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Reimagining Work & Customer Experience: AI, Innovation & Leadership Insights | DisrupTV Ep. 230
In this episode of DisrupTV, hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar engage with three thought leaders:
Video
Event Report: Google Cloud Industries Analyst Day rwang0 Thu, 04/01/2021 - 05:03
Google Cloud Has Hired A Brain Trust Of Industry Vertical Leaders
On March 31st, 2021, Google Cloud hosted an Vertical Analyst Roundtable. Google Cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian, opened up the day with a warm introduction on the role industries will play in the growth of Google Cloud. Lori Mitchell-Keller, VP of Industry Solutions shared how Google Cloud differentiates its approach to Industries with customers. The key industries and the leaders for Google Cloud's Verticals include:
Retail - Carrie Tharp
CPG - Giusy Buonfantino
Healthcare and Life Sciences - Joe Miles
Financial Services - Derek White
Communications - George Nazi
Media and Entertainment - George Nazi
Gaming - George Nazi
Manufacturing and Industrial - Dominik Wee
Supply Chain and Logistics - Hans Thalbauer
Public Sector - Todd Schroeder
Customer Wins Range From Level 1 to Level 4 Digital Giant Partnerships
Google Cloud's mid-term goal is to build Level 4 partnerships with industry leaders. Key focus areas for each of the verticals include
Data and AI platforms
Pervasive AI-enabled industry solutions
Cross-functional digital ecosystems
Key areas for each vertical include:
CPG - know customers in a data privacy first world, deliver growth in an omni channel ecosystem, and enable a more intelligent sustainable operations
FSI - humanize digital experiences, modernize core technologies and drive out technical debt, adjust to a deluge of regulatory requirements, and manage risk through data
Health and Life Sciences - accelerate R&D and clinical insights, achieve precision decisions with ML/AI, and enable population health and value based care models
Manufacturing - digitize customer journeys to improve experience through data, optmiize operations and sustainability, and address cultural and technology needs for digital transformation
Media and entertainment - drive up content velocity, deliver mass personalization at scale, ad create dynamic feedback loops to improve relationships and context
Public Sector - deliver compliance without compromise, provide tools to accelerate digital transformation, solve for mission needs, and apply vast public data troves for public good.
Retail - focus on immersive and frictionless customer experiences using first party data to accelerate activation, and decrease cost of business
Supply Chain and Logistics - deliver exceptional customer experience, drive circular economy and sustainability, achieve autonomous enterprise status
Telco and CSPs - identify new digital monetization, improve low touch high value experiences, upgrade legacy technical debt and core systems, and upskill work force.
While most of the customers are focused on Level 1 and Level 2 capabilities, Google Cloud is starting to see tgrowth in Level 3 vertical industry wins and becoming more competitive with both Amazon Web Services and MIcrosoft Azure in industry deals (see Figure 1). Public wins at Amwell, Ford, MLB, Target, Unilever, Unity, and Verizon are proof points on the extent of the partnerships with industry for data-driven digital transformation.
Figure 1. The Five Levels Of Cloud Provider Partnerships
The Bottom Line: Build, Partner, or Perish
In my upcoming book, Everybody Wants To Rule The World, we discuss how the collapse of vertical industries along a convergence of value chains will lead to 100 companies in 50 value chains across seven major geographic trade zones by 2050. Established organizations who survive to compete against the next set of well-funded digital giants will have to create joint venture partnerships in Level 5 in order to succeed.
Given the capital constraints of the established industry leaders, most will have to partner instead of build. Many of those partnerships will occur with the major cloud platform vendors who can provide the investment capital, the technical expertise, and the key cloud computing and technology prowess needed to win. Digital leaders who plan for the future will have to double down on one to two cloud players across the world to build deep partnerships or invest in the capital to establish their capabilities. Winners will build or partner.
Your POV
Are you a digital leader driving key initiatives? Have you partnered with a cloud vendor? What level is your partnership? Nominate your project for the 10th annual Constellation SuperNova Awards and buy the book to find out how Everybody Wants To Rule The World t
Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org. Please let us know if you need help with your AI and Digital Business transformation efforts. Here’s how we can assist:
Developing your digital business strategy
Connecting with other pioneers
Sharing best practices
Vendor selection
Implementation partner selection
Providing contract negotiations and software licensing support
Demystifying software licensing
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales.
