All posts filed under: Musings

ARC browser analysis

Published by Gert Christen

Google might be just beginning the race in the AI wars, but in the battle for maintaining its place as the preferred browser, a new competitor surfaced. ARC is a new entrant into the web browser market that claims to be a more private, more secure, and faster browser than the dominant competitors. Some of the most attractive features are built-in blockers for cookies by default and lightning-fast page load times that create a more responsive browsing experience. Because ARC is built with security in mind, it has also built-in anti-phishing protection, built-in malware scanning, and sandboxing to prevent malicious code from affecting the system. It’s highly customizable and offers the ability to change appearance, keyboard shortcuts, and other features. Can it really take on Google Chrome with over 70% market share? It depends. To compete effectively, ARC will need to offer some compelling features that you can’t find on other browsers and require significant marketing and outreach efforts to build its user base. I tried ARC, and it does well on features despite limitations! It …

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Google Takes on ChatGPT

Published by Gert Christen

nless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve heard about ChatGPT. ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models and has been fine-tuned using both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. Microsoft is ALL IN on AI, and was the first to partner and invest in ChatGPT, and just confirmed another investment into ChatGPT, rumored to be around $10 Billion. Artificial intelligence has the potential to change the landscape when it comes to how tech giants compete with each other, and some experts believe there will be a competitive AI landscape as companies seek ways to optimize business operations with machine learning. Microsoft announced the integration of ChatGPT into their BING search engine. A brilliant move by Microsoft to change the competitive situation in the search market! Which obviously raised alarms at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View: You dare go after Google in search, you better dress warm! We didn’t have to wait long at all for the reply: Google announced …

Streaming Replacing Cable

Published by Gert Christen

In the June 2021 DIGIGRAM, we made predictions for the consolidation of the entertainment industry in our article “Shapeshifting of Entertainment Ecosystems.” The trends we discussed have only continued as the three largest streaming companies, Netflix, Amazon, and Disney/Hulu, now control over 60% of viewers in the streaming market. Image: A new king of streaming emerged at the end of 2022: Prime Video by Amazon overtook Netflix. (Source) Now Roku, the company best known for making boxes to stream other companies’ content, just unveiled its own television offering at CES. They aren’t first-movers in this category, as Amazon introduced its own line of 4k TVs integrated with Alexa some years ago. However, Roku’s offering demonstrates the ongoing trend of switching from cable TV to streaming first.  In mid-2021, streaming accounted for only a fourth of America’s TV viewing time – most streaming was happening on laptops or phones. However, in July 2022, streaming services got more TV viewing time than cable networks for the first time. As cord-cutting continues, 87% of U.S. households had a subscription to a streaming service …

Hybrid Work and San Francisco Commercial Real Estate

Published by Gert Christen

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely shifted the state of work in the country. While many employers are demanding their employees return to the office, workers are seeking much more flexible arrangements. A survey from Gallup in June 2022 found that approximately 56% of full-time employees in the U.S., or more than 70 million workers, say their job can be done remotely. Of those surveyed, 50% were adapting to hybrid work schedules, 30% were exclusively working remotely, and only 20% were working entirely from their office. The same survey found that six out of 10 employees working exclusively remotely are “extremely likely to change companies” if not offered remote flexibility at work. In Silicon Valley, 2-3 days of remote working has emerged as the new normal, with Wednesdays and Thursdays as the days when most employees work at the office. With technology moving in the direction of catering to remote and hybrid employee needs, employees are moving out of more expensive cities in an effort to save money, cut back on commute time, and achieve better work/life balance. If you’ve …

SILICON VALLEY MINDSET – 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM VISITING DIGITAL LEADERS

Published by Gert Christen

(Translated from an account by Gian Berger, master’s student at HWZ University Zurich* and Head of Digital & Channel Marketing at Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer) June 2022. San Francisco – A clear blue sky above and a sensational view of the Golden Gate Bridge below – finally possible again after two years of the pandemic. * HWZ University Zurich is Switzerland’s largest part-time business university. Its Center for Digital Business pioneered academic educational programs for a digitalized business world. DIGIRAM editor Gert Christen is an alumnus of HWZ and founded their entrepreneurship department before returning to California. Students of the HWZ University master study program “Digital Leadership” were once again able to travel to the capital of technology and startups to experience the famous Silicon Valley spirit up close and personal. Gert Christen, head of the HWZ University Silicon Valley Outpost, created an exciting program. Many conversations with startup entrepreneurs, pitches of digital business models, insights into Amazon’s corporate culture, amazing networking events, and reserved time for reflection sessions opened space for discussions and exchanges between students and actors of the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Together …

