This week's podcast is about the US-China DTC retailer Shein, which has rocketed upwards in the past months. Analysts are starting to pay close attention - but consumers have been noticing this company for a while.

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

The mentioned article by Packy McCormick and Matthew Brennan is Shein: The TikTok of Ecommerce.
 
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Related articles:

• JD and Competitive Advantages vs. Entry Barriers in China Retail (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
• JD and the Power of Production Cost Advantages in Retail (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
• Don’t Go Gaga Over Shein’s “Ultra-Fast Fashion” Model. It’s Mostly a Low-Priced DTC Apparel Story. (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Lesson / Update)

 From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Competitive Advantage: Rate of Learning
• SMILE Marathon: Rate of Learning
• Share of Consumer Mind
• Economies of Scale
• Bargaining Power with Suppliers / Purchasing Economies

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Shein

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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 podcast is about Alibaba's 2020 earnings and the strategy implications. But it is really about how Alibaba is positioned as a "product / service + commerce infrastructure" business. And whether ByteDance can break into Chinese ecommerce with an "attention + mini programs strategy". It's really a cool and important question.

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

The cited Alibaba presentations are here:

• AliViews: Daniel Zhang on Alibaba Earnings and Future Growth
• Alibaba Group Announces March Quarter and Full Fiscal Year 2021 Results

The cited Bloomberg article on ByteDance is here:

• ByteDance Eyes a New $185 Billion Business Ahead of Mega IPO

The cited quotes from Alibaba are below. And at my webpage.

“During the past fiscal year, we made significant progress on our three key strategies, namely domestic consumption, globalization and cloud computing. Such progress demonstrated the tremendous power of Alibaba’s digital commerce infrastructure as well as our long-term commitment to invest for the future and to create value for our consumers, merchants and partners through innovations. ”

"We believe the key to unlocking the full value of the community marketplace model is not only about the standalone P&L of the business but also about the overall efficiency and servicing capabilities of the entire commerce platform where the business sits, and we believe the latter can generate far greater value than the former. Alibaba has the most sophisticated and efficient commerce infrastructure in China, with the most comprehensive product and service offerings to serve consumers of diverse segmentation and demands."

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Related articles:

• Alibaba Takes Over Sun Art Retail. Is It Going to Take Off? Or Is It Infrastructure? (pt 1 of 2) (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)
• Could Sun Art Grow +30% Under Alibaba? (pt 2 of 2) (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• New Retail
• Online Merge Offline (OMO)
• Mini Programs

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Alibaba
• ByteDance

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This podcast is about the super cool economics of Adobe Inc. And how they capture the economics of digital by also building strong competitive moats. In Adobe's case, it's mostly network effects and bundling.

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

The digital economics terms cited are:

• Zero marginal production costs.
• Low distribution costs.
• Non-rival goods that can be simultaneously used.
• Global scalability at low cost.
• Versioning. Multiple versions of their products can be easily created at different price points.
• Bundling.
• Complements can be added.
• Lots of integration into other software and products.

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Related articles:

• Software and the Sexy but Dangerous Economics of Digital (pt 1 of 3)
• Digital Economics II: Why Pricing Is Getting Both Complicated and Critical. (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 53)
• How Digital Creates and Destroys Competitive Advantage. Digital Economics II. (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 55)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Standardization and Interconnection Network Effects
• Subscriptions, Cross-Selling and Integrated Bundling

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Adobe Inc.

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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

Competitive advantages can be build on the demand and the supply side. And advantages on the demand (i.e., revenue) side are usually about customer capture in some form. One general category for this is when a company captures a "share of the consumer mind."

In this talk, I go into how some companies do this for their own benefit. And against the interests of the consumer. I call these types of competitive advantages "evil moats".

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

Here are the books and articles I mentioned:

• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. By Nir Eyal
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. By Charles Duhigg.
• Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. By Natasha Schull.
• How Technology Is Hijacking Your Mind. By Tristan Harris.

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Related podcasts and articles are:

• WeChat, TikTok and Capturing the Consumer Mind in a Digital Age (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 36)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Share of the Consumer Mind

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• n/a

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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 online-merge-offline (OMO) platforms. A business model that is just emerging in China. I talk about Sun Art Retail and Beike / Lianjia as examples.

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

Here is the BCG article I mentioned.

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Related podcasts and articles are:

• Lianjia and Beike’s Big Platform Play in Chinese Real Estate (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)
• Alibaba Takes Over Sun Art Retail. Is It Going to Take Off? Or Is It Infrastructure? (pt 1 of 2) (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Digital Physical Hybrids
• New Retail
• Online-Merge-Offline (OMO)
• SMILE Marathon: Ecosystem Orchestration and Participation
• OMO Platforms

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Alibaba
• Sun Art Retail Group
• KE Holdings / Beike / Lianjia

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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 the current political risks around Alibaba. But also about the very important concept of Worst Case Scenario.

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

Here is the Harvard Business Review case about Viva Macau.

Here is the book I mentioned, Dead Companies Walking by Scott Fearon.

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Related podcasts and articles are:

• My 9 Investment Questions (Asia Tech Strategy – Podcast 75)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Worst Case Scenario (Question 9)

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Alibaba

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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 how to think tactics that generate short-term growth and results. And we see these coming out of China all the time. In particular, I talk about how Pop Mart used blind boxes. How Joy Spreader and Ruhnn Holding used influencer marketing. And how everyone is using community group buying.

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

Here is the CBS talk with Li Lu.

Three questions for when you are thinking about tactics resulting in high-growth:

• Will this short-term tactic or growth hack lose strength? When?
• Is it a required new capability?
• Is it a structural advantage?

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Related podcasts and articles are:

• Joy Spreader and How to Think About KOL / Influencer Marketing (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Community Group Buying
• Influencers and KOLs
• Virality and Word of Mouth
• Chinese Digital Consumer Network (CDCN)

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Joy Spreader
• Pop Mart

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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 Baidu and its key strategic questions:

• Can it thrive as a stand-alone search engine? Against competitors such as Tencent and ByteDance.
• What is its best growth opportunity? I think cloud.
• Did it need to go into content? How far?
• Can it compete in the attention market? Search plus feed.

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

The mentioned slides are here.
 
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Related podcasts and articles are:

• Baidu’s Search Engine Explained in 3 Slides (pt 1 of 3) (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)
• Baidu is Struggling in Content Creation, Push Feeds and the Attention Market (Pt 2 of 3) (Asia Tech Strategy – Daily Update)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Search Engines
• Learning Platforms
• Standardization and Interconnection Network Effects

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Baidu

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

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 my investment checklist. Which is really just 9 questions. Shown below.

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

Charlie Munger’s Speech on the Psychology of Human Misjudgment. Located here.

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Related podcasts and articles are:

• N/A

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• 9 Questions
• Company Quality (Ques 1 and 2)
• Worst Case Scenario (Ques 9)

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Warren Buffett / Berkshire Hathaway

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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 Fiverr and their classic approach to building a marketplace platform (for freelance services). I don't go into it too much but I thought it was a good example of a common playbook for venture capital-backed early stage companies.

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

Andreesen Horowitz listed 4 types of competitive advantages:

• Network effects
• Economies of scale
• Direct brand power
• Differentiated technology

My competitive pyramid is here.

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Related podcasts and articles are:

• N/A

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• Platforms: Marketplace
• Network Effects
• Competitive Advantage: Differentiated Technology?

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Fiverr

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Asia Tech Strategy, a podcast and subscription newsletter on the strategies of China / Asia tech companies.

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