Disclosures
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy,stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website. * Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Constellation Research recommends that readers consult a stock professional for their investment guidance. Investors should understand the potential conflicts of interest analysts might face. Constellation does not underwrite or own the securities of the companies the analysts cover. Analysts themselves sometimes own stocks in the companies they cover—either directly or indirectly, such as through employee stock-purchase pools in which they and their colleagues participate. As a general matter, investors should not rely solely on an analyst’s recommendation when deciding whether to buy, hold, or sell a stock. Instead, they should also do their own research—such as reading the prospectus for new companies or for public companies, the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC—to confirm whether a particular investment is appropriate for them in light of their individual financial circumstances.
Copyright © 2001 – 2021 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Executive Network
Analyst Blog
Marketing Reinvented: AI, Purpose & Data-Driven Innovation | DisrupTV Ep. 229
In this episode of DisrupTV, hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar engage with three influential marketing leaders:
Video
ConstellationTV is here to bring you the latest in what is disruptive and reshaping business and technology. In every episode, you’ll hear from our fellow analysts, from leaders across our network of business transformation experts and influencers, as well as from cutting edge vendors.
Video
Bottom Line: Today’s largely-distributed enterprises need to make sure they are putting endpoint security first in 2021– which includes closely managing every stage of the device lifecycle, from deployment to decommission, and ensuring all sensitive data remains protected.
Analyst Blog
30% of US and UK remote workers say their organizations don't require them to use a secure access tool, including VPN, to log into corporate databases and systems, according to Ivanti's 2021 Secure Consumer Cyber Report.
Plus, 25% of remote workers in the US and UK aren't required to have specific security software running on their devices to access certain applications while working remotely.
And one in four US remote workers use their work email and passwords to log in to consumer websites and apps.
Cybersecurity gaps have continued to widen durin
Analyst Blog
Monday's Musings: The Rise Of The Digital Executives rwang0 Mon, 03/22/2021 - 03:21
Digital Leaders and Their Efforts Take a Front Seat in the Post-Pandemic Era
When the pandemic impacted businesses a year ago, most brands and enterprises scrambled to accelerate digital transformation efforts. These “digital” efforts ranged from rekindling digital channel projects to doubling down on digital channels to even accelerating subscription business models. Often led by CIO’s, CMO’s, CTO’s, and Chief Digital Officers, many successfully scrambled to shift channel revenue from physical to digital while dealing the impact of remote work delivery. These accomplishments accelerated five years of digital transformation in less than one year’s time.
As organizations now shift from pandemic burning platform to the post-pandemic reality, the “light” digital projects focused on digital channels will not be enough to sustain true digital initiatives. The simple monetization models will face intense competition. The lack of a digital business model will leave organizations exposed. In fact, digital leaders will have to invest in three key areas of true digital transformation to successfully emerge into the post-pandemic era. Organizations must invest in:
Digital business models. Digital leaders must think hard about how their digital strategy will co-exist in a world of traditional business models. Leaders must determine where will their mix of financial investment and human capital reside.
Digital monetization. Organizations must rethink monetization efforts across ad revenue, search revenues, goods, services, memberships and subscriptions. Selection of monetization model or models will be driven by business model decisions.
Digital channels. While, websites, mobile apps, and chats played a key role in enabling pandemic CX, digital leaders must determine how investment dollars will be allocated in a post-pandemic world as hybrid models will dominate the landscape. Business models and monetization models will determine level of channel investment.
The Shift From CDO's To Digitally Enabled Leaders Is Happening Now
Consequently, who leads such initiatives going forward will be hotly contested. In fact, the role of the chief digital officer must be revisited given the uneven job description and responsibilities across different industries. To be honest, what a CDO does has depended on what industry has sought to create a role. In many cases, chief digital officers have served as CTO’s, others have served as CMO’s deploying a marketing tech strategy, and CIO’s who have had digital initiatives along with keeping the lights on in traditional IT have also served as a CDO. While each of these approaches have merit, this lack of clarity and consistency on what a CDO’s role should be has created some tension and mass confusion in board rooms and among executive leadership teams.
