SarahYUUUUUUUU!!'s Profile

Sarah, that’s a great point. I think I was more focused in ‘controlling the narrative’ with the public/government rather than what digitization can do to boost their products and complement their consumers (patients).
-Sarah

Thanks Pavithra! I actually read the remote monitoring/wearables being a huge opportunity in healthcare, particularly pharma. I’ll keep my eyes open for those opportunities @ AbbVie.

SO, I concur with Kerrin’s initial skepticism. Has Cadre attempted to ensure buyers are filtering payments and communication on site? I know this was initially a big problem with Airbnb. Airbnb responded by mandating all users communicate and pay on its software platform, so that these types of behind-closed-doors deals wouldn’t occur.

I wonder if Salesforce can provide social media sites a SaaS product that LinkedIN, Facebook, and Twitter haven’t already invested in? I know LinkedIN has a very sophisticated analytics platform, which it sells to headhunters at a premium. I can see other digital sites such as Amazon & Alibaba receiving a lot of benefit from Salesforce’s analytics breakdown and how marketing strategies are panning out, I am just skeptical whether social media will receive the same additional value (84% of Facebook’s revenues are from advertising- I would assume they already have an advanced analytics solution to monitor advertising effectiveness).

great article though Austin! Go Cubs! 😉
-Sarah Yu

I used RFID tags extensively in the military to track shipments of containers, so it is very interesting to see its application in the retail business and even more interesting to see how Intel had automated the toughest part of the RFID capability- the interpretation of the data. Via proprietary hardware as well as cloud computing Intel came up with a solution that saved retail outlets HOURS of work. I would have to have Soldiers manually query and update the locations of each of our shipments on a single document- it is incredible to see that Intel can cater the data to exactly what LeviStrauss needs to keep tabs on inventory levels and how consumers are purchasing.

Sarah Yu abides. I had no idea Fuji Film was getting into the healthcare sectors while focusing on its document solutions. This is similar to how some great companies like Pepsi & Coca Cola had to diversify its product base to keep up with shifting consumer demand.

Very innovative solution and I wonder if larger banks will mimic Transferwise’s strategy? What will Transferwise (at 800 pounds /yr) do if BoA or Discover Bank start using the same solution? They are making a huge gamble that larger banks will fail to adapt. With Uber, Taxi cab drivers began using Uber. With Airbnb, hotels began listing on Airbnb. However, with Transferwise, banks would not need to use Transferwise- they can simply invest in similar peer-to-peer technology within their own mobile apps.

Go Cubs! -Sarah Yu

Very interesting! thanks for the source & info!

The recommendation of using the metric “emissions-per-store” is a fascinating one that is something Boston Chicken overlooked by not paying attention to its “sales per store” metric. As Starbucks expands, it is natural that their overall carbon footprint will expand so I think focusing on per-store efficiency will better demonstrate how Starbucks is changing. That being said, you mention that Starbucks may not be implementing their changes on a large enough scale to make an impact. Do you believe that increasing its scale would make a material impact on reducing emissions? How would it be implemented? Also, are their alternative ways of growing coffee beans in new climates or even using new technology like AeroFarms (http://aerofarms.com/technology/) to increase output and control climates of coffee beans?

I thought this was a fantastic, methodical breakdown of what Nike is doing about climate change, in particicual in the three big areas of where the apparel industry is negatively impact emissions: travel, manufacturing & the supply chain. It is easier to conceptualize Nike shifting is manufacturing practices to limit its emissions (68% of their problem), however it is tougher to tell how this shift will affect Nike’s costs? If Nike went all in on limiting CO2 emissions, would it price itself out of the market? Would Under Armor, Adidas, or PUMA takeover?

Unbelievable! This is a fantastic example of how a HUGE problem (methane more harmful than CO2 and unavoidable biproduct of palm oil) can actually be a HUGE opportunity. If SDP finds a way to produce and sell BioCNG from its waste, it not only can create a new business to diversify its products but it can also create differentiation from other Palm Oil competitors. Perhaps SDP can create a higher barrier to entry for other palm oil producers by working with the government to make it mandatory to limit methane output? This would give SDP the opportunity to capture more Palm Oil market share while being a first mover in the BioCNG market.

It’s fascinating how Sbucks is working with the farmers to create more sustainable farming practices in the bean belt. What’s even more fascinating is that climate change has REAL implications on the coffee bean supply for Sbucks- the green initiative isn’t a publicity stunt but actually a potentially viable economic investment. What I’d like to know further is: what is the actual positive impact of Sbucks working with the farmers? Will this investment really help the farmers or is the bean belt doomed? Do we need government intervention as well as for-profit initiatives to counter the 50% degradation of farmland?

I gained some new perspectives on desalination from Ross’ article- specifically that IDE tech is the leader of the massive Carlsbad Project and how desalinization is still extremely energy intensive and counter-productive towards the net effects of climate change. His proposal of using nuclear energy to solve the desalinization plant energy problem is fascinating- especially considering the prior environmental considerations of nuclear energy on local water supply. If these problems can be solved, a nuclear/desalinization combo could be very intriguing. Another aspect Ross may want to think about are the economic concerns towards the individual consumer of desalinization. Desalinized water is 2x more expensive than current ground tap-water in San Diego (http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-05-15/desalination-expensive-energy-hog-improvements-are-way). Are there ways IDE is trying to tackle this issue?