MA's Profile

Extremely interesting post! Seems like they want it to be a “smartphone on wheels” but not sure how different their cars are from what’s already out there. In addition to differentiation, what are your thoughts on privacy and the collection of all this data? I would also be curious to see how auto insurance companies will also address this “car-sharing” idea.

Great read! I believe Starbucks has done a tremendous job of connecting and combining its loyalty program with the digital payment system in an extremely simple, user-friendly way. Given that the app and payment system can only be used at Starbucks locations, what are your thoughts on the possibility of expanding the application further?

Extremely interesting article! I would be curious to see the extent to which digital currencies would compete with the main form of money in the economy. Some admirers of bitcoin see it as a means of bypassing central banks altogether. Conversely, others see the distributed ledger as an opportunity for the central bank to expand its role, via a “central bank digital currency” available to a much wider group of counterparties. Here is an interesting article I came across: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2016/886.aspx

Very informative, thank you! I was also thinking about the insurance industry and how they view a company like Teledoc. Teledoc recently lost one health insurer relationship, Highmark, which chose not to renew its contract with Teladoc for fully insured members. Relationships with health insurers might prove to be key in securing long-term growth in addition to other issues mentioned above, such as quality of care and user adoption.

Really interesting article. It definitely seems like high-end cameras such as the ones that Canon produces are less and less likely to attract mass audiences and targeting professional photographers is the right, maybe only, move. Have you considered their move of focusing more on video vs. still cameras? That move could target the film industry and might position them better in the long-run.

As someone who has always wanted to visit Maldives, I found your post fascinating. However, I must admit – my view of Maldives was limited to beautiful pictures I had seen online and similar accounts from friends and family who had visited the islands. Naturally, I found some of the points that you brought up gripping. What are your thoughts on municipal wastes that are smothering corals in neighboring reefs? Did you consider the effects of inadequate municipal incineration that causes severe air pollution during the monsoon season? I’m wary that attempts to solve one environmental problem have merely resulted in the proliferation of others. Clearly, the Maldives faces a variety of economic and development problems that are compounded by a restricted natural resource base and rapid population growth.

Extremely interesting post! It makes sense that tourism depends on good snow conditions and is highly sensitive to snow-deficient seasons. Research findings show that there will be an increase in the number of winters with little snow on account of climate change. What are your thoughts on technical measures, especially artificial snow-making, to maintain ski tourism rank at the forefront? As an avid skier yourself, have you noticed any change in consumer behavior that has led you to choose one resort over another during certain times of the year? Tourists demand good snow conditions, and hence, this is what has to be offered by the ski resorts. The impacts of climate change will involve significant costs for tourism, and behind these costs are the people who are directly affected.

Extremely interesting post, King! Spending more time on Coca Cola’s sustainability practices, I am pleasantly surprised by how committed they are to reducing their impact on climate change. The Company’s commitment to finding innovative ways to mitigate the environmental effects of its operations and products and, in particular, linking climate change to its leadership on water stewardship issues and to its work with supply chain partners on packaging is extremely interesting. What is your take on the efficiency of their manufacturing plants, the distribution fleet, and cold drink equipment? Do you think their target to improve the energy efficiency of cold drink equipment by 40-50% is achievable?

Great read, Steve (can’t say I’m surprised – wouldn’t expect anything else). It seems like the future of food is becoming more bizarre by the minute – from meat grown in labs to all that’s featured on Season 2 of Chef’s Table. Being a foodie, I’ve never had so much to think about. According to an article, it took over multiple hundreds of millions of dollars and five years for Impossible Foods to create the burger – arduous amount of time and resources! What are your thoughts on how the Company can most effectively market its burger? Which consumer demographic would you target first? As a meat lover yourself, how likely is it that you (and other meat-lovers) will eventually switch to only eating non-meat burgers?

Thank you for sharing, Bhargav – really interesting read! Having spent the last three years in California and witnessing the drought issues first hand, your post definitely helped put certain issues in perspective. Being a big consumer of almonds myself, it was especially intriguing to learn about their impact on the environment, specifically water consumption. It seems like WhiteWave has actually made strides in recent history with regards to its sustainability practices – would be great to hear your thoughts on the following:

WhiteWave has earned its position on the index by disclosing high quality carbon emissions and energy data through CDP’s climate change program. The reported data has been independently assessed against CDP’s scoring methodology and marked out of 100. Those organizations graded within the top 10% constitute the CDLI. WhiteWave has scored 99B out of a 100A. (http://www.whitewave.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Climate-Change-Transparency-of-WhiteWave-Recognized-by-CDP_12.14.15.pdf)