Over the next 12 to 18 months, almost every organization will have beefed up their digital leadership. The rush to anoint a Chief Digital Officer to centrally own all digital initiatives may no longer make sense given the adoption of digital inside organizations and the accelerated digital transformation experienced by leadership. What and how a Chief Digital Officer will be defined may no longer be that important. However, what digital leaders do will play a role.
To start with, expect every role in CX to take on digital initiatives. For example:
Chief executive officers will beef up their direct reports and design for new digital business models, assess future partnerships for joint venture approaches, and create a digital culture that supports innovation and execution.
Chief marketing officers will accelerate their digital presence, project their brand’s mission and purpose across all digital channels, apply account based strategies, improve personalization and relevance, and reduce customer acquisition costs.
Chief service officers will improve incident to resolution response via digital channels, identify new monetization models for service, apply IOT models to deploy remote service capabilities.
Chief customer officers will use digital channels to improve community and engagement efforts to improve customer retention, satisfaction, and loyalty.
Chief revenue officers will design for new revenue optimization capabilities, build out digital monetization, apply machine learning and AI to dynamic pricing, improve account based strategies, and improve revenue per customer.
Chief information officers will bring their project execution expertise, improve the overall digital infrastructure and channels, design to support for digital monetization models, compete for data supremacy, and future proof architecture for new digital business models.
The Bottom Line: Digital Enabled CXO's Must Compete With Digital Giants
While Chief Digital Officers may still exist, the entire executive leadership team will grow digital skills as predicted in 2009 by Esteban Kolsky and myself. The era of the standalone CDO driving all digital initiatives will transition to suites of leaders who have digital capabilities. This transition to these digital leaders will prepare brands and enterprises to compete with the rise of the digital giant such as AirBnB, Apple, Amazon, DoorDash, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Tesla, Uber, and Zillow in a wide variety of industries.
Find out more by pre-ordering my upcoming book: Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Analyst Blog
Future-Proof Leadership: AI, Innovation & Breaking Bureaucracy | DisrupTV Ep. 228
In this episode of DisrupTV, hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar engage with three influential leaders:
Video
Tom Peters on Extreme Humanism, Excellence Now & the Future of Leadership | DisrupTV Special Edition
Tom Peters on Extreme Humanism, Excellence Now & the Future of Leadership
In this DisrupTV Special Edition, hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar sit down with Tom Peters, Chief Provocateur of Tom Peters Company and author of Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism. Peters challenges corporate norms, urging leaders to prioritize human connection, soft skills, and relentless execution in an increasingly digital and impersonal world.
Video
An oft-quoted statistic holds that one billion people worldwide?mostly in the developing world?have no official or “legal” identity. Some pundits see digital identity as essential for closing the digital divide; indeed, the digital divide is often characterised by that impressive stat alone.
Analyst Blog
Digital Giants Market Analysis: Part 2 - Inside 11 Digital Giants Headed For IPO, DPO, or SPAC rwang0 Sat, 03/13/2021 - 18:02
Emerging Digital Giants Are Set For Some Big Debuts
Established digital giants such as the FAANGs + Microsoft have shown the power in dominating markets and moving beyond digital transformation. Emerging digital giants such as AirBnB, DoorDash, Disney, Etsy, Grubhub, Lyft, Spotify, Uber, and Walmart have shown the most growth in the winner takes all, post-pandemic markets. Successful digital giants have applied digital business models, built new digital monetization models, and improved their digital channels.
What can not be overemphasized is how these emerging digital giants exemplify the five traits of building 100 year data driven digital network (DDDN) platforms:
Build the biggest network. Create the largest active member community or device network, > 50M preferred.
Own the customer relationship. Disintermediate existing relationships by taking account control through payments, ease of use, and offering aggregation.
Compete for data supremacy. Design data driven digital networks to compete for data supremacy and decision velocity to create a competitive advantage.
Deploy digital monetization models. Build out ad, search, goods, services memberships, and subscriptions.
Enter the market with a long-term growth mind set. Trade profits for market share growth and trade short term gains for long term investments to dominate the value chain.
