The Tech Strategy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ant Financial and the Sustained Innovation Trap of Network Effects (3 of 3) (49) Sep 27, 2020

Show notes

This is Part 3 in a three part series about Ant Group / Ant Financial. In this part, I talk about how sustained innovation is the primary strategy for maintaining their competitive advantages.

Part 1 is How Ant Financial / Ant Group is Revolutionizing Finance (1 of 3) (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 47).
Part 2 is Adaptation, Innovation and Resilience at Alibaba. A Discussion with BCG’s Martin Reeves. (2 of 3) (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 48)

You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
Related podcasts and articles:

3 Ways Network Effects Suck (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 41)

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 5, with a focus on:

#19: Basics of Ant Financial / Alipay and Payment Platforms

Concepts for this class.

Network Effects
Adaptation and Resilience
SMILE Marathon: Sustained Innovation

Companies for this class:

Ant Financial / Alipay / Ant Group

———-
I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.
I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.
My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.
Note: This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. Investing is risky. Do your own research.

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Adaptation, Innovation and Resilience at Alibaba. A Discussion with BCG's Martin Reeves. (2 of 3) (48) Sep 20, 2020

Show notes

This is Part 2 in a three part series about Alibaba and Ant Group. The focus was on Alibaba's ability to continually adapt to new markets, consumer behaviors, technologies and opportunities. The idea of adaptability and innovation are increasingly discussed as key competitive abilities. Part 1 is here.
To investigate that, I spoke with Martin Reeves, who is Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute. And has long written about adaptability and rate of learning as critical parts of strategy. Here is his summary from the BCG website:
"Since joining BCG in 1989, Martin has led a broad range of strategy assignments in the Financial Institutions, Consumer Goods, Industrial Goods and Health Care sectors. He has particular expertise in the areas of adaptive strategy, strategy for multi-business systems, sustainability strategies, ecosystem strategies, collective learning and innovation, corporate vitality, and trust."
Specifically, we spoke about his paper with Ming Zeng about Alibaba as a self-tuning enterprise. Although we did go off to other ideas pretty quickly. The main question was how Alibaba had been so successful for two decades in business after business.
You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
Related podcasts and articles:

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 8, with a focus on:

#32: Adaptation and Resilience

Concepts for this class.

Adaptation and Resilience
SMILE Marathon: Sustained Innovation

Companies for this class:

Ant Financial / Alipay / Ant Group
Alibaba

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How Ant Financial / Ant Group is Revolutionizing Finance (1 of 3) (47) Sep 13, 2020

Show notes

This is Part 1 in a three part series about Ant Group. And my basic argument is Ant is well positioned to disrupt and potentially revolutionize financial services.
You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
Related podcasts and articles:

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 5, with a focus on:

#19: Ant Financial and Intro to Payment Platforms (podcast located here)
#23: SMILE Marathon

Concepts for this class. The slides discussed in the podcast are located below and correspond to the 4 ideas below.

Payment Platforms
SMILE Marathon: Ml / AI factories & human-free operations

Companies for this class:

Ant Financial / Alipay / Ant Group

Graphics mentioned are located at my website.
———-
I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.
I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.
My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.
Note: This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. Investing is risky. Do your own research.

Support the show

What is the Secret of Pinduoduo’s Success? (2 of 2) (46) Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

This is Part 2 about Pinduoduo and the idea of interactive / engagement-driven ecommerce.
In Part 1, I discussed a recent whitepaper with its authors Elliott Zaagman (co-host the China Tech Investor podcast and a research and communications professional focused on China) and Matthew Brennan (Managing Director of the China Channel.)
Their whitepaper on Pinduoduo and interactive commerce is available at China Channel or can be downloaded directly here (Interactive Ecommerce Whitepaper 2020.08.10.)
You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
The 5 choices for explaining Pinduoduo’s success are:

First mover in a huge market. Got the right product at the right time in the right market.
Offered low cost (sometimes free) products to a frugal demographic.
Interactive / engagement-focused ecommerce.
Group buying and virality. The tie with WeChat.
Good execution and management.

Related podcasts and articles:

What is the Secret of Pinduoduo’s Success? With Matthew Brennan and Elliott Zaagman. (1 of 2) (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 45)

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7-8, with a focus on:

#31: Introduction to Pinduoduo

Concepts for this class. The slides discussed in the podcast are located below and correspond to the 4 ideas below.

