Isabelle Styslinger - Disruptive Competition Project

Uber Keeps on Trucking

by Isabelle Styslinger on July 20, 2017

When one of Uber’s self-driving trucks drove 200 kilometers from Fort Collins to Colorado Spring to deliver a shipment of Budweiser, it seemed Uber was primed to disrupt the estimated $800 billion trucking industry. Optimism was bolstered by Uber’s acquisition of the self-driving trucking startup, OttoMotto, last year.

After the acquisition and successful test run, Lior Ron, OttoMotto’s co-founder, told Reuters he “expected truckers would be using the firm’s driverless technology to haul freight by 2017 as part of a suite of trucking services offered under the Uber banner.”

Despite these early efforts to pair automation with hauling services, Uber’s trucking application, titled “Uber Freight,” attempts only to connect truck drivers with cargo needing to be hauled. Bill Driegert, Uber Freight’s director of operations, reported the company’s self-driving truck initiative and freight hauling service are on “separate tracks.”

Uber’s concentration on matching shipments to carriers means entering a more competitive environment. Uber Freight is similar to competitor services like Convoy, Doft, and Trucker Path, which also connect drivers to shipments.

Apple iPhone, iTunes… now iHealth?

by Isabelle Styslinger on July 19, 2017

CNBC recently learned of a secret team in Apple’s health unit that is working to create the iTunes of health. That is, they are working to bring users’ medical records and lab results to one centralized interface on iOS devices.

Although more than 96% of hospitals and 80% of physician practices are currently digitized — thanks, in large part, to the $30 billion spent on installing electronic records systems in hospitals and doctors’ offices since 2009 — the challenge now is to connect these systems together.

“Technology is the easy part,” Jodi Daniel, former health IT official, asserts. “The really challenging part is the business issues the operational issues and the trust issues with exchanging information,” Daniel concluded.

Interactive Storytelling: Allowing us to decide the plot of House of Cards?

by Isabelle Styslinger on July 13, 2017

It seems as if everyone is experimenting with television. BuzzFeed reportedly has 31 shows at various stages of production, Facebook is set to release its own original programming later this year, and Verizon and Google have invested millions in digital media platforms and studios. With so many emerging players, competition for viewers’ attention seems more challenging than ever — especially for the shows outside of name-brand networks and companies. And, yet, a low-budget, Spanish telenovela streamed on Facebook Live is holding the attention of millions of viewers.

On the surface the show seems like something you’ve seen before; it has a young maiden in need of rescuing, a deceptive wife, a dashing hero, and a faithful steed. What sets the telenovela apart is that the show pauses intermittently for about 30 seconds, in which time audience members can vote on what the characters should do next.

Super Deluxe, the Los Angeles entertainment company behind the telenovela, began the show to test out how viewers responded to scripted content. Its inherently interactive nature, however, quickly attracted millions of views.

While the telenovela’s interactivity may currently set it apart from other programs, recent consumer trends and developing projects may lead to it become more mainstream — marking yet another shift in how we consume television.

Pinterest’s Lens is Having a Moment

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 28, 2017

Pinterest’s Lens feature, first previewed last summer, was released this February. Lens, by using computer vision and machine learning, is able to “understand the objects you’re looking at and how they could be useful to you.”

Taking a photo of pasta, for example, returns relevant recipes and cooking suggestions to the user. Whereas other searches may return similar information — i.e. more pasta photos — Lens goes a step farther by providing related, yet still relevant results.

Aside from the benefit of not having to type out a search (perhaps this could help combat the rise in carpal tunnel?), it allows users to search for things when they may be incapable of describing them.

“Traditional search is really great when you have the right words,” said CTO Evan Sharp at a press event last year. However, it “can be tough… to translate information into a few words,” he conceded. In other words, Lens may be great for figuring out just what you want because it analyzes why you want it.

VR Resurrects Freddie Mercury

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 27, 2017

Freddie Mercury has been my music idol for as long as I can remember. The hysteria that ensued upon realizing I would never be able to meet him, or see him perform live, is one of my most vivid childhood memories. But now, thanks to virtual reality (VR), my ten-year-old dream may be a (virtual) reality.

Last year Enosis VR and Queen partnered to create a 360-degree virtual reality video of Bohemian Rhapsody available on Google Play. “The interactive app uses 2D and 3D animations combined with motion-captured ballet dancers to immerse the viewer in the late Freddie Mercury’s ‘subconscious mind’.”

Although immersive technology has been used in the music industry for some time, it was primarily used as a marketing tool. Now, virtual reality devices are serving as a revenue stream in their own right.

Walmart is acquiring a lot more than Bonobos

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 23, 2017

Walmart is acquiring Bonobos, the menswear site, for $310 million. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the GIF, let me use one to communicate my reaction to this new partnership:

And that’s coming from me – someone who loves all things retail, particularly when they involve dapper men in suits.

My underwhelming reaction is due to the fact that this is one of many online retail acquisitions Walmart has shepherded over the last few months. For starters, it acquired ModCloth in March, as well as Hayneedle and ShoeBuy, and in February it acquired Moosejaw (an outdoor apparel company – not a dental insurance agency for moose). It also acquired Jet.com for $3 billion in 2016.

Although this acquisition may not come as a surprise, Walmart’s transition towards online retail does remain a strategic one. As DisCo has previously noted, retail closings are expected to break a 20-year record in 2017, topping 6,000 unit closings. E-Commerce, conversely, is surging, with sales totaling almost $400 billion in 2016. Though this is a small percentage of the total retail revenue, it reflects a broader movement that doesn’t seem to be wavering.

