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  • The Need to Transform is Front and Center for Every C-Level Executive, Says Adobe CEO

    The Need to Transform is Front and Center for Every C-Level Executive, Says Adobe CEO

    “When people look at what’s happening with Amazon trying to get into their businesses, the need to transform is also front and center for every c-level executive,” says Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. “Given that Adobe’s been through our own transformation and has software they want to hear from us and they want to experience that same benefit that we have been able to see.”

    Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, discusses how Adobe is helping companies large and small through their digital transformation in an interview on CNBC:

    Adobe Helping Businesses Transform

    When we talk about helping businesses transform we do every aspect of it. We help them create that experience and help them understand how to attract customers. That last mile of transacting with customers is so critical. Adobe was a company that actually innovated tremendously but we had a two-tier distribution channel. We have two businesses. We have the creative business and we have the enterprise business. If you look at what we’ve been able to accomplish in the long run and the two tailwinds that we have, we continue to be really optimistic about Adobe’s prospects.

    When we completely moved to the cloud we recognized that every other company would go through what we did. Namely, how do you engage with your customers digitally? Do you understand how to acquire them and how do they use your software? I think sharing our learnings with other people gives us incredible credibility in the enterprise and we learn from these customers.

    Creating a Real-Time Customer Profile is So Critical

    In enterprise software, this third generation, which is all about customer experience management, I think it’s the companies who recognize that you have to partner with an entire ecosystem to create this real-time customer profile that’s absolutely so critical. That’s why our partnerships, whether they be with ServiceNow or Microsoft or the other cloud kings is so critical in enabling our customers to completely transform themselves.

    What we have been able to do is create this real-time customer profile. People are really within an enterprise saying how do I create native applications? ServiceNow is clearly the leader in IT Service Management. What John (Donahoe) has done is truly special. I think partnering with them to enable IT professionals within an enterprise to use Adobe’s Customer Experience Management with ServiceNow’s IT Service Management, that was a natural.

    The Need to Transform is Front and Center for Every C-Level Executive

    Design and creativity have never been more important. Everything has a screen. So people are creating content, whether that’s a car, whether that’s a retail experience, whether it’s a basketball stadium. Adobe is the content provider that enables all of these screens to be delivered with incredible content. Given design is more important and given mobile devices are in every single place, that’s a tremendous tailwind.

    Secondly, when people look at what’s happening with Amazon trying to get into their businesses, the need to transform is also front and center for every c-level executive. Given that Adobe’s been through our own transformation and has software they want to hear from us and they want to experience that same benefit that we have been able to see.

    I’ve talked about how video is explosive. II think what Disney is doing both with their own service as well as with more control of Hulu is really saying people are consuming more and more content digitally. So providing the analytics for that, providing the digital rights management for that, the right ability to audience segment in terms of who you are attracting, a lot of that is what Adobe powers. This is not just for Disney but for frankly all the major media companies in the world.

    Adobe Powering Big CPG Companies Through a Digital Transformation

    The big CPG companies are going through the following question. They have sometimes hundreds of millions or billions of people using their products and they just don’t necessarily know who they are. Giving them that insight into how they create this incredible customer database, how they understand usage patterns, and how they understand what these people want. If we can provide that insight to companies then all the CPG companies can recognize that this direct relationship will enable them to innovate at a faster pace.

    For example, what Unilever is trying to do is really say we have this tremendous distribution network but what they’ve tried to do even with Dollar Shave Club is really say, “How do we create an incredible customer database?” But the same thing is happening across Colgate or Procter & Gamble. We are partnering very heavily with Unilever as they embark on this digital transformation and understanding customer patterns and customer sentiments across the world.

    The Need to Transform is Front and Center for Every C-Level Executive, Says Adobe CEO

    Also read:

    Without AI, Real-Time Personalization Would Not Be Possible

  • At Honeywell Innovation is Always the Key, Says CEO

    At Honeywell Innovation is Always the Key, Says CEO

    “Innovation is the key,” says Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk. “Anything we do in Honeywell, innovation is always the key. Whether it’s expanding into Europe, driving more robotics, a connected  warehouse offering which we are bringing to customers and having a broader play, are the key technology levers for that business.”

    Darius Adamczyk, CEO and Chairman at Honeywell, discusses how the company is using innovation and technology to drive growth in an interview on Bloomberg:

    Honeywell Digital Makes Us a More Contemporary Digital Company

    As we always said my number one priority as CEO was to drive organic growth, but we never say we’re going to give up on our margin expansion. We do it through a combination, both commercial levers, which is managing our mix, and always introducing new products, which bring more value to customers. But also not forgetting our roots, which is driving productivity. With the number of ERPs we have and the kind of complexity we have in our supply chain, Honeywell Digital, which is going to make us a much more contemporary digital company, we have plenty of levers for productivity as well.

    Honeywell Digital really has three primary elements. First is data governance, which is standard across all our various businesses. We’ve done over 80 acquisitions in the last 15 years so we have a lot of disparity. Then there are common processes, which is we want to run our businesses the same way in a very consistent manner. We have some pockets of excellence, but those have some inconsistency. Finally, all integrated into a common IT platform. Just to give an example, we had well over 1,500 different software applications before we started. We had over 150 ERP systems. It’s just very difficult to run a company efficiently and enable us to really make good data-based decisions. Honeywell digital is really all about enabling that.

    Anything We Do In Honeywell, Innovation is Always the Key

    Warehouse automation, which we started in 2016 with our Intelligrated acquisition. It’s been just a terrific business growing strong double-digit. We also made another acquisition called Transnorm which added to that technology in Europe in Q4 last year. We were planning on growing it organically, but also we’re looking to enhance our offerings, so we’re looking for inorganic opportunities as well. Innovation is the key. Anything we do in Honeywell, innovation is always the key. Whether it’s expanding into Europe, driving more robotics, a connected warehouse offering which we are bringing to customers and having a broader play, are the key technology levers for that business.

    Amazon is a big customer but we have a lot of big customers. I wouldn’t say it’s a predominant customer in that business. Just about everybody is looking into ecommerce because with a lot today’s retail you really have basically two options. One option is to enhance the in-store experience which a lot of retailers are doing. The other one is to drive ecommerce. We think that this trend is going to continue. Although I would say it’s in the middle innings in the US, it’s just beginning in Europe. We think we have a huge opportunity in Europe, India, and some of the other overseas markets.

    We have a very active venture capital fund and we’ve made about six investments in the last six months which is augmenting our technology plays. So although we haven’t made any big acquisitions, other than Transnorm in Q4, we are continuing to invest through our venture fund and we’re deploying capital that way. It’s been a terrific story for us in 3D printing for instance, particularly for our aerospace business. For a lot of the slow-moving parts we’re trying to basically get a new part certified and three printing per day. That’s our objective. Our aerospace businesses have made tremendous progress in achieving that and it’s really helping both for our inventory and on-time delivery for a lot of our aftermarket customers.

    It’s Important For Teachers To Be More Effective in STEM Education

    Regarding the workforce, education is the key and particularly STEM education. Honeywell is a big believer in that. Not only do we develop a lot of our young people that we bring into the company but we also spend a lot of money and time on developing teachers. It’s important for teachers to be more effective in STEM education. It’s something that we’re going to be supporting going forward even on a broader scale because that’s the way to differentiate our company.

    We’re always going to be differentiated by technology and we want to bring the brightest and the best. We want to make sure that it’s a competitive issue, not just here in the US, but everywhere we hire people, and we hire people just about everywhere. We have engineers in the US, China, India, everywhere around the globe. I would say lately we’ve actually been very much on the hiring string. When you grow 8% that creates a lot of opportunities to hire a lot of people particularly in the area of technology and engineering and software.

