Sophia Popova

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Chobani: Sour Milk Never Tasted So Sweet
Sophia Popova
Last modified on December 4, 2015 at 2:38 pm
How a Turkish farmer grew a 90-year-old abandoned Kraft factory into the world’s largest yogurt plant.

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On December 14, 2015, Sophia Popova commented on Zara: a Retailing Force to Be Reckoned With :

Great article, Natasha! So well put! @Sebastian, you bring up an interesting point — I wonder how similar other fast fashion brands’ operating models are. I came across this Oliver Wyman paper about the supply chains of fast fashion (http://www.oliverwyman.com/content/dam/oliver-wyman/global/en/2015/aug/2015_OliverWyman_Fast_Fashion_screen.pdf). Seems like a lot of fast fashion players carefully segment their products into traffic generators and evergreens, and then they tailor manufacturing costs accordingly. I never realized so much thought when into those silly sequin tops!

On December 13, 2015, Sophia Popova commented on Camden City School District :

What an eye-opening post, Kate. I can’t even imagine how challenging it must be for CCSD to attract and retain teachers. I wonder what charter schools are doing to be more efficient with their funding. I’m also curious whether CCSD sees programs like Teach for America as helpful or just introducing more complexity into the system.

On December 13, 2015, Sophia Popova commented on Singapore Airlines: Service Excellence at Low Cost :

Wow, really interesting post, Hui! I am shocked that Singapore Airlines has been able to achieve high customer service at such low costs. I’m very curious whether their flight route design has anything to do with their costs. For example, it seems that they have quite a few 5hr+ flight routes. I wonder if that has something to do with their ability to operate more efficiently. Maybe longer flights have higher margins because they face lower competition. Or perhaps longer flights face consumers with more inelastic demand. I wish we had a case about the airline industry — I’d love to learn more!

On December 13, 2015, Sophia Popova commented on Quanergy: Look Ma! No Hands :

Love the title of this post, Rob! What an interesting company — I had no idea how expensive lidar technology was. Given that partnerships are crucial to the operating model of the company, I wonder how exclusivity agreements might affect Quanergy’s growth. For example, would Mercedes be ok with a Quanergy-BMW partnership in the future?

On December 13, 2015, Sophia Popova commented on Redefining how WeWork :

WeWork is such a fascinating company, Andre! Thanks for your post. I was surprised to learn that they lease their office space. It seems that WeWork could capture a lot of value by owning their properties. Admittedly, it would be capital intensive at the beginning, but in growing urban centers WeWork essentially holds a monopoly on startup real estate.

On a personal note, I used to work in a WeWork space in Manhattan. Although the shared communal space was wonderful, it was often challenging to find a quiet area to focus. It was also difficult (and expensive) to find conference room space. To fix each of those issues, WeWork would have to decrease the high office space utilization rates you mentioned. I wonder if WeWork is focusing on capturing tech clients who wouldn’t require as much quiet/conference room space as other industries (e.g., client services).