And yet, we are not seeing companies adopt digital platforms in lieu of traditional storefronts. Rather, a hybrid model, that offers the immediacy of brick-and-mortar with the efficiency of e-Commerce, is all the rage.

How Can the Fashion Industry Compete with 3D Printing?

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 20, 2017

In a society where individuality is increasingly lauded and (not unrelatedly) personalized products are more coveted than ever, the pervasiveness of 3D printing could disrupt the very industries currently leveraging this technology for personalization.

Although the definition of “personalization” continues to evolve, the term has typically “signified exclusivity,” and is used as a “status symbol, a way of making consumers feel special, enabling them to stand out from the crowd.”

Consumers’ desire for this exclusivity is well documented and has only continued to rise in recent years. The Deloitte Consumer Review found that, “in some categories more than 50 percent of consumers expressed interest in purchasing customized products or services.” What’s more, “48 percent reported they were willing to wait longer for a personalized product or service.”

Some trace consumers’ growing interest in personalized products, and involvement in this specialization process, to the popularity of social networks and devices that enable users to control their image and obtain what/where/when they want something with greater efficiency.

With interest in personalization not expected to die down anytime soon, businesses that do not incorporate elements of personalization into their products may risk losing customers and revenue – especially since customers report they are willing to pay more for customized products, “particularly in the more expensive or fashion related categories.”

Venmo won my heart, but can it keep it?

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 19, 2017

I’m not sure what people did before Venmo. Seriously, what did you do when you went to brunch with six other people? By offering users the ability to seamlessly transfer money from one user to another, Venmo certainly seized on inefficiency in the market – which, I’m sure, brought sighs of relief from waiters everywhere. But a new app, backed by over thirty banks and counting, could disrupt Venmo’s success in mobile finance.

Zelle, short for gazelle, is a new person-to-person (P2P) payments network that allows consumers to send money to one another, online and via mobile app, using the email address or phone number registered with their financial institution. This real-time payment network is currently backed by some top U.S. financial firms, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.

Although this partnership between some of the world’s leading banks is certainly something to take notice of, Zelle’s mobile banking feature only became available on June 12, so it may be too early to tell how much competition they will be for Venmo. The more than thirty banks backing the app do, however, have 86-million U.S. mobile banking consumers between them. By contrast, Venmo is estimated to have a little over 7 million active monthly users. This translated to $18 billion in transfers last year, however.

Internet Trends 2017: Brick-and-mortar isn’t dead, it just got cooler

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 16, 2017

This is part of a series focusing on data from Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends report.

Meeker’s Internet Trends 2017 report predicted retail closings may break a 20-year record with almost 6,000 unit closings predicted in 2017. In 2016 the number of units closed was just over 5,000. The culprit? Many point to e-Commerce, which made almost $400 billion in sales in 2016 – marking +15% Y/Y growth.

With e-Commerce surging, and retail stores closing at an anticipated record-breaking rate, you may think physical retail stores could soon be a thing of the past. But, many leaders in the e-Commerce space beg to differ.

“I don’t think retail is dead,” says Neil Blumenthal, Co-CEO at Warby Parker, “Mediocre retail experiences are dead.” And, by mediocre, it’s safe to assume Blumenthal means sans technological integration.

This has certainly not been true for Warby Parker, which has been disrupting the $140 billion eyewear industry since it entered the scene in 2010 and began enabling consumers to purchase glasses online. To make online eyewear purchase feasible, Warby Parker relies on technology, namely: an easy to navigate interface; fast and reliable customer service; and quickly shipping frames to consumers to try on at home, then return, free of charge.

Yet, despite its online success, Warby Parker continues opening brick-and-mortar stores throughout the U.S. It opened its first store in 2013 and plans to open at least 25 outlets this year, bringing the total number of storefronts to 70.

Internet Trends 2017: It’s the end of sports as we know it?

by Isabelle Styslinger on June 15, 2017

This is part of a series focusing on data from Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends report.

Last year over 20,000 people crowded into the Staples Center in LA, and 43 million tuned in online, to watch one of the most anticipated finals of the year. No, it was not the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the 2016 League of Legends World Final.

League of Legends, if you don’t already know, is a multiplayer online battle arena video game in which players fight against teams and other users to destroy opponents’ defensive structures. After its initial release in 2009 it quickly became one of the most played strategy games of all time, surpassing 100 million monthly players in September 2016. League of Legends was first broadcasted well before this milestone, however; in 2012 OnGameNet (OGN), a South Korean cable television channel that airs primarily video game content, began televising League of Legend tournaments – making it the first major Korean tournament on TV.

League of Legends’ explosive growth, and foray into broadcasting, is indicative of the rising popularity of e-Sports at large. E-Sports – i.e. professional competition facilitated by electronic systems, in particular video games – totaled approximately 161 million monthly users in 2016 – a 40% Y/Y growth according to Meeker’s Internet trends 2017 report. The composition of these users is as you would expect: 79% are under 35, and of them only 29% of them are female.

What you would perhaps not expect, however, is the equivalent preference for e-Sports relative to traditional sports; that is, 27% of millennials reported a ‘significant preference’ for e-Sports and another 27% preferred traditional sports. Among non-millennials, however, division was not as balanced: 45% reported to be in favor of traditional sports compared to only 13% who reported to prefer e-Sports. But, with global awareness of e-Sports predicted to reach 1.3 billion this year (up from 1.1 billion in 2016), and the global number of e-Sports enthusiasts expected to grow by 50% by 2020, totaling 286 million, preferences could very well tilt towards e-Sports.

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