    At Honeywell Innovation is Always the Key, Says CEO


  • Walmart Can’t Let Amazon Out Walmart Walmart

    Walmart Can’t Let Amazon Out Walmart Walmart

    “I’ve been watching Walmart since 1968, they only came into existence in 62, they’ve done the same thing to the rest of retail,” says Jan Kniffen of J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide. “They kept making a new step every time and the rest of retail had to follow and they won the game, they got all the market share. They can’t let Amazon out Walmart Walmart (when it comes to free one-day shipping). Walmart will fight this battle to the bitter end.”

    Jan Kniffen, CEO of J Rogers Kniffen World Wide, discusses Walmart’s likely reaction to Amazon’s free one-day shipping announcement in an interview on CNBC:

    Walmart Tweets One-Day Free Shipping…Without a Membership Fee

    Walmart is going to get to same-day delivery and so is Amazon. They’re just making the steps down. I would have come out with that tweet because they can say we’ll give it to you maybe same-day and no membership fee. They’ve been tit for tat for with Amazon right along. I think that Walmart with its 4,500 stores that are many distribution centers can keep up with Amazon on delivery. Can anybody else? Maybe not, but those two certainly can.

    Walmart can do same day and they should do it. The real question is what’s the cost to them to do this and what’s the cost to Amazon? They’ve already told us, it’s hundreds of millions of dollars. But what’s the cost to everyone else? Because market shares are what it costs everyone else. Walmart’s got to do this if Amazon does. They can’t give Amazon market share just because their deliveries are not as fast. But can anyone else keep up and pay the price that it takes to be able to do it? It’s really hard to imagine other people can. Amazon and Walmart both can.

    Walmart Can’t Let Amazon Out Walmart Walmart

    If you’re the investor I’m sure you’re going I don’t want this to happen. If you’re Walmart you’re saying I don’t really have a choice if Amazon does this I have to be competitive. Amazon caused Walmart or Walmart’s competitive nature caused it to spend a fortune over these last five years to be competitive with Amazon. When Doug (McMillon) came out and talked about it the stock went down a lot. Now it’s all come back and it’s all paid off and Walmart’s winning the game versus all of the other retailers. They’ve got to continue to do that.

    I’ve been watching Walmart since 1968, they only came into existence in 62, they’ve done the same thing to the rest of retail. They kept making a new step every time and the rest of retail had to follow and they won the game, they got all the market share. They can’t let Amazon out Walmart Walmart. Walmart will fight this battle to the bitter end. The question is do you still want to own the stock? My answer is yes you do just like you still want to own Amazon stock. These two win the game.

    Target is the Third Man Out in This Three-Horse Race

    I’m not pushing Target. I think Target is the third man out in this three-horse race. Target has done a great job. They’re a much better retailer than they were three or four years ago. They were the best retailer in the country in 2006. Now we’ve reached the point where it is sort of a three horse race and I just don’t see how they continue to win the game.

    I understand the call (by Barclays) and they are doing a much better job in apparel than they’ve done in years. But they’ve still got to fight this battle on things like same-day delivery with Walmart and Amazon. I don’t see how they win.

    Walmart Can’t Let Amazon Out Walmart Walmart


  • Microsoft Gaining Ground As Retail Cloud Alternative To Amazon

    Microsoft Gaining Ground As Retail Cloud Alternative To Amazon

    According to a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft is increasingly positioning itself as the cloud vendor of choice for retailers seeking to avoid Amazon, as well as more generalized software vendors.

    The software giant has been rolling out a number of cloud tools and services designed specifically for the retail market. Microsoft has had tremendous success in this market, as many retailers want to avoid relying on software made by their primary competitor, Amazon.

    “A key part of our offering is that we partner and we don’t compete,” Shelley Bransten, Corporate Vice President, Global Retail & Consumer Goods, told Bloomberg.

    One such feature that has come from that partnership is one that allows Teams users to use their phones as walkie-talkies for in-store communication. Microsoft is quick to point out, however, that features such as this one have value far beyond the retail environment.

    The end result of this focus has been some large, high-profile defections from competing products to Microsoft. Ikea, for example, has already moved 70,000 employees from Slack to Teams and “plans to have the rest of its 165,000-person workforce on Office 365 cloud software and Teams by the end of spring.”

    As Bloomberg points out, Microsoft’s stature in this market is turning heads. CEO Satya Nadella is scheduled to speak at the National Retail Federation’s annual show next week, “underscoring how significant the industry is to Amazon’s biggest cloud competitors.”

  • Amazon Announces Voice Interoperability Initiative—Leaves Out Apple and Google

    Amazon Announces Voice Interoperability Initiative—Leaves Out Apple and Google

    There’s no doubt that virtual assistants and AI-based voice services are one of the next big things in the technology industry. Long the stuff of science fiction, voice-based computing represents the next leap in computer interface and usability paradigms. As a result, virtually all the major players are pushing ahead with development.

    It should come as no surprise that Amazon, one of the biggest players in the voice-enabled market, has announced the Voice Interoperability Initiative. The initiative is an effort to standardize how voice-enabled products work and “is built around a shared belief that voice services should work seamlessly alongside one another on a single device, and that voice-enabled products should be designed to support multiple simultaneous wake words.”

    Already, more than 30 companies have signed on to the initiative, including the likes of Microsoft, Salesforce, Logitech, Qualcomm, Libre, Intel, Spotify and others.

    “Multiple simultaneous wake words provide the best option for customers,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Utterance by utterance, customers can choose which voice service will best support a particular interaction. It’s exciting to see these companies come together in pursuit of that vision.”

    While the initiative’s goals look good on paper, there are some challenges. Notably, the idea of having multiple voice services working on a single device may not fly with some of Amazon’s competitors. Indeed, Apple, Google and Samsung are noticeably absent from the initiative.

    In the case of Apple, given their strong pro-privacy stance, it’s unlikely they will want to put Siri on hardware made by a competitor. Similarly, Google may be hesitant to give up the control that comes with their Google Home hardware.

    Whatever the outcome, one thing is clear: Voice-enabled services is shaping up to be another technological battleground between some of the biggest names in the industry.

  • eBay Selling StubHub to Rival viagogo For $4.05 Billion

    eBay Selling StubHub to Rival viagogo For $4.05 Billion

    eBay has announced that viagogo has agreed to purchase StubHub for $4.05 billion in cash.

    eBay purchased StubHub for $310 million in 2007. StubHub claims to be “the world’s most trusted ticket marketplace spanning 44 countries.” It’s business partners include “the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, WWE, NCAA, Matchroom Boxing, plus Paciolan, Tessitura and Roundabout Theatre Company. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience throughout the world.”

    Rival viagogo was founded by Eric Baker, the same individual who co-founded StubHub. Baker left the company before eBay purchased it in 2007. Nevertheless, he was upbeat about bringing together his two creations and combining their resources.

    “It has long been my wish to unite the two companies. I am so proud of how StubHub has grown over the years and excited about the possibilities for our shared future,” Baker said. “Buyers will have a wider choice of tickets, and sellers will have a wider network of buyers. Bringing these two companies together creates a win-win for fans – more choice and better pricing.”

    Together, the two companies “will sell hundreds of thousands of tickets daily across more than 70 countries.” Despite StubHub’s success, eBay ultimately is divesting itself of the company to streamline its focus.

    “We believe this transaction is a great outcome and maximizes long-term value for eBay shareholders,” said Scott Schenkel, interim chief executive officer of eBay Inc. “Over the past several months, eBay’s leadership team and Board of Directors have been engaged in a thorough review of our current strategies and portfolio, and we concluded that this was the best path forward for both eBay and StubHub. We firmly believe in the StubHub business and we are excited about its future growth potential with viagogo as its owner.”

    Provided the deal receives regulatory approval, eBay expects it to close by the end of Q1 2020.