IPO and Direct Listing Markets Set For Another Record Year
Despite the pandemic, 2020 emerged as a record setting year for IPOs. More than $174 billion was raised among 494 IPOs. The overprinting and borrowing by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks has led to massive devaluation of currencies. Investors have flocked to equities in their quest for yield. Digital Giants have fared the best over the past decade. In 2021, AirBnb and Doordash have led the way. Below are some of the big debuts for 2021 as of March 1st, 2021.
Part 1:
AppLovin
Ascensus
Coinbase
Coupang
Epic
Part 2:
Instacart
Nextdoor
Robinhood
Roblox
Starlink
Stripe
6. Instacart ~ $40 billion valuation
San Francisco, CA headquartered Instacart provides on-demand delivery for groceries and retailers to transform the $1.3 trillion low-margin grocery and retail market. Instacart shoppers pack and deliver orders for delivery to a customer's home or business. Shoppers are contractors who then plug into the logistics system which determines routes and assignments. Building on his experience at Amazon, Apoorva Mehta, proved and battle tested the model during the pandemic. The arrival of a new CFO bodes well as Nick Giovanni took Airbnb and Twitter public. The company recently raised a round for $200 million from Valiant Peregrine Fund and D1 Capital Partners. In June 2020, the company raised $225 million from DST Global, General Catalyst, and D1 Capital Partners. The company already has 500,000 employees and contract workers.
Status: 2021Q2 anticipated IPO with a current valuation of $39 billion.
Leadership:Apoorva Mehta, Founder and CEO
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 400 retailers, 30,000 stores. Instacart reaches 85% of US households and 70% of Canadian households. Order volume during the pandemic went up 500%. Instcart has over 8 million users, with 750,000 shoppers.
Customer Control: Disintermediates customer relationship with delivery. Aggregates stores for customers on one app.
Data Supremacy: Shopping cart information, logistics and distribution, and product profitability.
Digital Monetization: Delivery charges today, information and insight in the future with $35 billion today in grocery stores.
Growth Mindset: The distribution and logistics network provides a competitive advantage and the Instacart team will out invest grocery stores and retailers to build out the network at a loss, though it was profitable in April 2020 generating 10 million in profits.
7. Nextdoor ~ $5B valuation
San Francisco, CA based Nextdoor was founded in 2008 as a hyper local, social network. The networks are based on geographical constraints and allow for public discourse, recommendations, posting alerts, and referrals. Only paid advertisers can sell items on the platform. The platform has been the source of much local controversy as with many social networks though it has a robust moderation platform with volunteer community members who serve as leads to provide moderation. NextDoor has raised $470 million to date and may go public with a $5 billion valuation. Investors include Kleiner Perkins, Greylock Partners and Tiger Global Management.
Status: 2021Q3 anticipated IPO
Leadership: Sarah Friar, CEO (previously the CFO of Square when they IPO'd)
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 268,000 neighborhoods across 11 countries. 25% of the US households belong to NextDoor. Number of active users is estimated at 28 million.
Customer Control: NextDoor attempts to dominate the local market by working with local governments to post important local updates. The site prohibits posters from selling unless they advertise.
Data Supremacy: Hyper local data on trending topics and targeted local ads
Digital Monetization: Paid content, advertising
Growth Mindset: Estimated revenue of $70 million would show NextDoor at a loss and willing to forward invest to gain market share and grow the user base.
8. Robinhood ~ $20 to 25 billion valuation
Founded in 2013, Menlo Park, CA based Robinhood pioneered the no-fee trading market. Targeting millennials with an easy to use trading app, the goal was to democratize access to the stock market. Robinhood requires no minimums for cash accounts and allows users to buy cryptocurrencies. While recent controversy as part of the Robinhood - Reddit - retail investor melt-down with Gamestop have made it a bit more precarious to go public, apparently Bloomberg has reported the team plans to file confidential IPO paperwork. The company has faced numerous regulatory fines but also boasts a very
Status: 2021Q4 Potential Direct Listing
Leadership: Vlad Tenev, CEO & Founder
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 13 million users
Customer Control: Aggregated trading platform with zero commissions and cash balance requirements.
Data Supremacy: Real-time trading data
Digital Monetization: Insight into markets resold to subscribers
Growth Mindset: Zero commissions forced major brokers such as E-Trade, Fidelity, and Schwab to offer no commissions.
