Quick note
An update for those of you interested as I will deliver a new class for Kedge's MBA students in Paris/Shanghai about technology trends. Here's the syllabus: How Key Technological trends translate into innovation (or not) Key Points The ambition of this course is for students
Weak Signals
It's the 40th anniversary of the Macintosh, and you'll read many stories about how it was such a paradigm change for so many people in the way they saw computers, some of them becoming so enthusiastic that it was a critical inflecting point for their life
Hot Takes
Alphabet Inc.'s avant-garde technology lab/innovation center X is trimming its team/ Most importantly, Alphabet is seeking to externalize risk, pivoting towards a structure that allows its moonshot projects to emerge as independent startups, with financial backing from both Alphabet and external partners. Alphabet’s Moonshot X Lab
Consulting Kickstart
Access a 9-week premium program with a step-by-step roadmap and a weekly mission to get a leg up on starting a consulting business or boosting a currently existing one.
Hot Takes
It hit me yesterday. We're used to seeing Apple launching a V1 product, not completely knowing what will be the killer app and fishing for the market's return. The iPad is a relative failure from this point of view (after years of trying to use it
Beginner
Here is an interesting bit of news today if you want to understand better how digital platforms tick: following up on Netflix, YouTube (Google), and Spotify won't lift a finger to help Apple launch their new VisionPro mixed-reality headset next month. YouTube, Spotify, and some other popular apps
Strategy
After about 25 years in various positions, I'm still surprised that executive teams would consider that taking customers hostage (politely referred to as 'locking in') would be a sound strategy. I cannot count the number of persons I've met and sometimes work with that
Quick note
From Victoria Song after previewing extensively the new Apple Vision Pro: I kept replaying the demo over in my head. I know what I just saw. I’m just still trying to see where it fits in the real world. From yours truly two years ago when the Metaverse was
Beginner
One of the simplest level-ups you can have when trying to develop a strategic mindset is understanding the difference between a product and a business model. And when I say simple I might be a tad optimistic. Here's an example in the automotive market: if you want to
Strategy
If you think about it, the very notion of segmentation is quite weird. Market segments are supposed to be specific sub-groups of customers sharing some common traits or qualities that will behave the same in regard to your product. It's convenient for marketers as it makes their work
AI
The very successful "Platformer" newsletter from Casey Newton (270,000 subscribers) leaves Substack for the nonprofit, open-source Ghost platform. Why Platformer is leaving SubstackWe’ve seen this movie before — and we won’t stick around to watch it play outPlatformerCasey Newton Having transitioned our much more modest online
You know I'm monitoring quite a few weak signals in various markets. If I'm not a prospectivist, futurist, or even a trend analyst, it's something I trained into a long time ago as it allows me to feel out for long-term changes in a