  • PayPal Acquires Price Comparison Tool Honey For $4 Billion

    PayPal Acquires Price Comparison Tool Honey For $4 Billion

    PayPal has announced its acquisition of Honey Science Corporation, a price comparison platform that helps shoppers save money.

    Honey was founded in 2012 and provides promo codes, discounts and online coupons to customers. Customers can even add items to their list and be notified if the price drops. The company’s addition will help PayPal further simplify the online shopping experience and be a valuable tool for PayPal’s network of merchants.

    “The acquisition supports PayPal and Honey’s shared mission to simplify and personalize shopping experiences for consumers while driving conversion and increasing consumer engagement and sales for merchants. The combination will help accelerate growth across both companies. Honey will accelerate its growth by driving adoption among PayPal and Venmo’s more than 275 million active consumer accounts and sourcing exclusive offers from PayPal’s extensive network of 24 million merchant accounts. Honey will enable PayPal to reach consumers at the beginning of their shopping journeys and will enhance PayPal’s ability to help merchants acquire and convert consumers by delivering offers that are personalized, timely, and optimized across channels.”

    Amid increasing competition from Apple Pay, Google Pay and other digital wallet systems, PayPal also hopes the acquisition will help it drive user engagement.

    “Honey is amongst the most transformative acquisitions in PayPal’s history. It provides a broad portfolio of services to simplify the consumer shopping experience, while at the same time making it more affordable and rewarding,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal. “The combination of Honey’s complementary consumer products with our platform will significantly enhance our ability to drive engagement and play a more meaningful role in the daily lives of our consumers. As a partner of choice for our merchants, this is another way that we can help them build and strengthen their customer relationships, provide personalized offers, and drive incremental sales. The combination of Honey and PayPal adds another significant and meaningful dimension to our two-sided platform.”

  • How Domino’s Is Using Technology and Innovation To Drive Growth

    How Domino’s Is Using Technology and Innovation To Drive Growth

    “Each time we take a look at technology we look at all of the options,” says Domino’s CEO Ritch Allison. “Do we build it? Do we partner? Do we go out and buy something. For the things that are really core to our business like our point-of-sale system and our digital ordering capabilities, we believe we have to own those. But there are other places like new autonomous delivery where we’ll go out and partner with someone, like Nuro for example, because we’re not going to build the car itself. We’re going to build the interface around it for the customer.”

    Ritch Allison, CEO of Domino’s, discusses how the company is using technology, innovation, and reimagined stores to drive growth.

    We Look At All Technology Options

    We’ve had a very strong and profitable delivery business for many years now. So unlike a lot of the other restaurant brands, we don’t have to decide to get in or not or try to figure out which of these third-party aggregators is ultimately going to be the winner at the end of this shakeout. We’re really focused on continuing to build that delivery business with our franchisees and doing it in a profitable way for them. We believe that means doing it on our own.

    Each time we take a look at technology we look at all of the options. Do we build it? Do we partner? Do we go out and buy something. For the things that are really core to our business like our point-of-sale system and our digital ordering capabilities, we believe we have to own those. But there are other places like new autonomous delivery where we’ll go out and partner with someone, like Nuro for example, because we’re not going to build the car itself. We’re going to build the interface around it for the customer.

    We’ve Got a Terrific 4-Wall Economic Model

    Most certainly construction costs have gone up with the combination of tariffs on steel and aluminum. But also we’re in a really robust labor market right now and so wages have risen in construction as well. The good news for us is we’ve got such a terrific 4-wall economic model that even with some of those rising costs we’re still able to deliver to our franchisees a great investment. We are averaging two and a half year average paybacks for Domino’s Pizza today in the US.

    We’re not really seeing (much impact) in our business with respect to trade tensions. The great thing about our business model outside the US is we have international master franchisees. They’re locally owned, they employ the local citizens, and we buy almost all of our ingredients locally as well. We’re really building businesses that are benefiting the economies of these international markets that we operate in. So in places where we’re growing rapidly like China, India, and Brazil, we’re an emerging part of the economy in those countries.

    85 Percent of Our Global Footprint Reimaged

    We have grown our carryout business significantly over the course of the last ten years. A big part of that is having a great value offer for our customers. It’s about having the reimaged stores. We’ve now got 85 plus percent of our global footprint reimaged. Also, it’s about getting more stores on the map closer to our customers. The number one criteria when consumers choose is convenience with carryout. So we’re going to continue to build more units and get closer and closer to them.

    How Domino’s Is Using Technology and Innovation To Drive Growth – CEO Ritch Allison
  • AI-Powered Conversational Bots Are Changing the Game, Says LivePerson CEO

    AI-Powered Conversational Bots Are Changing the Game, Says LivePerson CEO

    “T-Mobile literally pulled the hold technology out,” says LivePerson CEO Robert Locascio. “Millions of customer at T-Mobile don’t have to be put on hold. There’s no press one or press two. They go straight to a person. You are messaging them. You are doing what’s natural to you. That’s really what we see as changing the game. We made a big pivot two years ago and launched a whole new platform. There’s a bigger future in bots and AI than there was in chat.”

    Robert Locascio, CEO of LivePerson, discusses how AI-powered conversational bots are being deployed and literally “changing the game” for customers of thousands of businesses using their Maven technology in an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC:

    AI-Powered Conversational Bots Are Changing the Game

    We made a big pivot two years ago and launched a whole new platform and I said, “There’s a bigger future in bots and AI than there was in chat that I invented many years ago.” We went for it and as you can see the performance has been really great. I brought Alex Spinelli in about a year ago and he was running the core development team for Alexa. We brought in a lot of people from that group. The difference between us and Alexa is that we have thousands of brands (for our team) to work on. The Delta’s of the world and the T-Mobile’s of the world, instead of just one brand with Amazon.

    We do human interactions also, but we know a lot of those interactions can be automated. Just look at Delta. In a couple of weeks, instead of your flights late and you make a call on the phone and get put on hold, you are going to be able to message a contact center and talk to a bot in real-time to get what you want and change your flight. All of that will happen without you being on hold. That’s really why these brands are gravitating toward us. We are messaging with our friends and family. We are not calling people anymore. So why call a brand?

    T-Mobile literally pulled the hold technology out. Millions of customer at T-Mobile don’t have to be put on hold. There’s no press one or press two. They go straight to a person. You are messaging them. You are doing what’s natural to you. That’s really what we see as changing the game. Right now, Apple just opened up iMessages to businesses. Every business in the world is going to have to be on iMessage through our platform. Facebook Messenger too.

    Maven, LivePerson’s Conversational Engine

    We now have this thing called Brew to You, where right from your seat (in a stadium) you can have a bear and a hot dog delivered to you. But now we have something really cool which is out of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. There is a bot called Rose when you check in. She tells you everything about the hotel. She can help you cut the line at Marquee which is their cool club. This is all about people engaging with the brand and talking to this bot that’s just there for you. And after people leave the hotel they keep talking to Rose!

    What we are finding is that we take our technology which is called Maven, we enable the contact center reps to create the bots, deploy them, and own the bots. For example, we have a contact center down in the Dominican Republic and there’s a woman there named Laura that created a bot for GrillMaster, which is one of our customers. They deployed it and sold millions of dollars worth of grills. She was empowered to basically create that bot, deploy it, and change her life. She doubled her salary. That’s the power of this thing.

    AI Has Got to be Democratized

    EqualAI is a nonprofit we set up a couple of months ago. I started to realize that AI has got to be out there in the hands of many. It’s got to be democratized. It can’t just be with the big tech companies. What we want to do is take all the technology that we have (and make it available). It started with watching my two-year-old watching me command Alexa. Alexa turn on the lights. Alexa play music. She’s seen me command this AI and it’s a woman’s voice. I think what we are seeing now is that children are being affected by this. They are going to school, making demands, and following this.

