Yi Xie

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Wayfair.com, not your daddy’s furniture store
Yi Xie
Posted on December 9, 2015 at 10:55 pm
Imagine the last time you shopped for furniture. Was it a good experience? Did you visit several stores before purchasing? Did you weigh the costs of furniture delivery vs renting your own U-Haul? Did you have to call your friend [...]

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On December 12, 2015, Yi Xie commented on Have you ever tried to become a Uber Driver? :

Great insight into a company everyone is talking about these days. The 2 sided market model is clear but their operating model is what really makes it work. Cheaper for customers, cheaper for drivers. It amazing how low the barrier to entry is for a driver. 20 min of application time + a 16 min video compared to over $1 million for a NYC taxi medallion. It’s no wonder every cab company is up in arms. It’s nice to be reminded that they are truly a technology company. From the app that we interface with as riders, to the algorithmic database comparison system, everything that Uber does seems to scale nicely. I’m looking forward to what they come up with next.

On December 12, 2015, Yi Xie commented on Jet.com: Bring it On, Amazon! :

Great article and a really interesting company. One of the first things that stood out to me was how much transparency they are giving to consumers to the cost components of an order. It’s similar to how discount airlines like Ryanair charge bargain baseline rates and added things like baggage or early check-in, which are now ubiquitous in the entire airline industry. Maybe Amazon will take a page out of Jet’s book of transparency and modular pricing? Also really liked how they started with the idea of a membership fee and trashed it as soon as they found a better way. Looks like they fully embrace the fail fast methodology.

On December 12, 2015, Yi Xie commented on Aldi: no frills grocery shopping :

Really enjoyed reading about Aldi’s operating model and learning about all the small things they do to reduce costs so they can pass it on the customer. One of the first things I remember from going to an Aldi was the shopping cart system which we now know from the IDEO video, is a big deal for grocery stores. It’s surprising that not many other stores have adopted it in the US like they have in Europe. One thing to add is in the US, Aldi only takes cash or debit cards (at least in the last one I was at). This is another way they make small changes to reduce prices, avoiding the extra fee to card companies like VISA or American Express.