The Tech Strategy Podcast

These are my predictions for the biggest trends in digital China / Asia for 2020-2030. They are all underway already. And most of them are unique to China / Asia - so I don't think we will see them elsewhere. My prediction is: In 2020 – 2030, China / Asia will become the world's largest and most innovative digital ecosystem - with unmatched infrastructure and capabilities. And these the...

This podcast is more about the strange but important economics of digital. And on pricing, in particular. It is becoming increasingly complicated with bundling, switching costs and platform business models. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Related podcasts and articles: Review: The Sexy But Dangerous Economics of Digital (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Po...

Matthew Brennan has published: Attention Factory: The Story of TikTok and China's ByteDance \ It's a great read, with lots of interesting ideas about how to fight for attention. And how to manage information flows in a world overflowing with content and ideas. The slides mentioned are below and here . Related podcasts and articles: What Is the Secret of TikTok / Douyin’s Success? (Jeff’s...

At Alibaba’s Investor Day, CEO Daniel Zhang outlined 11 growth stratgies. Five were under Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun). These are the early days of cloud and, likely, a new paradigm for computing and connectivity. It's chaotic and unclear. But Alibaba is very well positioned to win big. You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . The mentioned slides are below....

At Alibaba's Investor Day, CEO Daniel Zhang outlined 11 growth strategies. Five were under Domestic Consumption. The question for this class is which is the most effective of these? Which is most likely to succeed and move the needle? You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . The choices are: “To continue growing our digital economy user base” “To expan...

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...

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 Ins...

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: How Big Will Ant Financial / Alipay Become? (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 28) 3 Ways AI Is Transforming Fashion: My Int...

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 avail...

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...

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 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: How Did Alibaba Beat Everyone? Products vs. Digital Platforms. (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 4) Review: Why Digital Platforms Are the Sup...

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: Review: The Sexy But Dangerous Economics of Digital (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcas...

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 ———- I write, speak and c...

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: #23: SMILE Operational Marathon Concepts for this class: Multiho...

In this class, I talk about the role of the state as a key factor in certain industries and countries. This tends to be a fuzzy, uncomfortable aspect when it comes to analysis. But it is fairly common for government to act as both policeman and player. And it can often be easy to predict. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . This is part of Learning Goals: Level 7 , wi...

In this class, I talk about the difficulty of moving luxury into ecommerce. And how Chinese consumers will likely determine who finally cracks this problem. Secoo and Farfetch are two companies that are on this frontier right now. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Question: Will Farfetch or Secoo win in luxury ecommerce in China? Three factors to consider: What do c...

In this class, we go through 6 digital superpowers, which is a simple high-level checklist for when digital tools can significantly change the competitive dynamics of a business. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Which of the 6 Digital Superpowers does the company have? If any. Dramatically transform the user experience Enable a platform business model Network effec...

In this class, I talk about the share of the consumer mind as a revenue competitive advantage. And how companies like WeChat and TikTok are changing this with digital tools. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Related podcasts and articles: Why Didi Needs Driver Switching Costs. Uber Too. (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 23) This is part of Learning Goals: Level 4-5...

In this class, I go into the how digital native education companies like LAIX are challenging traditional companies like New Oriental. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Which of the 6 Digital Superpowers does LAIX have? If any. Dramatically transform the user experience Enable a platform business model Network effects Other competitive advantage Virality Scalable Re...

In this class, I go into the increasing dimensions of operational marathons. I call these the SMILE marathon. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . SMILE Marathons. Competing every day on which dimensions? Scale, Scope, Efficiency and Effectiveness Machine Learning / AI Factories and Zero-Human Operations Innovation Rate of Learning Ecosystem Orchestration and Managemen...

In this class, I talk about ways AI and cheap prediction are being used in fashion and apparel. From my interview with Dr. Tao Mei, Vice President of Cloud & AI at JD.com. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Related podcasts and articles: How Big Will Ant Financial / Alipay Become? (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 28) Products with Personalities? My Interview wit...

In this class, I go through some of the basics of Grab, GoJek and Lazada. And the different approaches for capturing local services in SE Asia. You can listen here or at my webpage . Which are the most important 1-2 factors for the competition in SE Asia services? Consumer engagement and experience. Capturing a share of the consumer mind. Merchant engagement and experience. Being strong with servi...

In this class, I talk about my interview with He Xiaodong of JD. And about how chatbots are evolving into conversational AI. Plus the basics of AI economics. You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . CORRECTION. In this podcast, I mentioned that JD's Smart Customer Service has the personality of a young woman. Xiaodong was actually referreing to Microsoft's Xiaolc...

In this class, I talk about what can be done with Luckin Coffee post-scandal. Should another company or investor buy it? You can listen here or at iTunes , Google Podcasts and Himalaya . Who should buy Luckin Coffee? Choose an option. Starbucks 711 or other convenience store HeyTea Alibaba or other ecommcerce company Financial investors Related podcasts and articles on Luckin and Heytea: What Shou...