Value for Money. The Power of Cheap and Free. Example of Digital Superpower #1: Dramatically improving the user experience.
Interactive / Engagement-Focused Ecommerce
Virality and Word of Mouth
External View and Base Rates

Companies for this class:

Pinduoduo

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What is the Secret of Pinduoduo’s Success? With Matthew Brennan and Elliott Zaagman. (1 of 2) (45) Aug 30, 2020

Show notes

This is Part 1 about Pinduoduo and the idea of interactive / engagement-driven ecommerce. Our guests for this podcast were Matthew Brennan and Elliott Zaagman.
Elliott Zaagman is co-host the China Tech Investor podcast and a research and communications professional focused on China.
Matthew Brennan is Managing Director of the China Channel.
We discuss their whitepaper on Pinduoduo and interactive commerce, which is available at China Channel.
The 5 choices for explaining Pinduoduo’s success are:

First mover in a huge market. Got the right product at the right time in the right market.
Offered low cost (sometimes free) products to a frugal demographic.
Interactive / engagement-focused ecommerce.
Group buying and virality. The tie with WeChat.
Good execution and management.

Related podcasts and articles:

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7-8, with a focus on:

#31: Introduction to Pinduoduo

Concepts for this class:

Value for Money. The Power of Cheap and Free. Example of Digital Superpower #1: Dramatically improving the user experience.
Interactive / Engagement-Focused Ecommerce
Virality and Word of Mouth

Companies for this class:

Pinduoduo

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Can Xiaomi or Meitu Win as Platforms / Ecosystems? (2 of 2) (44) Aug 23, 2020

Show notes

This is part 2 about Xiaomi, Meitu and 7 reasons why platforms / ecosystems succeed or fail. Part 1 is here.
You can listen here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
7 reasons why ecosystems (and platforms) fail (by BCG):

Insufficient problem to solve
Wrong ecosystem configuration
Wrong governance choices
Inadequate monetization
Weak launch strategy
Weak defensibility
Bad execution

Cited in this talk:

Why Do Most Business Ecosystems Fail (BCG)

Related podcasts and articles:

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7, with a focus on:

#30: Ecosystems vs. Digital Platforms

Concepts for this class:

Ecosystems vs. Digital Platforms
SMILE Operational Marathon: Ecosystem Orchestration and Management
Switching costs
Share of consumer mind

Companies for this class:

Xiaomi
Meitu

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Xiaomi, Meitu and Why Platforms Fail (1 of 2) (43) Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

In this class, I talk about why platforms fail and do an introduction to ecosystems vs. platforms.
You can listen here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
Cited in this talk:

Why Do Most Business Ecosystems Fail (BCG)

Related podcasts and articles:

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7, with a focus on:

#30: Ecosystems vs. Digital Platforms

Concepts for this class:

Ecosystems vs. Digital Platforms
SMILE Operational Marathon: Ecosystem Shaping and Management
Mismatched and/or Crippled Scale
Digital-Physical Hybrids
Multihoming
Blitzscaling

Companies for this class:

None

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Tencent Buys Sogou. Plus More Digital and Information Economics (42) Aug 10, 2020

Show notes

In this class, I talk Tencent's recent purchase of Sogou. And go through more digital and information economics.
You can listen here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7, with a focus on:

#29: Digital and Information Economics II

Related podcasts and articles:

Concepts for this class:

Digital and Information Economics
Non-Rivalry and Zero Marginal Production Costs
Versioning and Pricing
Willingness to Pay and Consumer Surplus
Bundling and Cross-Selling
Complements

Companies for this class:

Sogou
Tencent

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3 Ways Network Effects Suck (41) Aug 03, 2020

Show notes

In this class, I talk about networks. And some of their strengths and weaknesses.
You can listen here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7, with a focus on:

#28: Network Effects

Concepts for this class:

Networks Effects
NE: Critical Mass and Chicken-and-Egg
NE: Interaction Failure at Scale
NE: Leaky Bucket and Multihoming

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Why Lazada vs. Shopee Is Faster Horse vs. Better Jockey (40) Jul 27, 2020

Show notes

In this class, I talk how to fairly basic platform business models (Shopee, Lazada) compete. As the capabilities and strategies are similar this is mostly about operational performance and management over time.
You can listen here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.
This is part of Learning Goals: Level 6, with a focus on: