A powerful statement from Warren Buffett, writing Berkshire Hathaway's annual letter last February: Sometimes I’ve made mistakes in assessing the future economics of a business I’ve purchased for Berkshire — each a case of capital allocation gone wrong. That happens with both judgments about marketable equities — we
I could have titled this article "Why I Don't Fly KLM - Air France Much Anymore," but I'm certain you'll relate to some of the issues addressed here regarding the evolution (or lack thereof) of loyalty programs in many businesses.
This is a special edition. And yes, since yesterday's announcement, you know why.
I'm not a prominent security expert, but I have always been concerned with basic data hygiene. And I'm not perfect: I never was on Facebook, but I massively used Twitter before it became a cesspool. For many years, all my business mail (Merkapt and then Innovation
The hype cycle has moved on, headlines have cooled, but that’s exactly when deep tech innovation gets real: boring, unsexy, and quietly transformative. Waymo’s data now shows statistically safer driving at scale—marking the inflection point where the tech becomes not just viable, but inevitable.
Elon Musk's surprise move of merging xAI with X (ex-Twitter) is a process that should have required at least four independent parties: each company and their respective investment banks. Here, the deal only involved Elon agreeing with Elon and Morgan Stanley agreeing with Morgan Stanley. This ensures that
This is real:
Another tool I was exploring today is theyseeyourphotos.com, where you can explore what Google Vision API will "see" in any given photo of you. My first test was quite impressive indeed: The second one... much less so: I can confirm with any form of doubt (or prejudice)
At this point in time, everyone is producing AI-flavored everything. Your bike is now developing an opinion on how your pedaling is going and whether it is fluid enough in relation to your personal neuromuscular profile. Your washing machine is probably trying to write a PhD thesis on the proper
After initially pausing its launch due to Ireland’s privacy watchdog and broader EU concerns, Meta is now deploying its AI chatbot on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in Europe. For now, the offering is text-based only and still tries to comply with proper platform regulations, which the US market
I have been discussing since about 2012 how China evolved as a tech superpower. I also wrote quite a few things about how luxury could absorb and integrate technology–or at least, how hard it actually is. Last year, I was already pointing at the branding push BYD was now
I've been quite busy these last weeks and have had to cut in my writing and posting time quite a bit. Let's jump back into it by sharing what held me up so much: designing an effective Organic Growth framework for Saint Gobain global teams.
Newsletter
A few days ago, I wrote on LinkedIn about switching from Orange as an ADSL provider in France to StarLink. Philippe MÉDA on LinkedIn: #adsl #fiber #logical #decision #business #culture | 16 comments🟧 Many weeks ago I tried to upgrade from my historically bad #ADSL connection to a brand new #fiber
Hot Takes
Benedict Evans (one of the old-guard tech gurus) wrote a piece just a few days ago about the lack of viability of large language model (LLM) AI. In a nutshell, he tested OpenAI’s Deep Research by evaluating smartphone adoption data and highlighted significant inaccuracies stemming from flawed data sources
Hot Takes
I'm not actively monitoring all consumer technologies, but it's been a while since I've played with Android (Google mobile operating system). After a few years, I thought I should check it out. To do so, I needed an Android phone. Getting one was the
Newsletter
In business strategy, we often work on elaborate approaches to innovate the market: fancy digital tools, disruptive monetization schemes, breakthrough opportunities, and more. Yet, the simple truth is that most leaders in any given market have yet to achieve one core elementary move: being able to address their customers directly.
Hot Takes
As the U.S. devolves into whatever they think a Republic should be (over a democracy), the venerable tech-digital magazine WIRED is outing the kids Elon Musk hired to take over the Federal Government IT infrastructure with direct access to the most sensitive tools running public databases, algorithms, and websites.
Newsletter
DeepSeek is freaking out the US economy. You probably read about the news this week many times over and saw many comments about this. As a quick reminder, DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup founded in 2023 by former hedge fund manager Liang Wenfeng, has developed an AI model named R1
Technology
I thought it would be interesting to apply my Bing Technology framework quickly and dirty in the context of the whole TikTok mess. It's quite interesting to check how well everything falls into place (also, if I'd go into more details at the level of '
Quick note
I'm not a huge fan of sending automated Happy New Year emails to our customers, partners, and friends. For many years, I've instead tried to send more personal messages or books to everyone we've been working with during the year. This year, like a
Hot Takes
I usually write my articles here before posting them on LinkedIn. I'm doing the opposite for once: posting on LinkedIn first and sending you there. The discussion about the current TikTok mess is just too eventful to edit an article here with many updates. Also, the discussion on
AI
In my eyes, the only device remotely interesting presented at the latest CES Las Vegas (the Consumer Electronic Show) was NVIDIA's Project DIGITS. A $3,000 personal AI supercomputer the size of a Mac Mini that will deliver the power of large-scale AI models directly to your desk.
Newsletter
Not in a bad mood, I promise. But can we stop freaking out every time Zuckerberg claims I'm "just in it for the money"? Instead, let’s focus on radical innovation: how can big brand names regain direct control over their core audiences...
Culture
When discussing the tools of value creation and positioning for innovative ventures, I often explain that in Europe, France is one of the most risk-averse national cultures worldwide, just slightly more optimistic than Japan. For reference, Hofstede's Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) gives the top countries risk-averse (very high