Is Profitable Kuaishou an Investment Opportunity? (221)

This week’s podcast is about CloudKitchens, the new venture of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. And why I think it is a better business model than Uber. In theory.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here is the interview with Travis on the All in Podcast about this business.———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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Kuaishou. And the key questions that determine its future.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are my three longer-term questions for Kuaishou.What is the future relationship with Tencent? As it relates to users and engagement?Economies of Scope. Does it need to move beyond video to other content and attention types. Like TikTok and Tencent have done.Economies of Scale. Is it subscale in video and entertainment? As a China-only business?Here is a past article on this. Kuaishou Is Finally Profitable. But Is It Too Small to Win Long Term? (Tech Strategy)Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Ruhnn Holding, KOLs / Influencers and Michael Porter's Five Forces.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are some factors to consider when assessing the bargaining power of buyers.Concentration of buyers: Purchase size: Differentiation of products or services: Switching costsPrice sensitivity: Informed buyers: Here are some factors to consider when assessing competitive rivalry.Number of competitors: Industry growth rate: Fixed costs: Exit barriers: Undifferentiated products / services: Here are some factors to consider for New Entrants.Economies of scale:Product differentiation: Capital requirements: Access to distribution channels. Government regulations: Switching costs: Here are some factors to consider for assessing the Threat of Substitutes.Availability of substitutesAvailability of close substitutes (i.e., “the sense that products are similar”): Relative price performance: Customer willingness to go elsewhere: Here are some factors to consider for Supplier Power.The number and concentration of suppliers: Uniqueness and differentiation: Switching costs: Forward integration: Industry importance: --------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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Bilibili and its choice between staying with specialty video or going mass market video service.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour. ----------Related articles:When Microsoft’s Bundles Are Good vs. Bad for Customers and Markets (Tech Strategy)Microsoft’s 3 Big Upgrades to its 2 Platform Business Models (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)What is Elon Musk’s Plan to 10x Twitter? (2 of 2) (Tech Strategy – Daily Article)From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:Audience Builder PlatformDigital Attacker StrategyVideosFrom the Company Library, companies for this article are:Bilibili--------------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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Lazada and the current state of ecommerce in Southeast Asia.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.--------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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Pop Mart and its ability to tap into really interesting consumer behaviors.Fan and enthusiast behaviorCollecting behaviorGambling and rewards behaviorYou can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to our management sessions with the latest consumer-facing innovations by China’s digital leaders (here).Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Correction: In the podcast, I talked about Jake Paul being a Pokemon fan. I meant Logan Paul.Here’s my summary of Pop Mart in one graphic.———-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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

Today’s podcast is part of a new series on Growth Tactics, where we talk to digital businesses that are winning. And dig into what worked and what didn’t.This episode (located here) is an interview with Ashley Dudarenok, the founder of Alarice (China-focused digital marketing agency) and ChoZan (China digital transformation consultancy.Ashley (www.ashleydudarenok.com) is a naturalized Chinese serial entrepreneur, award winning digital expert and book author, recognized by Thinkers50 as a “Guru on fast-evolving trends in China”. Ashley and her team help world's top companies and brands to learn for and from China. She’s also a sought after professional speaker covering topics around customer centricity, the future of retail, technology in action. Ashley is the author of 11 books on digital China.Here are some contact links:LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleydudarenok/YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/ashleydudarenokTwitter/X https://twitter.com/AshleyDudarenokIt was a fun discussion with quite a few valuable lessons.Here is an article summarizing my 5 lessons from the conversation.5 Lessons in Digital Growth from Serial China Entrepreneur Ashley Dudarenok (Growth Tactics)——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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about HubSpot and the really cool aspects of its business model.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are the 5 things I like about the business model:Software bundles. Especially integrated. Especially with freemium pricing.Recurring revenueSwitching Costs: Financial, Procedural, Relational and RiskThe ecosystem with network effects (in theory). A Developer Flywheel in practice.Sales and Marketing Flywheel --------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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Salesforce and how generative AI is going to impact its business. You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are my 3 working conclusions.GenAI is going into their existing services, which are used by teams at their clients. Salesforce is well positioned for this.GenAI is going to get incorporated into the workflows of their clients. This requires an AI tech stack, which Salesforce does not have. AI Cloud companies are building this and offering it as a service. This is a problem.AI Agents are emerging and this will change the workforce of CRM within companies. This is a big problem for Salesforce. Competitor Microsoft is well positioned here. --------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

This week’s podcast is about a common playbook for a digital attacker (whether a digital native or incumbent).You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are the 3 steps of the digital attacker strategy.Step 1: A new digital tool enables a superior service to emerge. This is used to break into an existing business. This often causes an unbundling of the existing offerings.Step 2: Existing value chains get transformed. Everyone scrambles to grab the valuable positions.Step 3: The new leaders add services, complements and bundles.------------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.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax 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. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show