9. Roblox ~ $29.5 billion (3/1/2021), Went Public 3/10/2021 at $65 billion valuation
San Mateo, CA based Roblox is a popular children's gaming platform that allows users to create 3D worlds. The software relies on the sale of digital goods and the creation of user-generated content. The currency inside the metaverse is based on Robux and used to acquire new services. Users can connect, create, and collaborate. Today's use cases are game based, but future use cases include training simulations, market places, and alternate worlds. Roblox Client, Studio, and Cloud are the three services offered in the market.
Status: Went Public on 3/10/2021 with a $39.50 billion valuation on day one close
Leadership: Dave Baszucki, Founder and CEO
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 32.6 million daily active users (DAUs) on the platform. Paying users jumped from 125,000 in 2018 to 490,000 in 2020. 1.25 million developers earned Robux, with 4,300 making 100,000 Robux.
Customer Control: Roblox users are beholden to the platform for all requirements. Hours on Robux grew 45% from 9.4 billion in 2018 to 30.6B billion.
Data Supremacy:
Digital Monetization: Robux currency is how they generate revenue. They had 1.
Growth Mindset: Roblox is not profitable but its revenue is up 56% to 923.95M from December 2019. Roblox is investing in technology and growing the developer and partner ecosystem.
10. Starlink
As a business subsidiary of SpaceX, this unit will build out a low earth orbit (LEO) constellation of satellites for global internet access. Known as Starlink, the goal is to connect under served global communities and Tesla vehicles with 50Mbs to 150 Mbs speeds.
Status: Not declared
Leadership: Elon Musk, CEO
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 1,000 sattelites have been launched into orbits as of 2020 from the Falcon 9 rockets with a goal of 12,000 satellites in the first phase. The goal is 42,000 sattelites.
Customer Control: Starlink disintermediates today's telcos, existing digital giants, and governments for internet access.
Data Supremacy: Geo-spatial data, network information, and usage data will power the 100 year platform.
Digital Monetization: Network access
Growth Mindset: SpaceX will continue to shoulder the cost of rocket launches. The goal is to build the network first, then grow mindshare.
11. Stripe ~ $95 - 100 Billion
Dublin, Ireland and San Francisco, CA dual headquartered Stripe is a leading payments processing software company. The company focuses on global payments and anti fraud software. Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars a year for millions of global organizations world-wide. More than 50 companies process $1 billion annually with the provider. Notable customers include DoorDash, Shopify, and Wayfair. The recent valuation in March 2020 values the company at almost $100 billion. Investors include Ireland's National Treasury Management Agency, Allianz, AXA, Baillie Gifford & Co. and Fidelity Investments.
Status: 2021Q4 Target, raised $600 million in latest round valuing company close to $95 million
Leadership: Patrick Collision, Co-founder and CEO; John Collission, Co-Founder
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: Over 1 million businesses around the globe.
Customer Control: Stripe disintermediates bank for merchant control.
Data Supremacy: Data collected from payments provide massive signal intelligence for many downstream services
Digital Monetization: Payments and adjacent financial services products.
Growth Mindset: Not afraid to acquire or invest in competitors around the world. Focused on market share growth.
Your POV
Ready for the new crop of Digital Giants as they IPO? Which IPO do you think will do well? Find out how these digital giants are competing at the dawn of digital giants. Pre-order the book and find out how Everybody Wants To Rule The World t
Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org. Please let us know if you need help with your AI and Digital Business transformation efforts. Here’s how we can assist:
Developing your digital business strategy
Connecting with other pioneers
Sharing best practices
Vendor selection
Implementation partner selection
Providing contract negotiations and software licensing support
Demystifying software licensing
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales.
Disclosures
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy,stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website. * Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Constellation Research recommends that readers consult a stock professional for their investment guidance. Investors should understand the potential conflicts of interest analysts might face. Constellation does not underwrite or own the securities of the companies the analysts cover. Analysts themselves sometimes own stocks in the companies they cover—either directly or indirectly, such as through employee stock-purchase pools in which they and their colleagues participate. As a general matter, investors should not rely solely on an analyst’s recommendation when deciding whether to buy, hold, or sell a stock. Instead, they should also do their own research—such as reading the prospectus for new companies or for public companies, the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC—to confirm whether a particular investment is appropriate for them in light of their individual financial circumstances.