    We have to change the way that we deploy AI and how we manage it. I wanted to bring the best practices into a nonprofit. We now have other people and brands who are joining us and taking part in this. One of the best practices that we are looking at is why do we have a woman’s voice with Alexa? It could be any voice. It could be a man. We have to think about these things before we deploy them to millions of people and we affect their lives.

    AI-Powered Conversational Bots Are Changing the Game, Says LivePerson CEO Robert Locascio

    Also read:

    Deepak Chopra Delivering Reflections on Alexa via LivePerson

  • Facebook Trying To Habituate Consumers Around Driving Transactions, Says Button CEO

    Facebook Trying To Habituate Consumers Around Driving Transactions, Says Button CEO

    “The Instagram effort is one that we predicted for a long time,” says Button CEO Michael Jaconi. “I wasn’t the most popular guy in the venture capital pitch room saying hey, the world is moving to commerce. They said advertising makes so much money. In reality, what I think Facebook is doing is very smart. They’re trying to habituate consumers around driving transactions from their platform. For the future of advertising, especially in mobile, the way that you’re going to be able to make money and build durability into your business model is to give consumers what they want.”

    Michael Jaconi, CEO of Button, discusses how mobile commerce is rapidly replacing ads as the primary revenue source for publishers and social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram in an interview on Bloomberg Technology.

    We’re Trying To Build an Internet Built on Actions, Not Ads

    The Button platform really sits above the stack. Where we sit is really in this place where publishers integrate with Button to connect their consumers to their next step. What we’re trying to build is an internet that we think is going to be better, and an internet built on actions, not ads. What the publisher technology that we built does is it sits inside of an application, renders an actual button, and then connects them to the place of intent that their users ultimately may want to go. Whether that’s a mapping app going to Uber or an app like rewardStyle that is powering an influencer network to drive sales at ASOS.

    There’s a lot of change happening and Button is trying to invest in that ourselves. You’re seeing the platform’s, Apple and Google, do a lot to make this easier with Facebook’s recent launch of Instagram Checkout. You’re obviously seeing that they’re investing a ton in making the checkout process more seamless. What we fundamentally believe when we started the company was that if we could build a method that would make consumers have a delightful experience, giving from that moment of intent to the moment of fulfillment, saying hey, I want a ride or I want to book a reservation, and having that be as few taps as possible, we would win and the companies that we’re building on top of our platform would win. 

    You’re seeing innovation happen with sign-on and the actual account credentials being passed more easily between experiences. Apple Pay, of course, the Google Checkout experiences and  PayPal is making this easier. You’re seeing strides being made but there’s still a long way to go. It’s still a lot easier to purchase on your PC unfortunately. 

    Facebook Trying To Habituate Consumers Around Driving Transactions

    In our judgment, we think that the Instagram effort is one that we predicted for a long time. I wasn’t the most popular guy in the venture capital pitch room saying hey, the world is moving to commerce. They said advertising makes so much money. In reality, what I think Facebook is doing is very smart. They’re trying to habituate consumers around driving transactions from their platform. Everyone is looking at Amazon with a little bit of fear and a little bit of jealousy. What you’re seeing is that they’re looking at Amazon’s power as being the habituated source of transactions. They are saying look at how Amazon is growing its ad business.

    If you look at Amazon’s business, the fastest growing channel it’s had in terms of revenue growth has been its advertising business for the past eight quarters in a row. What’s fascinating about that is that every company wants to grow and be a part of that puzzle or that story. That’s the thing that we’re seeing grow most quickly. For the future of advertising, especially in mobile, when display and all types of advertising are under fire, the way that you’re going to be able to make money and build durability into your business model is to give consumers what they want. For us, we’re trying to give that power to every publisher that exists and to every company that has intent.

    Facebook Trying To Habituate Consumers Around Driving Transactions, Says Button CEO Michael Jaconi
  • Apple Is Trying To Be A Subscription Company

    Apple Is Trying To Be A Subscription Company

    “Just think about the long term value of Apple and where they’re going,”  says Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig. “They were a phone company, they were an ecommerce company, and now they’re trying to be a subscription company. You see that in their services and their service numbers. They have the largest distribution system on the planet probably other than Google. If they commit to it there is no reason they can’t be successful.”

    Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of Chegg, discusses how Apple has pivoted and is trying to become a subscription company selling services, leveraging its huge distribution system, in an interview on CNBC:

    Apple Is Trying To Be A Subscription Company

    Where Apple wants to make (their products) is where it’s cheapest and where they can make the best quality. They’re playing the game now sort of whack-a-mole which is watching the tariffs and all these things. Just think about the long term value of Apple and where they’re going. They were a phone company, they were an ecommerce company, and now they’re trying to be a subscription company. You see that in their services and their service numbers. The supply chain is a thing to talk about over the quarter but in the long term that is all going to be resolved. They’ll be wherever they need to be.

    They have the largest distribution system on the planet probably other than Google. They have been selling other people things through the iTunes store and through the app store. They bought companies in order to be able to sell news and other things and they sell their iCloud. They really have not gotten into content that they own in any significant way. Unless they commit to it they’re not going to be successful. But if they commit to it there is no reason they can’t be successful. 

    Most Of Apple’s Subscription Profit Is Coming From the iCloud

    If you ask what is it that Apple owns proprietarily and offers to their consumer in terms of content other than the iCloud itself, you really can’t come up with anything. Whereas, Adobe has all these software and services and Microsoft has these things. They’re sort of in the content area. They’re in the music subscription area. But even in the music subscription area, they don’t own the content. So it’s hard to make those things as profitable. Although, you can sign up a lot of people. 

    I would estimate that most of their profit from that is coming from just the iCloud. It’s selling storage that everybody needs because your phone is your home base. 

    Apple Is Well-Positioned In Wearables

    I think the iPhone is cyclical. There hasn’t been a big breakthrough. Everything has gotten a little smaller, a little better, a little cleaner, a little faster, and a little bit more secure. I don’t know what the next breakthrough is. What I do know is the need for mobility is endless. The kinds of things that are going to attach to our bodies seem to be endless. I think Apple is well-positioned to be that player. 

    Just in default mode, if you are a user of Apple products you prefer to use Apple products because it’s just easier. The payments there. The clicks there. The operating system is there. It’s just too familiar for you. They chose the highest-priced model. The highest-priced model is generally the smallest group and it ends quicker. The question is can they come up with lower-priced models and then make a lot of their money on subscription services.

    Apple Is Trying To Be A Subscription Company, Says Chegg Chegg CEO Dan Rosensweig
  • Kevin O’Leary on China Trade War: What Trump Is Doing Is Starting To Work

    Kevin O’Leary on China Trade War: What Trump Is Doing Is Starting To Work

    “Mr. Wonderful” Kevin O’Leary of SharkTank got some high praise for his comments in support of the Trump Administration’s trade actions in pursuit of a free trade agreement with China. President Trump tweeted. “Thank you Mr. Wonderful, I like you too!”

    Kevin O’Leary of SharkTank on Trump’s trade policy: It’s starting to work.

    O’Leary later commented on Trump’s tweet and elaborated on why Trump is working to level the playing field for America doing business in China: 

    I was talking about the policy this administration is putting forward. Bottom line is everything has been tried for 17 years while I have actually been doing business in China. Nothing has worked to level playing field. I like what this administration is doing by trying new ideas. Let’s try something else. That’s what I’m talking about. Because to me, it’s starting to work. Everything else has not worked. I’ll keep it very simple. I don’t have a level playing field in China. They get to use our markets in ways that we can’t use theirs. That’s not okay anymore.