Design Thinking your way into new markets – Introducing The USA Launching Pad:

Published by Gert Christen

Ever since I returned to California 5 ½ years ago, companies from abroad have been contacting me for help with the U.S. market. A very flattering and humbling experience – that so many entrepreneurs remember me when seeking help to start their businesses in the States. To my surprise, the inquiries didn’t stop even during COVID, which motivated me to think about how modern methods could improve the chances of success of new market entries. If product-market fit has been found in one market, how might the fit with a new market be tested as quickly as possible? How to find out what works and what needs to change—fast? If we had a systematic method to test before the rollout, we could eliminate costly trial-and-error, lower the risk, eliminate basic mistakes, create the best bang for the buck, recruit the best people for the plan, and more. The result is the “Launching Pad” methodology. It’s a systematic way to test and iterate to find the fit in a new market in five strategic areas: strategy, …

The coming of transhumanism

Published by Gert Christen

Doctors have used technology to repair or improve human bodies for decades, and this has been uncontroversial. However, soon the technology will be available to be stronger, to better resist illnesses, and to live longer. This voluntary transhumanism is different – and it will become controversial. Should we do everything that we technically could? Is it right? Will it be only for the rich? Are we playing god? These are questions that we need to start exploring. Rena Seiler recently tackled the topic in a paper entitled “Transhumanism – the vision of the technological evolution of humans” at the Institute for Digital Business of HWZ University Zurich. You can read the English version here, or her original article in German here. Rena argues that this technology is being developed no matter what and that we as a society must seize the opportunity of the early stage to discuss the use of transhumanism. Otherwise, there is a risk that the technology will be exploited for selfish personal and strictly commercial reasons, which will exclude many from …

Data is the new oil

Published by Gert Christen

Michael Palmer of the Association of National Advertisers expanded on Clive Humby’s statement. “Data is the new oil. It’s valuable, but if unrefined, it cannot really be used. (Oil) has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals, etc. to create a valuable entity that drives profitable activity; so must data be broken down, analyzed for it to have value.”* We’ve come a long way in data as the basis for businesses, and we’re learning about its legal, social, and ethical boundaries along the way. But there’s no doubt about the trend: Companies who use data as the sole base for their business are coming. And it’s growing into big business for many, not just social media platforms (exploiting user-generated data in return for free services), storage companies (operating the data centers where our clouds host our data), and companies providing software-as-a service (SaaS). Data in recruiting and talent management: Recruiting and managing employees is still mostly database-driven. Enter keywords, and databases, like LinkedIn, will list results. Consequently, resumes and LinkedIn profiles today are optimized for …

Marks of Disruption

Published by Gert Christen

Marks of Disruption #1: (Too) comfortable industries that haven’t changed in a long time are vulnerable A Business Insider article was one trigger in my decision to focus on disruption in this newsletter: “Apple sold nearly 10 million more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry in 2019”. Think about it. Apple shipped 30.7 million watches in 2019, compared to 21.1 million watches shipped by the entire Swiss watch industry! What’s even more alarming is Apple’s 36% growth in volume over the previous year, compared with a 13% decline for Swiss watches. For 40 years, the Swiss watch industry stuck to the same strategy: Mass-produced, reasonably priced analog quartz watches at the low end, and super-high-quality, expensive luxury watches at the high end. Its marketing remained frozen in time, too, with suitable brand ambassador celebrities, event sponsorships, and airline-magazine-style glossy ads. This approach worked well for the Swiss for decades, so there was no need to rock the boat.  Enter the iPhone and Fitbit, and the boat began taking on water fast. Fitbit started the …

Automation of services

Published by Gert Christen

Services involve the delivery of an intangible product, usually immediately. Services can’t be trialed, can’t be stored, and rely on a leap of faith by both the buyer and the seller. The buyer only knows afterward if the quality was acceptable and if the user experience felt good. The provider only knows during delivery if they’ll stay within the estimated time and cost. Such latent dissatisfaction and distrust are problems that firms try to overcome with many measures; from freemium offers and money-back guarantees to end-user license agreements (EULAs) and contracts the size of phone books (remember those?!). I predicted the trend of “XaaS –  Everything as a Service” in a previous DIGIGRAM. Now, I see the next wave arrive — the automation of services. Technology can now automate routine services and mediate between sellers and buyers at the same level as well-trained service associates—but faster, more scalable, and better able to continuously learn. Unlike many humans, software is very patient – it can run for hours and hours with unchanged high precision, and without …