All posts filed under: News

This is DIGIRAM, the digital telegram – “digigram” – from Silicon Valley. I write on what I consider trends and emerging topics in technology and the Silicon Valley community, I list my personal Silicon Valley tops and flops, and report on events I plan to attend.

Digigram Newsletter of April 2020!

Published by Gert Christen

Gert Christen’s April 2020 newsletter: This newsletter is dedicated to disruption. Think disruption is over because we accepted apps like Uber or websites like Airbnb? I’ve got news: It’s not over. Entire industries are not only ready for disruption, they’re at the very beginning of being disrupted. I discuss two examples in this newsletter.

Hot Trend: TikTok! The next big thing for self-expression, not just a music-selfie app.

Published by Gert Christen

“Every now and then, a technology appears that is so intriguing that it spikes fantasies of what it is, does and all the things it might make possible…” this is how I started an article about Blockchain in the July 2019 Digigram. And here we go again: The next such technology is TikTok, the world’s fastest-growing social media platform and the hottest new thing for 2020! TikTok will be very BIG. And it is way more than just a selfie-app for kids: Firstly, it completely hits the sweet spot of today’s mobile social media users – A “video first” combination of Facebook-Instagram-Vine-Snap-Twitter all in one. Secondly, it is easier to use than its predecessors – It includes tools for video creation and editing and for adding music (legally and without royalty costs!). An advantage that is hard for Instagram & Co. to copy because of their user interface legacy. And thirdly, they started with an almost exclusive focus on the teen segment, precisely the age group that advertisers will want to communicate with once TikTok …

XaaS – Everything as a Service – The backend is a BIG business opportunity

Published by Gert Christen

Using an app to order your dinner delivered from your favorite restaurant? You just Xaas’d your food, a business that is growing at 25% per year, according to McKinsey. They predict that online deliveries could eventually make up as much as 65% of all food deliveries. Can your favorite restaurant even cook this volume? And does it make sense to cook a meal at a restaurant when the meal ist to be delivered? Apart from the kitchen, the infrastructure to prepare food for delivery is different than the one in a dine-in restaurant. What if – the kitchen could become a service? Some prominent entrepreneurs work on precisely this: Travis Kalanick, Uber’s former CEO, is buying up industrial kitchens and renting them out (per hour? per stove? per meal cooked? I don’t know). His customers are those who need to use a kitchen for a couple of hours to deliver ordered meals: Only pay for what you need; the kitchen as a service, the XaaS of food. You don’t think this will be big? Apparently, …

Digigram Newsletter of December 2019!

Published by Gert Christen

The bi-monthly newsletter of December 2019. Covering TikTok, the next hot trend, Xaas – Everything as a Service – and the backend business opportunity. Top of the month: 26 Swiss managers & HWZ master students in Silicon Valley, and one of my teams reached 4th place in the startup competition at UC Berkeley.
Meet me here: At UC Berkeley’s “Deplastifying the Planet” course starting in Jan 2020
On my table: Thanks are on my table. Wish all happy holidays and happiness & success for 2020

Hot Trend: XaaS – Everything as a Service is how we work and live today

Published by Gert Christen

In my last Digigram, I wrote about XaaS and wondered what would be next for this trend. Since then, I have concluded that XaaS includes much more than only technology platforms that virtualize assets in value chains: XaaS covers how we work and conduct business today, and how we consume modern products and services. New work = Gig economy = Work as a Service We all agree that companies such as Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Upwork, and WeWork disrupted the value chains and asset distribution in many industries. Like it or loathe it – the fact is that these models fit the way many people live their lives today. Both as consumers of services (e.g., getting even small items delivered by Amazon or bike couriers instead of going to a store) or as a provider of services (e.g., teaching via the internet or contracting via Upwork). The megatrends of changes in life- and work styles are what enabled the XaaS phenomenon in the first place. Especially Gen Ys love both sides of XaaS! It provides them …

7 Takeaways of what constitutes Leadership in a digitalized business world

Published by Gert Christen

(The full article was first published in German by André Meister for HWZ University’s Institute for Digital Business. The full article in English is posted on my website.) #1 Digital leaders are able to lead experts and teams in virtual organizations, recognizing the potential of diversity such as gender, cultural background, personality, age, skills, and experience. #2 Digital leaders have these traits: Vision, clear values, being role models, being present, developing employees, being communicative and just, having some expert knowledge, and being self-reflective. #3 Digital leaders shape agile, flexible, and efficient organizations capable of succeeding in VUCA environments. #4 Digital leaders transform both the core business for optimization inside of the existing organization and create new businesses fit for tomorrow outside of the core organization while connecting today’s capabilities with tomorrow’s. #5 Digital leaders understand that “10% better” is not good enough an objective anymore and they aim for 10x better. #6 Digital leaders understand the success factors of digital businesses: Global platforms, the fusion of new and old functionalities, open organizations, disruptive hypothesis, testing …