The Tech Strategy Podcast

Bilibili's journey from niche anime and gaming content to a broader video service paints a fascinating picture of digital evolution. The challenges of maintaining profitability while competing with larger platforms are critically examined. User engagement strategies reveal how the platform keeps its audience captivated. Discussions on potential content shifts highlight the delicate balance between specialization and mainstream appeal. Will Bilibili choose to expand its reach or double down on its unique offerings?

Discover how Lazada is shaping the e-commerce landscape in Southeast Asia with its three pivotal growth engines. The discussion highlights the importance of personalized customer experiences and ongoing merchant support. Delve into strategic advantages like backing from Alibaba and cutting-edge innovations such as generative AI—all while facing competition from disruptors like TikTok. The mix of insightful growth strategies transitions into entertaining anecdotes, including a fun marathon of the John Wick films.

Dive into the fascinating world of Pop Mart, where consumer behaviors intertwine with innovation. Discover how the brand has captivated fans and collectors with iconic characters like Molly. Unpack the addictive nature of blind box products and their parallels to gambling, raising eyebrows from regulators. Explore the evolving dynamics of fandom, from casual to super fans, and the psychological motivations driving collectors. It's a thrilling journey into the collectible toy market that blends passion, creativity, and commerce.

Today’s podcast is part of a new series on Growth Tactics, where we talk to digital businesses that are winning. And dig into what worked and what didn’t.This episode (located here) is an interview with Ashley Dudarenok, the founder of Alarice (China-focused digital marketing agency) and ChoZan (China digital transformation consultancy.Ashley (www.ashleydudarenok.com) is a naturalized Chinese serial entrepreneur, award winning digital expert and book author, recognized by Thinkers50 as a “Guru on fast-evolving trends in China”. Ashley and her team help world's top companies and brands to learn for and from China. She’s also a sought after professional speaker covering topics around customer centricity, the future of retail, technology in action. Ashley is the author of 11 books on digital China.Here are some contact links:LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleydudarenok/YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/ashleydudarenokTwitter/X https://twitter.com/AshleyDudarenokIt was a fun discussion with quite a few valuable lessons.Here is an article summarizing my 5 lessons from the conversation.5 Lessons in Digital Growth from Serial China Entrepreneur Ashley Dudarenok (Growth Tactics)——I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about HubSpot and the really cool aspects of its business model.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are the 5 things I like about the business model:Software bundles. Especially integrated. Especially with freemium pricing.Recurring revenueSwitching Costs: Financial, Procedural, Relational and RiskThe ecosystem with network effects (in theory). A Developer Flywheel in practice.Sales and Marketing Flywheel --------I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Salesforce and how generative AI is going to impact its business. You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are my 3 working conclusions.GenAI is going into their existing services, which are used by teams at their clients. Salesforce is well positioned for this.GenAI is going to get incorporated into the workflows of their clients. This requires an AI tech stack, which Salesforce does not have. AI Cloud companies are building this and offering it as a service. This is a problem.AI Agents are emerging and this will change the workforce of CRM within companies. This is a big problem for Salesforce. Competitor Microsoft is well positioned here. --------I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.Note: This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about a common playbook for a digital attacker (whether a digital native or incumbent).You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.Here are the 3 steps of the digital attacker strategy.Step 1: A new digital tool enables a superior service to emerge. This is used to break into an existing business. This often causes an unbundling of the existing offerings.Step 2: Existing value chains get transformed. Everyone scrambles to grab the valuable positions.Step 3: The new leaders add services, complements and bundles.------------I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

This week’s podcast is about Constellation Software. And their approach to software investing.You can listen to this podcast here, which has the slides and graphics mentioned. Also available at iTunes and Google Podcasts.Here is the link to the TechMoat Consulting.Here is the link to the Tech Tour.On the Constellation webpage, they actually list their criteria for both “exceptional” and “good” companies. Here’s what they say.Exceptional businessesMid-to-large vertical market software businesses. With greater than $1M EBITDA.Consistent earnings and growth. Constellation has a good equation for this:EBITDA/Revenue + Revenue Growth = 20%Experienced and committed management.Good businesses#1 or 2 in a niche vertical marketRevenue over $5MHundreds or thousands of customers“Unimposing” competitorsConstellation is an interesting company to follow if you invest in tech companies. Just follow their transactions. They do lots of them and you can learn a lot.Cheers, Jeff-------I write, speak and consult about how to win (and not lose) in digital strategy and transformation.I am the founder of TechMoat Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that helps retailers, brands, and technology companies exploit digital change to grow faster, innovate better and build digital moats. Get in touch here.My book series Moats and Marathons is one-of-a-kind framework for building and measuring competitive advantages in digital businesses.This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment, legal or tax advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. This is not investment advice. Investing is risky. Do your own research.Support the show

Alex Lee, CEO of Depology, discusses how they grew to $20M in sales in 3 years. Topics include transitioning to skincare, using Facebook ads and influencers, customer retention, content creation in the beauty industry, challenges from influencers launching brands, and seeking inspiration from young entrepreneurs.

The podcast discusses how Microsoft uses bundles to gain an advantage, with a focus on their dominance in the tech industry. Topics include the ethical implications of bundling digital goods, Microsoft's shift towards cloud services, and the need for regulatory interventions to maintain competition. It also briefly mentions food-related illnesses and vacation challenges in Bali.