has education plans in place for the workforce.

Great post on Amazon! It was interesting to read about some of the initiatives as they are making on the developer side. As a consumer, the outward facing strides they are making have been more apparent, but I didn’t realize some of the internal changes they are making to incorporate IoT. Your recommendations are well-thought out and I agree that data security risks are going to be one of the biggest challenges of our generation. The mention of the intersection of government and technology is also an area in which it will be interesting to see what position Amazon takes.

Awesome post Liz! Like Hannah, I have also not heard of this company or new method of tracking employees. Frankly, I am probably on the end of the spectrum that finds this slightly terrifying. While the company insists that they do not record the employees, I that seems hard to believe. Its like when Snapchat says they don’t keep your pictures- sure guys. There are so many scenarios that come to mind in which the employees actions or words could be used against them. That being said, the possibilities you mentioned in analyzing the performance of teams would be a great application, especially if it could increase diversity in some industries.

Well-written post! I think the two suggestions for potential technological improvements are very interesting, and agree that focusing on the product instead of just the production process is a key to success. One of your last thoughts brought up in the post was that this industry is susceptible to different materials that could decrease demand- do you think that they should start exploring diversifying into additional materials like aluminum as well or do you think that would be a mistake given the different processes?

Really like your strategic suggestions! And I agree with your insight that all parties- but ESPECIALLY corporations- need to take a proactive approach to climate change. The impact that government and NGO’s can have is limited by a variety of means (including ineffective legislatures), but the impact that corporations can have can be much more quickly scaled if that investment in the initiatives is taken.

Great post! I wonder if there is room to partner with some of the companies that are looking to tackle this via the direct to consumer method such as Nest or Enlighten? Personally I find the utilities industry super confusing as like you mentioned it is so heavily regulated, even by city. In my home city we only have one option for electricity provider, thus the consumer having the ability to drive demand as you suggested can be somewhat limited to what is offered in those instances.

Super interesting post! Same as the posters above- I would never have guessed the Netherlands gets flowers from Kenya! I am interested in the regulations around the labeling of these flowers. I liked your suggestion about marketing eco-friendliness and I would perhaps even take it further it suggest creating some sort of label like we have around other consumer goods so that consumers are more aware of where the flowers they are purchasing are coming from and what the environmental impact of that purchase has.

Great overview of such an important issue! The globe as a whole has to address these problems, and if only they utilized some of their massive amounts of cash and resources to start funding innovation, than imagine where we would be today. Totally agree with your plea to diversify and become truly an “energy” company. The oil and gas industry is such an important one, with so many people’s (and countries’) livelihoods depending on it, but being proactive with regard to our planet’s future is a necessary action.