    Kevin O’Leary of SharkTank: I Like What This Administration Is Doing With Trade


  • Alibaba.com Opens World’s Largest B2B Marketplace To US Businesses

    Alibaba.com Opens World’s Largest B2B Marketplace To US Businesses

    “Alibaba.com is the largest B2B marketplace on the planet,” says John Caplan, the North America B2B President at Alibaba Group. “Today is a great day for US small businesses. Manufacturers and wholesalers can join Alibaba.com today to sell to the world. The platform is now open to enable those businesses to reach the 190 countries at four corners of the globe where we have ten million business buyers on the platform. That business is $23.9 trillion and in fact, it’s six times larger than the B2C market.”

    John Caplan, President, North America B2B at Alibaba Group, discusses opening Alibaba.com to US small businesses to reach 10 million new B2B buyers, in an interview on Bloomberg:

    Alibaba.com Now Open To US Small Businesses

    Today is a great day for US small businesses. Manufacturers and wholesalers can join Alibaba.com today to sell to the world. The platform is now open to enable those businesses to reach the 190 countries at four corners of the globe where we have ten million business buyers on the platform. That business is $23.9 trillion and in fact, it’s six times larger than the B2C market. Alibaba.com is the largest B2B marketplace on the planet. What we built are simple to use tools for small businesses to have a global storefront, to market to customers, and then to reach deep into the globe so that they can sell their goods.

    Today’s the big announcement. But in fact, one-third of the demand, the buyers on Alibaba.com, are here in the United States. So those folks we’ve been doing business with for 20 years since Jack founded the company. Now what we’re saying to them is you’ve been sourcing on the platform and now you can, in fact, sell to the world on the platform. We are entirely focused on the B2B market. It is $23.9 trillion. Alibaba.com is purpose-built to help small businesses sell to the world. We’re very focused on helping digitize small businesses around the globe.

    70 Percent of US Small Businesses Do Not Sell Online

    One interesting statistic, 70 percent of US small businesses do not sell online today. This market is not yet digitized. What we’ve created are simple to use tools to help small businesses get online. It’s an interesting space because. In fact, the value chain for small businesses, the value chain for B2B is so complex that no one has digitized it end-to-end other than Alibaba.com. 

    We’ve actually created a platform that enables a small business to message, talk to, negotiate with, pay, and handle the logistics for orders end-to-end. I think we’re in a class by ourselves.  Our business has seen a triple-digit growth and this plan has been in the works for many years. I joined Alibaba.com in 2017. The transformation of our business from a yellow page business to an end-to-end procurement platform is now adding the globalized supply to the platform.

    Alibaba.com Opens World’s Largest B2B Marketplace To US Businesses – John Caplan
  • Facebook’s Libra Is a Force For Good, Says PayPal Co-Founder

    Facebook’s Libra Is a Force For Good, Says PayPal Co-Founder

    “In general, Libra is a force for good,” says PayPal Co-Founder and Affirm CEO Max Levchin. “It’s a really interesting experiment. I’m glad they’re doing it in a way that isn’t just Facebook because of all the headwind that Facebook has experienced with the regulators. There are many questions to ask about the practical applications. For example, if you are buying into Libra, does that create more opportunities to do as we call it, money fraud, or not?”

    Max Levchin, PayPal co-founder and Affirm CEO, discusses Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency and how that is a good example of the use of blockchain technology in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:

    Blockchain Technology Is Inevitable

    I agree with David Marcus (the Co-creator of Libra and Head of Calibra) from his testimony where he very aptly pointed out that blockchain technology is inevitable. It’s been a hammer looking for nails for quite some time. We’re now starting to see real applications to the blockchain tech. I’m not speaking of Bitcoin or any one particular currency, just the idea of a public ledger is a very powerful idea. It will get put to good use. I think Libra is a good example of good use. 

    The most obvious application where Libre as a concept is being brought down to an individual level is cross-border payments. You could make some very very cheap remittances happen. If you look at costs being charged by companies to send money back home from wherever you are, you will see they’re making some enormous spreads. There are plenty of startups trying to attack that, like TransferWise where I’m an investor, for example. They’ve done a wonderful job in Europe. I think Libra could potentially just massively compress fees in that market and that’ll be very good. 

    Libra Is a Force For Good

    In general, Libra is a force for good. It’s a really interesting experiment. I’m glad they’re doing it in a way that isn’t just Facebook because of all the headwind that Facebook has experienced with the regulators. But there are many many other questions to ask about the practical applications. For example, if you are buying into Libra, does that create more opportunities to do as we call it, money fraud, or not? It’s going to be a set of open problems for quite some time.

    It’s the job of the US regulators to not trust large companies or any companies. I think their job is to audit, to regulate, and to provide equal treatment under the rule of law for everyone. Libra is a particularly interesting one because it’s not just a company, it’s Facebook’s sort of initiating this thing, and there’s this giant group of other companies coming together to govern it. So it perhaps is more complicated to regulate. 

    But I think, yes, government should take an extremely active stance in regulating this thing that Libre is and will be. Within that, they should not rely on this notion that Facebook is going to be a good company. They may be and I’m sure they will be, but they’re also going to act in their best interest. That is the assumption of a smart regulator. Companies will do the thing they need to do and our job is to protect consumers and make sure of equal competition.

    Breaking Up Facebook Is a Terrible Idea

    The real question that lawmakers are asking about Facebook, is it too big? That’s the underlying dynamic that they’re trying to explore. That question is a much harder question to answer. It is very very big. It is bigger than most nations. So in that sense, I think they’re right. It is hard to say Facebook is too big if you step back and ask who do they compete with. If you actually compare them to, for example, Chinese companies that they go up against in a world of ad spend, companies like Tencent are just are gargantuan. And Tencent is not at risk of being broken up by the Chinese government from last I checked. If you want a Facebook to compete to with companies like Tencent successfully I think breaking them up seems like a counterintuitive thing to do.

    I think Facebook and all US company should absolutely be regulated. There’s a huge difference between being regulated and abiding by the set of laws and regulations and antitrust and all the stuff that the US government’s amassed over the last couple hundred years of how to behave in a sane way in a capitalist society with the rule of law. But breaking Facebook up does, in fact, hurt its ability to compete, internationally most importantly. I think breaking it up is a terrible idea, regulating it is exactly what the US government should be doing, and they should do a better job by the way.

    Facebook’s Libra Is a Force For Good, Says PayPal Co-Founder Max Levchin
  • We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow, Says eBay CEO

    We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow, Says eBay CEO

    “The most important thing that we look at is the underlying health of the marketplace,” says eBay CEO Devin Wenig. “For me, that really comes down to three things. It’s how many people are shopping with us? How many people are selling with us? And how much inventory is in the marketplace? What’s on the shelves if you will. All three of those have never been higher. We’ve seen active buyers consistently grow, we added two million last quarter.”

    Devin Wenig, CEO of eBay, discusses their strong Q2 earnings announcement and growth going forward. Wenig also took the opportunity to slam the internet sales tax movement, saying the “internet sales tax is a regressive tax on small business,” in an interview on CNBC:

    We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow

    The most important thing that we look at is the underlying health of the marketplace. For me, that really comes down to three things. It’s how many people are shopping with us? How many people are selling with us? And how much inventory is in the marketplace? What’s on the shelves if you will. All three of those have never been higher. We’ve seen active buyers consistently grow, we added two million last quarter. We continue to see growth in business sellers and inventory. If you look in our history every time those numbers grow GMV (gross merchandise value) grows. 

    What we’re facing right now is a couple of things and GMV can move up or down in the 90 day period. We are in the middle of a rollout of internet sales tax, which we know is making an impact, particularly on our US business. We’re also seeing the withdrawal of some of the marketing spend that we did last year, which was part of the plan. We said we would do that this year and we have a line of sight to it, and it’s explainable. So we’re not that concerned about GMV being soft in the short run. What we see is a healthy marketplace and we know when those metrics grow GMV follows, as it has in every year in our past 24 years.

