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Great post Brian! I completely agree that biofeedback is the next step for headspace so users can actually see if they made progress with their meditation. I had an uber driver a few weeks ago who was telling me about his startup idea creating a biofeedback meditation ball that gets brighter or levitates as you make progress during your meditation so you can tangibly see the benefits right infront of you! I think headspace should partner with or develop a device like this that comes with your membership (more incentive to become a member vs. stay on the free trial) so you can have the benefit of seeing your progress. Plus, some fun visual like this could be a social media hit like the way a Casper mattress pops out of the box.

Great post! I think another key opportunity for aethenahealth is partnering with companies like Flatiron Health to consolidate the vast array of data available through analyzing EHRs to make the data useable and useful towards improving healthcare overall. Also, are these EHR platforms between PCP offices talking to each other and learning best practices through each other? This could be another way for aethenahealth to differentiate their positioning as an EHR in a way they are more appropriate for given their system has no customization theorhetically making consolidation of information and cross communication easier.

I love the idea of taking these monitoring devises to the next level by having them actually intervene to solve the issue arising. Beyond issues of parent-baby bonding brought up, the huge risk when these monitoring devices or intervention devices fail to deliver makes me incredibly nervous. I wonder if this device and monitoring might fit best for a pet vs. a human baby. Parents cannot leave their babies alone at home without someone watching over them, but do leave their pets at home when they go to work or even go out of town for a day. We love our pets and some spend even more on caring for their dogs than caring for their babies! Expanding control in pet care, and having a device on your dog tell you how much they ate or drank and be able to react in providing more water or food as needed while the adults are not around could be a very lucrative application of this technology.

Really enjoyed reading this post. I think you are spot on in thinking drug development is not the next best step for 23andme, and expanding their DTC offerings is a more logical next step. Maybe they could try to develop dominance in the DTC information space – briding the gap between EMRs and EHRs and patients by providing more transparent data directly to the patient, and perhaps feeding that back to the doctor. Creating a bridge between their current genetic sequenching offering and a connection to physicans who could help patients with the data surfaced could also be a way for them to take up more mindshare (and revenue) in the space.

Great post! I really enjoyed learning about Amazon pulling a 180 on digitization and going towards building brick and mortar stores – the ones it built its business on disrupting. I am not entirely surprised that e-book sales are flattening out given the push to spend time away from screens, but I would be curious to see the data for physical book sales and how it compares. Are these sales increasing as e-book readers switch to printed versions, or are all book sales declining as we have access to more and more information online without even purchasing the book on a subject.

For an industry so negatively impacted by rising temperatures associated with climate change, I am surprised Intrawest Resort Holdings and others in the ski resort industry are not doing more to combat climate change’s destruction. Could they find opportunities to decrease their energy and water usage and become more vocal advocates of doing your part to care for our environment and preserve our ability to ski? I really like that they are trying to diversify their options, and perhaps focus more on summer sports and activities to be able to maintain revenue streams despite climate change’s impact on their primary business. But while this is a clever plan, it is sad to see they are more focused on these risk mitigation tactics to help their company vs. focusing on ways to make a change in the way we are destroying our environment, and the future of skiing in the US and Canada.

Fascinating post! Increasing consumer prices sounds like a great way to support broader farmer financing. Perhaps making this more tangible to consumers, explaining the price increase publicly as going directly to farmers to help them with sustainable farming practices could be a way to increase awareness and show Mars is a company prioritizing sustainability. I am intrigued that Mars is committing to making their entire supply chain sustainable by 2020, but am hesitant to laud these efforts as I am not sure what barometers they are using to ensure these changes are making a positive impact on the environment, and if these barometers are reliably evaluated, as reports have suggested auditing processes for confirming sustainability standards are met are often unreliable. Also, while primarily focusing on supply, I am worried Mars is missing how they can adjust their manufacturing and distribution processes to use less water and less energy overall (and more renewable energy) to make an even bigger positive change in their contribution to our world’s climate change issues.

The extent to which fast-fashion contributes to climate change is astounding. The fact that only a quarter of garments will be recycled each year was particularly concerning to me, and I am glad to hear ZARA is trying to counter this offering to pick up non-utilized clothes at customers’ homes. I am curious what ZARA is doing with these recycled products – how they leverage these products to decrease their contribution to the climate change issue overall or increase their ability to give back to the community. Beyond these great ideas you put forward for ZARA to better tackle climate change moving forward, I wonder if they should make efforts to become more sustainable in terms of their energy usage – perhaps creating an initiative to leverage renewable energy, and ultimately replace their current energy sources. I worry that efforts to encourage customers to wear their clothes longer does not fit with the current ZARA value proposition. Perhaps to achieve that path they would need to adapt their model of trendy fast-fashion to focus on developing higher quality staples that you are willing to pay more for knowing they will last longer and contribute to addressing our world’s climate change problem.

Great post! I wonder if coffee growers can start to think about diversification of location as a way to mitigate risk in addition to using insurance to achieve that goal. As for Starbucks, I am impressed by their commitment to 100% ethical sources for their coffee, but wonder if that commitment could lead to issues down the line in terms of lack of sustainability in the logistics of the supply chain. Are these ethical sources close enough to keep GHG emissions from trucking down?

Jason – this was fascinating! I did not know how energy-intensive it is to be in the business of data. For the cloud computing benefits then, is Google able to reduce energy costs for the consumer without taking on any additional energy costs of their own? I agree that climate change action is an important next step for a company with the scale and influence of Google. Could they do more to set the standard for technology firms and their commitment to sustainability? Perhaps a good way to start on this front could be to formalize their key initiatives – renewable energy goals, energy savings, limitation of GHG emissions, and more – and challenge other companies to achieve these goals as well.