Today was Venture Day for the Next 36. This is a program that takes 36 of Canada’s finest undergraduate would-be entrepreneurs, puts them into teams, gives them starting capital and legal resources and teaches them business while they explore setting up their ventures. Today we got to take stock of where they had come …
Competition amongst cryptocurrencies and exchanges
In one of the first of its kind, Neil Gandal and Hanna Halaburda have released a new Bank of Canada working paper exploring the relationships between exchange rates between the USD and various cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin). Here is the abstract with their findings: We analyze how network effects affect competition in the nascent cryptocurrency market. …
Continue reading "Competition amongst cryptocurrencies and exchanges"
My letter to Hachette's CEO
Amazon asked authors and readers to write to Hachette's CEO regarding this debate. Here is mine: Dear Mr Pietsch I am writing to you at the request of Amazon but, in fact, it is to plea with you to ask them some important, but as yet unasked, questions. This …
'Wait and See' as the appropriate response to disruption
This week a couple of outlets provided coverage of my forthcoming Management Science paper with Matt Marx and David Hsu. Techcrunch: Taking a Wait and See Approach with Disruptive Innovations Knowledge@Wharton: Why Disruptive Innovation can Help Market Leaders Put simply, the overwhelming response from the Christensen-led school of disruptive theory is that incumbents are doomed …
Continue reading "'Wait and See' as the appropriate response to disruption"
Staying focused: The Case of Scottevest
Sometimes Shark Tank is good for a bit of entrepreneurial strategy. Here is a video of Scott Jordan of Scottevest. This is a company that has gone all in on the idea that people want pockets for their gadgets. I love this stuff and have their vest, jacket, pants etc. What was he doing on …
Annals of Coherent Entrepreneurial Strategy: Clover Food Lab
Last week I was at MIT and had my first experience of Clover Food Lab. No, it isn't some fancy new scientific research institute. Instead, it is a food truck. Except that I didn't visit a food truck but felt that I had. The Clover I visited was, in fact, a cafe/restaurant/I don't know what …
Continue reading "Annals of Coherent Entrepreneurial Strategy: Clover Food Lab"
Amazon makes its case against Hachette
Well, after months of this, Amazon has taken up a new strategy in its dispute with Hachette -- to tell us what they want and why. Suffice it to say, this is an approach that we can only welcome as it allows us to delve deeper into the dispute and the nature of book publishing …
Fixing the Reputation Score at ebay
I saw this paper by Chris Nosko and Steve Tadelis presented two years ago. I have wanted to blog about it in all that time but because it came out of ebay Research Labs, it was not available. Happily, that constraint has now been lifted. It is a wonderful piece of research and the application …
Am I as good an innovator as the folks at Apple?
Possibly and since I want to make the case be warned this post is a tad self-serving. Back in March I wrote the following: What this means is that: (a) the fitness tracker, watch and any other smarts you want will have to work from one band; (b) there will have to be a routine …
Continue reading "Am I as good an innovator as the folks at Apple?"
One paywall model to rule them all
A few years ago I wrote a post that I was quite proud of. It was entitled "Is Paul Krugman Click Worthy?" Here's an excerpt: The New York Times has just proposed to turn us all into Seinfeld‘s Elaine Benes. In episode 119 of the classic sitcom, Elaine’s preferred method of contraception is revealed to be the sponge. When the …
Digitopoly 