    We’ve raised guidance now twice in the last two quarters. We don’t give GMV guidance. We give revenue guidance and earnings guidance. We started the year saying this year was about growing the underlying marketplace metrics and let’s get the two real growth priorities, advertising, and payments, going. And half of the way in I’d say I’m pleased but not satisfied. I’d say we’ve made a lot of progress against those priorities, although we still have a long way to go. But it’s given us the confidence to raise our forecast in Q1 and we raised it again yesterday. So that’s a good start, a good first half.

    Internet Sales Tax Is a Regressive Tax On Small Business

    At the beginning of the year, there were no states that had enacted a marketplace collection of sales tax. Now we have nine and there are 30 that have declared and 30 will be in place by the end of this year. Obviously, when a state declares an internet sales tax we must collect on behalf of the sellers. So we have a forward view as to how many states will enact that tax and where it will be in place by the end of the year. It will be 30 and it will cover the majority of our sales in the US and the fourth quarter of this year will be the peak. 

    The impact of internet sales tax will make a bigger impact before it wanes. It’ll wane as we lap out of it next year. I’ll just take the opportunity to say I think it’s a bad policy. We’ve been advocating on behalf of small businesses for years that an internet sales tax is a regressive tax on small business and that is exactly what we’re seeing.

    We’ve Seen Active Buyers Consistently Grow, Says eBay CEO Devin Wenig
  • Does Netflix Have Enough Stuff To Keep Us Coming Back?

    Does Netflix Have Enough Stuff To Keep Us Coming Back?

    “Does Netflix have enough stuff that’s good enough to keep us coming back?” asks Michael Pachter of Wedbush. “That’s the real acid test. I actually think all these metrics they’re giving us on the crap shows are telling you that people are willing to watch whatever they throw at them because they’re running out of really great stuff to watch. So you get 40 million people watching Adam Sandler, which shocks me, but it happened.”

    Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush, discusses Netflix earnings, which reported a huge drop in US subscribers, and if Netflix can survive against Disney and other content streaming companies in interviews on CNBC and Bloomberg:

    Does Netflix Have Enough Stuff To Keep Us Coming Back?

    I think this is a blip. Netflix subscriber growth is going to be like the movie box-office and when there’s lots of great stuff they’re going to see an increase in subs. The numbers on Stranger Things are pretty impressive. It is a really good show. They have a handful of really great content. They’ll probably hit their 7 million subs number. I think the real problem is next year when there’s competition. We saw a preview of next year with this quarter. So I think next year you’ll probably have a couple of quarters where they actually lose subs.

    By my count, Netflix produces about ten times as many shows as HBO and they get about the same number of Emmy nominations. So throwing 10x at the wall they’re going to have their hits. I actually think subscriber growth is going to be based on one of two things, either water cooler chatter kind of shows like Breaking Bad, Ozark, and Stranger Things, that we talked about when they were on and we told people they have to see, or good enough content, which is a high quantity of okay content. 

    Do they have enough stuff that’s good enough to keep us coming back? That’s the real acid test. I actually think all these metrics they’re giving us on the crap shows are telling you that people are willing to watch whatever they throw at them because they’re running out of really great stuff to watch. So you get 40 million people watching Adam Sandler, which shocks me, but it happened.

    Price Increases Drove Subscriber Losses

    Price increases probably drove the subscriber loss domestically. I think that they’re probably bumping up against the ceiling on what they can charge and continue to grow. I personally believe that they’ll keep 80 percent of their domestic subscribers at as high as a $20 monthly charge. Their last 10 million subscribers are probably middle-income households and they notice when prices go up a couple of bucks, which they did in January. You’re going to see continued defections as content migrates away from the site and as competition starts to materialize. 

    There’s Disney Plus in the fall, Warner and Comcast next year, and more content leaving at the end of this year and the end of next year. Middle-income households are probably going to have to think about whether they subscribe to one or two or three plans. Yes, they can cut the cord and maybe afford all of them, but the fact is that Netflix did see a decline of domestic subs. That’s what fuels international expansion and they’re about to lower prices in India. So I just don’t see how they’re really worth the $450 price target most of my competitors have on the stock. Today’s correction makes a lot of sense.

    Does Netflix Have Enough Stuff To Keep Us Coming Back? asks Michael Pachter of Wedbush

    Netflix Is an Overvalued Company

    That’s the reason we have cable TV. It was just the easy way to get 200 channels and we’re going backward. Actually, the right solution which is not going to happen is that Hulu is going to be the aggregator. You had three of the four networks that owned Hulu. If they had pooled content I think that actually was the winning formula. Disney has pretty much consolidated ownership of Hulu. I think that ESPN Plus and Disney Plus layered on top of Hulu might actually get us back to that old cable model. We’re going to go over the top (OTT) but you’re going to have a content aggregator and I think it’s going to be Disney. That’s Bob Iger’s vision. and I frankly think you’ll get HBO Max layered on top of that as well.

    Netflix has a place. They’re not going out of business. I have a price target that implies an enterprise value of $90 billion which is bigger than Warner Brothers was sold for. So I don’t think this is a worthless company. I think it’s an overvalued company. If consumers are going to try to replicate what they have with cable now at a lower price, sure cut the cord, no more CNBC, too bad, and maybe you can get Hulu, Disney Plus, HBO Max, the Comcast service, Netflix, and Amazon for less money. That’s what Netflix is banking on. 

    At the End Of the Day, Disney Is Going To Win

    Investors are foolish to think that anybody’s going to win except the content creators. The point is we’re watching this show (CNBC) because of you, not because of the platform. We want to see you. You’re the insightful person on this platform. You’re the content and you should command a premium for the content that you provide. Disney’s going to win. I really think at the end of the day Disney has the content. They win. 

    Stranger Things isn’t going to cut it. It’s one good show out of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. You can’t name a Netflix original that they own that you actually watch other than Stranger Things. They don’t own Ozark. They don’t own House of Cards. They don’t own Orange Is the New Black. They own stuff like Flaked which you don’t watch or The Ranch which you don’t watch.

    At the End Of the Day, Disney Is Going To Win and Netflix is Overvalued, says Michael Pachter of Wedbush


  • Virtual Restaurants Helping Power Uber Eats Growth

    Virtual Restaurants Helping Power Uber Eats Growth

    “Virtual restaurants is a very interesting initiative,” says Uber Eats EMEA head Rodrigo Arevalo. “Basically by leveraging the data on our platform, we can partner with other restaurants in order to cuisine types that only exist on food delivery platforms. If there is not a restaurant in a certain neighborhood we will partner with restaurants to make that happen. In the UK we are already doing 200 virtual restaurants and we are expanding throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.”

    Rodrigo Arevalo, head of EMEA at Uber Eats, discusses how virtual restaurants are helping power Uber Eats Growth in an interview on Bloomberg:

    Virtual Restaurants Helping Power Uber Eats Growth

    Virtual restaurants is a very interesting initiative. Basically, by leveraging the data on our platform we can partner with other restaurants in order to cuisine types that only exist on food delivery platforms. That has two benefits. The first one is that it helps restaurants utilize their kitchens a lot more. The second one is that it increases their revenue on their top line. It’s a very interesting initiative to provide more choice and to increase business for restaurants. 

    If there is not a restaurant in a certain neighborhood we will partner with restaurants to make that happen. In the UK we are already doing 200 virtual restaurants and we are expanding throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It’s a type of local exercise that we are trying to tack on. It’s going really well and we’re excited about that.

    Uber East Demonstrates the Potential of Uber’s Logistics Platform

    Uber Eats fits into Uber’s overall strategy and portfolio in the way that it demonstrates the potential of Uber’s logistics platform. Just in three and a half years, we’ve been able to build a multi-billion dollar business and today we are already the biggest food delivery app outside of China. It’s all about the logistics network that we have built and how we can leverage the potential of that platform. 

