Sam Stone's Profile

Great post – Thanks Apurv. I’m interest in how Domino’s / Jubilant has adapted its offerings to the Indian market, given that Indian consumers’ tastes are very different from the US. I’ve heard that many Indian restaurants separate their vegetarian and non-vegetarian facilities, and that restaurants that do not separate vegetarian/non-vegetarian prep areas risk losing out on the sizeable part of the Indian population that is vegetarian. It seems like this business model works well for dense, urban areas – do you think Domino’s can expand into semi-urban areas in India? Even if the logistics could be worked out, do you think there would be sufficient disposable income in semi-urban areas to warrant such an expansion?

Thanks for the interesting post Sofia! As a TJ’s customer, I’ve also been impressed by their culture and I think culture is a competitive advantage for the company. I see two manifestations of a “different” culture at TJ’s. First, their marketing and product branding is funny and offbeat and it makes customers (or at least me!) feel like shopping at TJ’s is a cool, slightly alternative choice. Second, they seem to look for an alternative “flair” in the type of employee they hire. They have created what seems to be a good employee culture – I’ve always thought that TJ’s employees seem to be happier with their jobs than employees of other grocery stores are with theirs. I wonder if TJ’s ability to employ the same recruiting processes and find similar talent pools impacts which geographies they are moving into?

Great post – thank you for writing! I am a fan of One Medical and have been a client for a few years. However, I have two worries about their model:

First, I worry that their success in building a good UX for online appointment booking leads patients to prioritize how soon they see a provider and how close that provider’s office is over who the provider actually is. I’ve probably visited a One Medical facility a half dozen times over the past 4 years, and I’ve never seen the same provider twice – I think this lack of continuity of care, or development of any relationship between provider and patient, could hinder care in the long term

Second, I worry that One Medical fails to restrict rising healthcare costs and may actually be contributing to their growth. I think the typical One Medical client is an urban, well-paid professional who has decent insurance coverage, but who is willing to pay the One Medical membership fee out of pocket solely for the convenience of seeing a provider in <24 hours vs. having to wait a few days. So the care One Medical provides is care that would already be provided if One Medical was not around, and all of the fancy amenities like the spa atmosphere may just mean that care is being provided at a higher cost.