Electric Thoughts in a Digital Era

Category: Business

  • Emerging Markets Meet Quick Commerce

    I find that entrepreneurs and venture capital investment in developed and emerging markets are cyclical. Either entrepreneurs are seeing opportunities in the West and bringing them to emerging markets, or vice versa. If you asked me five years ago whether quick commerce would become competitive in India and China, I would have told you no way.

    In Europe and the US markets, the quick commerce storm has calmed down as funding stopped for platforms and regulators placed demands on these platforms. To be clear, quick commerce and restaurant deliery platform are not similar but rather two different platforms. In Europe, it was a war between Gopuff, Getir, Delivery Hero, Gorillas, and Flink.

    Source: LinkedIn

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  • Amazon Terminates Vendor Agreements

    The more things change, the more they stay the same. My LinkedIn feed contained posts about Amazon mass terminating vendor (1P) agreements. These businesses have been given sixty days to move their businesses to sell via Amazon’s third-party seller platform. Why are these terminations news, and what impact will the terminations have? While I am sympathetic to these brands that have been bad news in Q4 before Prime Big Deals Day and the festive season, it could have been much worse.

    The viral screenshot of the Amazon Vendor Central email sent to select vendors.

    Amazon vendors must be reminded that selling via 1P is seemingly a privilege, not a right. Amazon uses supply and demand and exclusivity better than any e-commerce platform. The business model has been replicated by venture capital and private equity with little or lower margin. The business model only works for Amazon due to contribution profit. Using different parts of the Amazon business, such as advertising and logistics, combined with volume, will generate margins that make sense.

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  • The Fundamental Stay The Essential

    AlleyCorp General Partner Marshall Porter wrote Retail Tech: The Biggest Retail Problems Remain The Biggest Retail Problems, which got me thinking. Is it a lack of understanding of what the fundamentals of e-commerce are? E-commerce in its most fundamental state is a logistics system that is driven by marketing and financial analytics. Why are entrepreneurs and startups not interested in solving the cost part of profit and loss statements? Is it a lack of interest by venture capital investors to fund these companies, or does it lack domain expertise from founders who can generate 10x returns on these opportunities?

    I do a fair amount of due diligence and in 2024 it has been mostly artificial intelligence companies trying to solve problems in a new manner. I understand that AI is the latest hype wave that has entrepreneurs and investors looking to cash in on and not miss out on. That said in retail and e-commerce has tangible opportunities that require technology to create new solutions for. Brands are in pain and do not have the correct tools available to them to solve inventory planning, logistics, and returns.

    fundamentals as explained by The Joker
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  • Daydream, The Future of Commerce?

    Daydream, The Future of Commerce?

    This past week felt like a blast from the past. Three funding announcements made me look twice and double-source the information to ensure it was correct. Daydream raised a $50M Seed, Waabi raised a $200M Series B, and Zepto raised a hefty $665M funding round. At a time when funding news is sparse, and check sizes are smaller, this is big news. I want to focus today on Daydream which I feel is exciting and maddening.

    Daydream is trying to create a new form of personalized search. Enabling customers to experience women’s and men’s fashion in a new manner. What does that mean?

    A daydream visualized
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  • Artificial Intelligence and its Financial Impact

    Artificial Intelligence and its Financial Impact

    Over the last six months, I have spoken with many startups that claim to have artificial intelligence (AI) as part of their solution. The reality is that many of these companies added AI to their pitch decks and materials without being able to showcase its impact. We are in a cycle in which lies and hopes are sold as the future. An incumbent, Amazon, has showcased the first example of an AI solution with financial impact.

    We are in the early days of AI’s impact. Google has tried and removed its AI summaries as the outcomes were undesirable due to the volume and accuracy of searches consumers do. What is clear to me is that consumer AI solutions are years away from being relevant and financial drivers. That said, I believe business AI solutions are closer due to the specificity of solutions.

    AI and finances as describe my meme imagery
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