    It’s about focus for us. We want to make sure that we deliver on the plan, deliver on the vision that (Uber CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi has set for the company. Focus is basically three pillars for Uber Eats. The first one is restaurant selection, providing consumers choice. The second one is customer experience for eaters, for restaurants, and for delivery partners. The third one is underpinning that with great technology and a great product that people would love to use every single day. 

    Uber Eats Partners With 220,000 Restaurants Globally

    We partner today with 220,000 restaurants globally and there is a vast variety of selection from every kind of meal that you would like; comfort food to the healthiest options such as vegan, salads, etc. We believe selection. We believe in consumer choice. We want to make sure that we provide all of those options to them. We very much focus on providing that information, providing those options, and making sure that consumers make an informed choice.

    When it comes to packaging we already partner with several companies that provide sustainable packaging. Given our platform, particularly in the UK, we already look for ways to facilitate sustainable packaging for restaurant partners, making sure we do our part in that sense.

    Virtual Restaurants Helping Power Uber Eats Growth – Uber Eats EMEA head Rodrigo Arevalo
  • The Subscription Economy Is Taking Over The World, Says Gainsight CEO

    The Subscription Economy Is Taking Over The World, Says Gainsight CEO

    “What’s happening is that the subscription economy is just taking over the world,” says Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta. It shows up for our consumer lives with Netflix, Amazon, etc. It shows up at work as well. Because of that, all of those companies just can’t afford to just sell to their customers and move on. They’ve got to make them successful.”

    Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight, discusses how both B2b and B2C subscription businesses are booming because they are better for the customer in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:

    The Subscription Economy Is Taking Over The World

    I just heard about the deal (Salesforce buying Tableau Software for $15 billion) this morning. It just felt perfect for both sides. Tableau is one of the most respected companies in general and Salesforce has proven that they can buy companies and put them through their distribution channel. I think both customers are very committed to customer success.

    I think it just keeps accelerating. If you look at it overall there is a Subscription Economy Index that Zuora puts out and it shows that companies that are in subscription businesses are growing five times faster than the average S&P traded peer company. What’s happening is that the subscription economy is just taking over the world. It shows up for our consumer lives with Netflix, Amazon, etc. It shows up at work as well. Because of that, all of those companies just can’t afford to just sell to their customers and move on. They’ve got to make them successful.

    Subscriptions Are Great For Consumers

    Subscriptions are great for consumers. We get to choose what we want, we get to turn it on, and in most cases, we can turn it off. Sometimes we have to make a phone call to make that happen. The phone call is annoying but we have choice. In the business world that’s happening now. They have choice. Before they used to buy things, install them, and have no ability to switch. You were just stuck with what you got.

    In this new world customers have choice and therefore all the vendors, whether it’s a Salesforce or a Tableau or a Slack, have to proactively make sure that you are using all the stuff you buy and getting more value. Also, not just getting more value, that you are getting more value than any other alternative out there.

    There Is A Huge Megatrend That Is Happening

    Slack is a very special company. It’s sort of this triple threat. Customers love it, we run our whole business on Slack. The numbers are amazing in terms of growth rate, in terms of efficiency and net retention. Their existing customers keep spending more money with more than 140 percent net retention. They are also a great culture. I think Slack is one of those businesses that is built for the long term. They can go public in any market.

    There is a huge megatrend that is happening. We have almost this dissonance where technology in some ways is coming more into our lives and taking away more and more of humanity and the people in business. But on the flip side, all of us are longing for a more personal and human connection to the businesses that we work with. We are not ready to turn the whole world over to AI and machine learning. We need that human connection. What’s happening is companies are saying I need to treat my customers more like human beings. I need to be more proactively focused on customer success and make sure that they are getting value.

    They’re also saying I need to treat my employees more like human beings. I need to give them great technology like Slack, like Zoom, and like other great technologies that are going public this year that are helping employees be more successful. There’s this big approach, we call it human first business, which is really changing the way people think about work.

    The Subscription Economy Is Taking Over The World, Says Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta
  • Expedia Pricing Tactics Powered By AI and Reams of Data, Says CEO

    Expedia Pricing Tactics Powered By AI and Reams of Data, Says CEO

    “We sit on reams of data with 750 million visits to Expedia Group properties every single month,” says Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom. “That just gives us an incredible amount of understanding around what travelers are looking for, how we can tailor our search results, how we can tailor the recommendations we give, the advertising that we show, and that’s just the beginning. We’re also using AI to help inform some of our lodging partners with pricing tactics, to help them price more effectively both in the alternative accommodation space and in the traditional lodging space.”

    Mark Okerstrom, CEO of Expedia, discusses how the online travel giant is using data and AI to power its pricing tactics in an interview on Bloomberg Technology:

    We’ve Always Been At the Forefront of Travel

    We’ve always been at the forefront of travel. We’ve been at this for 20 years. The one thing that has been consistent for 20 years yeah is this is an incredibly competitive industry. Despite all of the competitive forces that have acted on us, Expedia last year did a $100 billion dollars of bookings, multiples of the size of Airbnb and many of these players out there. We’ve got thousands and thousands of the top engineers and data scientists and product minds in the world focused on travel. That’s how we stay ahead.

    VRBO has been around for a very long time. If you go back in time, people used to talk about getting a VRBO for the weekend. It was the noun. s we went through and did a ton of research here in the US and also internationally about all of the different names we could call the new VRBO, VRBO was the one that actually resonated the most. So we decided to put all of our effort behind that brand. We’re pretty excited about rolling out globally in the coming years.

    M&A is always part of our playbook, so I would never say never (regarding more acquisitions). But we’re pretty happy with what we’ve got in alternative accommodations and we’re pretty excited about putting all our efforts behind VRBO.

    Global Travel Industry Generally Looks Pretty Healthy

    So far so good (regarding tariff impacts). It looks like a healthy travel environment to us. Recent research done by Expedia here in the US is 85 percent of people are planning on taking a trip this summer and 15  percent were for budget constraints. This is broadly consistent with what we’ve seen. Americans are traveling. The global travel industry generally looks pretty healthy. We’re fortunate that we are a global business.

    In good times and bad times we definitely see shifts in travel patterns but people often just take their trips. It’s like the last thing they cut. Maybe they’ll take a trip a little bit closer to home, they won’t take that trip overseas, but they travel. If you look at our results over the 2008-2009 period, for example, those were some of our strongest years.

    Expedia Pricing Tactics Powered By AI and Reams of Data

    We sit on reams of data with 750 million visits to Expedia Group properties every single month. That just gives us an incredible amount of understanding around what travelers are looking for, how we can tailor our search results, how we can tailor the recommendations we give, the advertising that we show, and that’s just the beginning. We’re also using AI to help inform some of our lodging partners with pricing tactics, to help them price more effectively both in the alternative accommodation space and in the traditional lodging space. Honestly, we’re just getting started.

    We’ve been doing the one-stop shop before it was cool. We’ve been doing it for 20 years. Not only are we about search but we’re also about booking and taking care of people during the trip. No one else can do it.

    Expedia Pricing Tactics Powered By AI and Reams of Data, Says CEO Mark Okerstrom
  • Designed From the Ground Up To Be a Great Medium Of Exchange, Says Facebook Calibra Head

    Designed From the Ground Up To Be a Great Medium Of Exchange, Says Facebook Calibra Head

    Facebook announced today a new digital wallet for a new digital currency. It is currently in a test phase and will launch live in 2020. Here is how Facebook explains the launch in its announcement release:

    “Today we’re sharing plans for Calibra, a newly formed Facebook subsidiary whose goal is to provide financial services that will let people access and participate in the Libra network. The first product Calibra will introduce is a digital wallet for Libra, a new global currency powered by blockchain technology. The wallet will be available in Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app — and we expect to launch in 2020.”

