Rose S.

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1-800-Flowers And IBM Watson Take On The Future Of Gifting, And The Future Of Relationships
Rose S.
Last modified on November 13, 2018 at 4:39 pm
How will machine learning impact gifting as a retail business? 1-800-Flowers is partnering with Watson to innovate their customer experience.

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On November 14, 2018, Rose S. commented on Neighborly: Leveraging Open Innovation to Spur Product Innovation in FinTech :

I like how you included the macro-factors that could affect Neighborly’s business, and appreciate your healthy dose of skepticism.

To your point, as a two sided marketplace, I think it’s interesting to think about Neighborly’s different areas for open innovation. In other words, open innovation amongst cities, amongst investors, and also between cities and investors. I’m curious who the typical investor is that Neighborly targets? Do these investors have any existing platforms for communing or collaborating? Similarly, with cities, are there already ways that cities share with each other?

I like that you are questioning their growth strategy and agree that geographic expansion can only succeed in parallel with iterative innovation. I also agree that Neighborly should be considering how to extend their offering into the physical world.

On November 14, 2018, Rose S. commented on Letting Go at LEGO: How Open Innovation Reinforces Product Creativity and Design :

Out of curiosity, what have been traditional toy companies’ (Lego, Mattel, Hasbro) innovation process in the past? Understanding that Mattel and Hasbro made bad decisions that led to declining sales, in what ways (if any) were they being proactive or design-oriented?

In regards to the open innovation platforms, who is the typical user/contributor to Lego Ideas? Are these edge, super-users? Does Lego aid the discovery of their Ideas platform? (I.e. through advertising or inbound marketing?)

I think your mention of media is super interesting and relevant — what is the future of tactile toys and games, and what is Lego’s role in that world? Can Lego establish a competitive edge in a more digital/virtual world of toys, fun, and entertainment? They are clearly testing this with their movies, I wonder how successful it has been…

On November 14, 2018, Rose S. commented on Printing a Solution to the Global Housing Crisis :

Thanks for so clearly outlining the benefits of utilizing 3D printing for housing/construction, as well as the new value it will create (i.e. innovation as it relates to home design and customization.) You also hit the nail on the head with the main hurdles to surmount for this trend to take hold and diffuse: regulation, trust, and consistency of quality/durability.
I agree this application of 3D printing begs macro questions around the future of how we will live and how we will work. Could New Story lead to people being more transient, or more communal? What jobs could 3D homes in turn create?

On November 14, 2018, Rose S. commented on 3D-printed razor handles – the best a man can get? :

What problem do you think customized handles are trying to solve? Is it functional — will the handle form to your hand/grip specifically? Or is it more stylistic or expressive (through the color and text)? If the latter, do people care about the identity communicated by their razor?

I’m a bit more skeptical than you about how relevant this use of 3D printing is to Gillette’s customers, and therefore to its bottom line. I respect that they are trying to differentiate from Dollar Shave’s value prop of convenience and price, but am not convinced that a customized, fashion-ized handle will translate to customer loyalty.

On November 14, 2018, Rose S. commented on Don’t Give Up the Ship: A Smarter Approach to Maintenance in the US Navy :

I love that you drew on first-hand experience to clearly identify both a problem (the inefficiencies of the Navy’s current maintenance process) and a solution (CMB over TBM.) It sounds like the biggest barrier to change is regulation and bureaucracy. Are there other examples where the Navy (or other branches/the DOD) have successfully and effectively worked with private sector vendors, whether or not it relates to AI? If so, are there any learnings or best practices that can be extracted, generalized, and applied? How does the Navy work with 3rd party vendors at large, and in what circumstances? Does the Navy utilize AI elsewhere in its operations?
Hopefully a solution-oriented approach like yours can move this development process along!

On November 14, 2018, Rose S. commented on Sotheby’s and machine learning for the arts :

I agree that the art market presents a fascinating application of machine learning, particularly as it relates to pricing and valuation. The comparison to a stock exchange is apt — we already use auctions as pricing mechanisms for art, and it does not seem unreasonable that this could be evolved. I echo Jaclyn’s point that this advancement is predicated on open access to (historical) sales data in the first place. While there is currently a general norm of transparency in the commercial art world, there is no centralized database, especially for the primary market. How can we harness information that is right now distributed almost exclusively through word of mouth?

In terms of predicting consumer preference, I do think that it will be important for machines to work with humans. Taste in art can be both nebulous and surprising. While a retailer like Stitchfix has amassed data points that ladder up to both fit and style, I’m curious what kinds of “tags” you envision to build an algorithm for art.

For the creation of art, I think music and painting are fundamentally different. Music is generally more accessible, consumed at a much higher volume, and is arguable more commercialized. Are you envisioning a world that is generally more filled with art? Where art is accessible to everyone? What about the joy created by making art yourself?