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ICEHOTEL: 8th Wonder of the World?
Richard
Last modified on December 7, 2015 at 3:29 am
Constructing and Managing the World's Largest Hotel Built of Snow and Ice

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On December 13, 2015, Richard commented on ICEHOTEL: 8th Wonder of the World? :

Thanks for sharing the story about Burning Man Andrea. I’ve heard about the festival and this is an interesting additional selling point to go. From the pictures it’s easy to see the designs getting more sophisticated over the years.

On December 13, 2015, Richard commented on ICEHOTEL: 8th Wonder of the World? :

Very interesting to see the parallel in Alaska Sam! Thanks for sharing. I know there are other ice hotels around the world after this one in Sweden so maybe the concept will be back in Alaska some time down the road.

On December 13, 2015, Richard commented on VisionSpring: Providing eyeglasses to millions :

Very interesting model Andrea. This reminds me of One Laptop per Child where it distributes low-cost laptop designed at MIT to different corners of the world: http://one.laptop.org/. It’s good to see VisionSpring is refining its operating model based on feedback from its operations. This also reminds me of the Facebook case where one of the main contributing factor of its success is the ability to keep innovate and refine its business model to generate value to all of its stakeholders. Best of luck!

On December 13, 2015, Richard commented on Whole Foods Market: Healthy Products with a Healthy Profit :

This is a great example of a successful supply chain driven business model taking advantage of market opportunity in consumer health consciousness and environmental protection. As the video mentioned, organic, natural, and good farming practices are usually not directly visible to consumers. By making it visible during the consumers’ shopping experience, this sends a positive feedback loop into the supply chain favoring continuous process improvement. I wish more B2C companies utilized this strategy to demonstrate responsible supply chain management and process improvement that ultimately improves the product consumer buys.

On December 12, 2015, Richard commented on Chobani: Sour Milk Never Tasted So Sweet :

Very insightful post Sophia. This is a great example where timing the market plus efficient operations leads to success. I love the fact that Ulukaya was able to get an old plant for cheap, improve its operations while riding on a growing market wave, and later scale to a second state-of-the-art plant by apply all its operational learning. From a quick Wikipedia reference it looks like Ulukaya has a diary background but not manufacturing, so it’s very interesting to see manufacturing it’s something that could be learned over time!

On December 12, 2015, Richard commented on Valeant Pharmaceuticals: Disruption or Destruction? :

Another Bill Ackman example and another disappointment for humanity. As you mentioned, yes, the operating model is enabling more profit for the shareholders, but given the lack of competition and high barrier to entry Valeant is able to exploit the relatively inelastic demand. From the angle of serving patients I agree it is moving in the opposite direction. Another interesting discussion is Valeant’s choice to outsource innovation (R&D) as opposed to the industry standard of insourcing. I wonder whether it’ll be more efficient for the healthcare system where large pharma conducts all phases of drug approval similar to Wyeth or specialization by phase similar to the Medicines Company.

On December 9, 2015, Richard commented on ICEHOTEL: 8th Wonder of the World? :

I’d imagine if they could help it they would, but just as anything in nature it has its moment to shine and then it goes back to nature. It might be their philosophical representation of the minuscule life and the power of nature. Not sure if you are a House of Cards fan but it reminded me of the lamas and their art in the White House.