    “From the beginning, Calibra will let you send Libra to almost anyone with a smartphone, as easily and instantly as you might send a text message and at low to no cost. And, in time, we hope to offer additional services for people and businesses, like paying bills with the push of a button, buying a cup of coffee with the scan of a code or riding your local public transit without needing to carry cash or a metro pass.”

    A sneak peek at what the experience of using Calibra will be like.

    David Marcus, head of Facebook’s Calibra, discusses the details of Facebook’s entry into cryptocurrency in an interview on CNBC:

    This Is Designed From the Ground Up To Be a Great Medium Of Exchange

    If you want to compare Libra with traditional cryptocurrencies the first big difference is that typically they are investment vehicles or investment assets rather than being great mediums of exchange. This is really designed from the ground up to be a great medium of exchange. Libra is a very high-quality form of digital money that you can use for everyday payments and cross-border payments, microtransactions and all kinds of different things.

    There are a lot of issues that need to be solved. If you were to get out of the studio right now and ask anyone to send ten dollars on their mobile phones to Canada, they probably wouldn’t know where to start. This is 30 years after the web was invented and mobile broadband is available to so many people. We felt that it was time to try something new and this is the beginning of a long journey to launching this new network in this new digital currency.

    Moving money around the world with Libra should be as easy and cheap as sending a text message.

    When You Can Move More Value Around Profound Changes Might Happen

    We are privileged. We live in a country that has a very stable currency and has very trusted institutions, easy ways to pay each other on mobile devices. That’s actually not the case for many people around the world. Definitely, cross-border payments are still very hard and very expensive. They cost an average of seven percent to send across one border. They sometimes take three or four days to clear. It is a very cumbersome and expensive process for many people around the world. If you think about it from a use case, cross-border payments are definitely going to be a primary use case.

    But when you think about the effect that having an internet of value exists, or protocol for money on top of the existing internet, and all of the things that can be built on top of a low-cost system. Microtransactions are things that we’ve been talking about for decades and haven’t materialized because the amounts we are trying to transact are actually lower than the transaction fees. When all of these things change and you can move value around the Internet in a really easy way I think profound changes might happen.

    Read the Libra White Paper …

    There’s Never Been a Better Moment For Us To Do This

    I have a slightly contrarian view on this (trust). I don’t think there’s ever been a better moment for us to do this because of the way we’re doing it. We’re actually going to launch this new blockchain at some point next year. We’ve launched a test net today that people can start experimenting with. This new blockchain is actually going to be decentralized and run by the members of an association.

    We’re just going to be one among many to govern over this new network and currency. When you look at how much effort we’ve put to limit our influence and limit our control over this network I think it’s a new way of operating. We don’t have control over the network and we don’t have control over the currency. What we have control over is going to be the wallets that are going to operate within Facebook and on top of the network.

    We Aren’t Going To Be the Defacto Wallet

    We aren’t going to be the defacto wallet. There will be plenty of competition. To earn people’s trust we are going to have to make strong commitments notably on privacy, ensuring that financial data and social data never get commingled and really earn people’s trust over very long periods of time. There are going to be a number of wallets that are going to compete with us on the network we helped create.

    Designed From the Ground Up To Be a Great Medium Of Exchange, Says Facebook Calibra Head David Marcus
  • Cell-Based Meat: Real Meat Without Slaughtering Animals

    Cell-Based Meat: Real Meat Without Slaughtering Animals

    “This is real meat directly from animal cells,” says Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti. “People who love meat for thousands of years immediately recognize this as meat. In fact, cell-based meat is called the holy grail of the food industry. This is meat and when people taste it that’s when the magic happens. If someone is a vegetarian for environmental or ethical reasons well here is meat where you can produce it by detaching meat production from slaughter for the first time ever.”

    Uma Valeti, Co-Founder and CEO of Memphis Meats, discusses how the company is going to revolutionize meat production with lab-grown cell-based meats that could eliminate the raising and slaughtering of billions of animals globally. Valeti was interviewed on Bloomberg:

    Lab Grown: “In Just Three Weeks We Get Delicious Meat”

    Memphis Meats is a food company that is growing meat, poultry, seafood directly from animal cells. We take high-quality animal cells from the animals that are typically on the table as meat or poultry and we identify the cells that can renew themselves. They are there in the meat because cells continue to renew and double naturally. What we do is identify the high-quality cells that will make the cut into producing delicious meat. We isolate the cells, whether it’s cows, chickens, pigs, or ducks, and then we put them in a clean controlled environment where we feed them essential nutrients.

    These are very familiar with what a baby calf would eat like vitamins, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, oxygen, and sugars. In a matter of three to six weeks, we get delicious meat that is harvested and cooked just like you would handle meat. The entire process, the efficiency of it, getting from the first cell to meat being harvested is just amazing. We’ve done a lot of products. We’ve done beef, chicken, duck, and a number of other species.

    How To Make Cell-Based Meat Grown In The Lab

    Meat Production Without Slaughtering Animals

    This is real meat directly from animal cells. People who love meat for thousands of years immediately recognize this as meat. In fact, cell-based meat is called the holy grail of the food industry. It’s something that is part of our culture whether you grow up in India, China, the US, or anywhere in the world. We celebrate the tradition of growing and eating meat at almost every gathering that we have.

    When we think of our potential customers we see very high interest from people who are 55 and under, Millenials and Gen Z’s. That interest is about 60-70 percent anytime someone asks them if they are ready to eat cell-based meat. But it’s very interesting that even in those that are over 55 the interest is 50 plus percent. That’s something that we were really surprised to see. It actually makes sense. This is meat and when people taste it that’s when the magic happens.

    It’s also blurring the definition of who’s a vegetarian or vegan. If someone is a vegetarian for environmental or ethical reasons well here is meat where you can produce it by detaching meat production from slaughter for the first time ever.

    Real Cell-Based Meat From Memphis Meats

    We Introduced the (Cell-Based) Beef Meatball in 2016

    We started the company about three years ago. If you think about it, in 2015 or 2016 this was still thought of as science fiction. One of the things we thought of as a startup is not to be in stealth mode. Almost every startup would love to start in stealth mode and introduce their product when ready. We recognize that this is new and for some people, it can be weird. That’s why we started talking about it really early.

    In order for us to demystify this for anyone who thinks about cell-based meat or clean meats, they have to experience this. They have to come and see it be cooked, smell it in front of them, and then taste it. Our goal as a company is to really get out there and educate consumers as quickly as possible. Why we are doing this? How we can do this? What we are doing? So far, the reception we have received has been tremendous.

    This started when we introduced the beef meatball (in 2016). We can also do it with multiple species. We picked two of the most popular species in the world. For example, chicken is the most popular in the US. We did southern fried chicken and we started showing the fibers when someone cuts into it. Then we picked duck because we wanted to show that this is actually very relevant globally. More duck is eaten in China than the rest of the world combined. We started showing duck breasts and how it could grill and you could get the experience of that.

    Example of What Memphis Meats is Producing

    Focused On Showing What We Can Do With Very Desirable Species

    This is not for everyone right away because they have to get comfortable with this. They have to see their friends and family eat it. Our goal is to get it into the market as quickly as possible. In the last three years, our entire focus was to start showing that we can do it with very desirable species. We are in the process now of building a pilot plant and starting to scale production. We plan to be to market in the near future.

    The consumer really cares where the food comes from. That’s something that is a very clear trend in the last few years. It’s pretty clear that consumers want to feel excited about the process of how food gets there and not merely tolerate the system in place. I’d say that with the current system of raising 70 billion animals we are merely tolerating it. If given the option of producing meat directly without raising and slaughtering animals and someone can experience that, that’s amazing.

    Cell-Based Meat: Real Meat Without Slaughtering Animals – Uma Valeti, CEO of Memphis Meats