BlaBlaCar is a carpooling app for long distance trip and a top player in France. The company has bought Ouibus, a French bus company, and is now offering bus trips on its platform which compete directly with carpooling trips.
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Hello Alfred: automating the on-demand economy
In a world crowded with on-demand apps and services, Hello Alfred created an aggregated service platform for recurring and widely demanded services to simplify the life of their customers. The platform is assisted by company employed “Alfreds” who coordinate the delivery of the services. The company adopted a B-to-B-to-C business model where it leverages on the proliferation of on-demand service providers and the relevance of local specialized vendors by using them as suppliers. To capture users, Hello Alfred partners with landlords of buildings that cater to young professionals. Hello Alfred profits from the difference between the wholesale prices it negotiates with its vendors and the retailed price charged to customers.
As of today, Hello Alfred has raised $63 M in venture funding, has completed 4.5 million to-do’s and saved 50 years time to its members. In this post I will discuss the evolution of Hello Alfred’s business model and the strategic decisions they made to scale the business.
Palantir Technologies: Intelligence as a Service
Intelligence Agencies are well versed in the adage that “Knowledge is Power”. One company can offer this, but in doing so, they must be the single guardian of that power.
Cookpad: spreading the joy of cooking worldwide
With its simple mission of ‘Making every day cooking fun!’, Cookpad has become the biggest recipe-sharing platform in Japan with a huge fan base and 3 million recipes. What is their secret to success?
NVIDIA’s Winning Platform Strategy with CUDA
NVIDIA's platform approach with CUDA and GPUs is an enviable moat in the industry! Find out why?
How Groupon failed Ali Wong, but Netflix saved her
The comedian Ali Wong is an example of the damage Groupon can have as a platform to the business of start-up entertainment, but also shows the marketing prowess of Netflix in this respect.
Stitcher Podcasts, Midroll Media, and the Art of Battling Giants
Second largest podcasting app Stitcher aims to build a business model that can survive against Apple Podcasts while integrating with advertising network Midroll Media.
Gusto: A payroll software turned ’people platform’?
Gusto began as a payroll software for small businesses, but has since attempted to transform into a ‘people platform’, offering a range services for small businesses (mainly via partners). This post examines the execution and long-term sustainability of this product-to-platform shift.
Too Good To Go: A Win-Win-Win Situation
Too Good To Go is the world’s leading platform for reducing food wastage. The free smartphone app connects local restaurants, hotels and retail businesses that have unsold, surplus food with local customers.
Instacart – A Platform Thriving in a Pandemic
With quarantines and social distancing happening around the world, grocery delivery has gone from a nice to have to a necessity.