Matt Duarte's Profile

I think you make a great point about the delicate balance between monetization and the customer experience given the importance that network effects have on Waze’s model. It is interesting to me that Google owns Waze as well as probably one of its biggest competitors, Google’s own maps platform. It makes sense to push the envelope and figure out the right amount of advertisements consumers will deal with before switching as this targeting advertising is far more effective and valuable than traditional billboards, as you mentioned. Looking into car insurance is a very interesting idea, although similar to the Digital World case, it could cause an inefficient market for those who opt not to use the app due to privacy or other concerns with their own driving ability.

Awesome post Cristina! I think partnering with the official sponsors (Nike/Adidas) of the leagues they plan to enter will be the best way to gain widespread acceptance in those leagues. I also like your B2C idea and think that if more players adopted the technology, it could create a bottom up movement to adopt. The players can benefit from watching this film after a game in order to more accurately recall what decision he or she was faced with and how they could have made a more impactful and positive play. This learning/coaching will be very valuable and can supplement more traditional film study. As in all things sports, visibility through sponsors will be key as people won’t be as impressed watching from the view of a bench player on Barcelona as they will watching from the view of Messi.

Cool post! In addressing one of Rob’s thoughts on a la carte TV, I think its important to keep in mind that while content is key, it is very hard to maintain and recreate great content for long periods of time. In order to maintain the variety and creativity in shows that we experience now, stations should be given leeway to withstand the cyclicality of ratings. This is where the bundling is important as the subsidization is necessary for different stations at different times. AMC, for example, has understandably not been able to maintain the ratings it had during its amazing run with Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Walking Dead, but I do not believe it should be phased out as it has a proven track record of finding good content. Additionally, given that USA does not have a reputation of developing quality original TV series (sorry Burn Notice fans), it could have been phased out before acclaimed show Mr. Robot made it on the air.

Great post Billy. While enhancing the viewing experience is a great goal, I very much agree with Mike’s point about the NFL limiting the potential scope of its fans by stringently monitoring content on social media. In my opinion, one thing the NBA has done extremely well is capturing international fans through disseminating its content on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The league is able to generate interest abroad which has translated to the NBA having over one hundred current international players who often comment that they were first exposed to the league by watching highlights on YouTube. For comparison, the NBA has 23.6 million Twitter followers, 31.6 million Facebook likes, and 7.3 million subscribers to its YouTube channel while the NFL has 20.5 million, 14.9 million, and 1.5 million respectively. Capitalizing on this potential market using its digital platform will be very important for Commissioner Goodell to promote growth going forward.

Interesting post Rob. The stat about Steph Curry taking more threes last year than any team from 1980 through 1994 was particularly startling and shows how much the game has changed in two decades. I also like that you stressed that the art and science go hand in hand while forming a team. In addition to understanding what the most efficient shots should be, Morey knows that talent, above all, wins in the NBA and is willing to be flexible with his ideals to build a champion. While Harden is the perfect player for his strategy, the team recently pursued in free agency power forward Chris Bosh who repeatedly takes and makes more midrange “inefficient” shots than anyone in the league. However, as you mentioned, Morey knows that the additional skills and talent Bosh would have brought to the table would have made him a worthwhile investment. It will be interesting to track who Houston tries to pair with Harden in the years to come.

Extremely interesting and well written post. As you highlighted, I am most interested in evaluating the cost effectiveness of the new route given the large amount of variability that is being introduced, increased investment in ice-enforced ships, increased labor cots given the icebreaker escorts, and possible increase in punitive late payments. While forecasting these costs will be extremely important, I would also want to see information on the approximately 50 ship transits during 2015 (as seen in the WSJ chart). Why has this number of transits decreased in both 2014 and 2015? The chart mentioned fluctuating summer to fall conditions, but could an inability to account for variability have increased costs and also played a part? And given the large investment, what measures/buffers can Eimskip put in place to try to mitigate these potential shifts in weather conditions in any given year? I like the point about analyzing the market opportunity and feel that this is very important but wonder if they will lose a portion of the economic value if they are forced to break the long trip up into several shorter trips, reducing the gap between the Arctic route and Suez Canal route from 13 days to possibly under 10.

It is interesting to see the similarities between Nestle and Mars and how each are setting benchmarks to reduce GHG while simultaneously implementing programs to help farmers learn and practice more sustainable practices going forward. I do think that from the perspective of Nestle, it is important to focus on the farmers in the leading production areas and incentivize them to continue to produce cocoa rather than other crops. As demand continues to grow in the years to come, if suitable areas shrink and the main production areas shift to harvesting other crops, this could cause a big production issue, even if the company is able to identify smaller regions to make up some of the loss. Will the production in these regions be able to make up the loss of the larger regions? Are these regions located close to each other? Could the fragmentation of these producers lead to less consistent quality as well increased transportation and shipping costs? In an ever changing environment, it is important for Nestle to maintain the known commodity of its large producers.

This was a very interesting piece in an industry that I had not previously thought about in terms of environmental issues. I draw parallels to sports arenas as people in attendance are not adequately incentivized to properly throw things away and often leave debris and garbage scattered through the stadium, despite the presence of many disposal areas. While incentives are necessary and I like your idea about providing tax incentives, I would imagine a representative from the film studio or company funding the shoot would need to be on set monitoring the situation in order to realize the benefits as the directors and actors likely will not receive bonuses based on waste prevention. Digitization of scripts seems to be the easiest change to implement and a good way to make all parties familiar with the consequences that these shoots are having on the environment as well as the opportunities available to shift these behaviors.

I would be very interested to see how much the company has had to invest upfront in order to make these changes and successfully cut its water and energy consumption in recent years. Because of its size and position in the market, Marriot has the unique ability and financial means to make this upfront investment that other smaller players in the industry cannot make. Intuitively, it seems that this investment will lead to greater efficiencies and improved profits in the long run and demonstrating these gains not only in terms of environmental performance but tangible financial gains would be one way to encourage a more widespread adoption of these practices. However, competitors simply may not have the means to make this investment which leads me to reserve judgement.

Additionally, I would like to know if these improvements have had a positive influence on the company’s brand in the mind of consumers. Assuming prices and locations are relatively close, do consumers value staying at a more environmentally friendly hotel? I would like to see the result of the rewards program as I find it fascinating to see if people are positively influenced environmentally conscious initiatives. Many of the inefficiencies have to do with consumer behavior and if they cannot be incentivized to change, there will be a ceiling on the progress Marriott can make.

Very interesting post. I did not realize the extreme extent to which water is being wasted in the raw material stage (60%?!) and agree that something needs to be done in order to better align the suppliers’ incentives with those of the environmentally conscious Nike. While forcing farmers to comply is an option, Nike can also provide incentives to their suppliers in the form of a slight price premium to advocate this change, maintaining its existing base and allowing those suppliers who can be more efficient to do so. I agree that changing consumer behavior will be the biggest driver of water conservation and encourage the company to use its powerful marketing platform in order to educate the consumer of these issues. Whether it is on Nike.com or accompanying youtube videos, the company has the reach to influence many consumers by educating them on the water waste problem and how the company is combatting it with innovative products. As we saw in the Nike football case, the company is in a unique position, given it standing in the industry and continued success in connecting with the end user, to rapidly execute change.