Copyright © 2001 – 2021 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Executive Network
Analyst Blog
From Forecasting to Community: AI’s Promise, Human Resilience & Innovation Leadership
In Episode 227 of DisrupTV, hosts R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar bring together three compelling voices: Grant Halloran, CEO of Planful, renowned for his insights into financial planning and performance; Byron Reese, futurist and author with a bold vision for how technology elevates humanity; and Rachel Friesen, PagerDuty’s Head of Community & Advocacy, known fo
Video
ConstellationTV is here to bring you the latest in what is disruptive and reshaping business and technology. In every episode, you’ll hear from our fellow analysts, from leaders across our network of business transformation experts and influencers, as well as from cutting edge vendors.
Video
Deadline for Submissions June 25, 2021
We are excited to announce the launch of our 11th annual SuperNova Awards. This prestigious program recognizes early adopters who demonstrate true leadership in digital business and shines a light on those teams who have overcome the odds to successfully apply emerging and disruptive technologies.
Analyst Blog
Digital Giants Market Analysis: Part 1 - Inside 11 Digital Giants Headed For IPO, DPO, or SPAC rwang0 Sun, 03/07/2021 - 00:01
Emerging Digital Giants Are Set For Some Big Debuts
Established digital giants such as the FAANGs + Microsoft have shown the power in dominating markets and moving beyond digital transformation. Emerging digital giants such as AirBnB, DoorDash, Disney, Etsy, Grubhub, Lyft, Spotify, Uber, and Walmart have shown the most growth in the winner takes all, post-pandemic markets. If leaders haven't figured it out, digital transformation is not enough. In fact, it may even be the wrong game.
Successful digital giants have applied digital business models, built new digital monetization models, and improved their digital channels. What can not be overemphasized is how these emerging digital giants exemplify the five traits of building 100 year data driven digital network (DDDN) platforms:
Build the biggest network. Create the largest active member community or device network, > 50M preferred.
Own the customer relationship. Disintermediate existing relationships by taking account control through payments, ease of use, and offering aggregation.
Compete for data supremacy. Design data driven digital networks to compete for data supremacy and decision velocity to create a competitive advantage.
Deploy digital monetization models. Build out ad, search, goods, services memberships, and subscriptions.
Enter the market with a long-term growth mind set. Trade profits for market share growth and trade short term gains for long term investments to dominate the value chain.
IPO and Direct Listing Markets Set For Another Record Year
Despite the pandemic, 2020 emerged as a record setting year for IPOs. More than $174 billion was raised among 494 IPOs. The overprinting and borrowing by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks has led to massive devaluation of currencies. Investors have flocked to equities in their quest for yield. Digital Giants have fared the best over the past decade. In 2021, AirBnb and Doordash have led the way. Below are some of the big debuts for 2021 as of March 1st, 2021.
Part 1:
AppLovin
Ascensus
Coinbase
Coupang
Epic
Part 2:
Instacart
Nextdoor
Robinhood
Roblox
Starlink
Stripe
1. AppLovin ~$4 billion valuation
Founded in 2011, Palo Alto-based AppLovin is a mobile game developer, marketing tool provider, and digital goods platform in a hot gaming market worth almost $80 billion in 2020. Revenue jumped 46% (YoY) in 2020 to $1.45 billion. In February 2021, AppLoving bought Berlin-based developer Adjust and added 500 employees, bringing the total headcount to 2500.
Status: 2021Q2 Target Date, IPO Filed 3/9/2021, To Be Listed on NASDAQ
Leadership: Adam Forough, CEO and Co-Founder
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - Yes
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Five Core Tenets Of Digital Giants
Network: 32 million daily active users (DAU) on over 2 billion devices
Customer Control: Freemium model on 200 games from 12 studios
Data Supremacy: Mining user behavior and analytics.
Digital Monetization: Sales of digital goods. Over 51% of revenue came from digital goods and 49% of revenue came from software and marketing tool sales.
Growth Mindset: Quadrupled spending on R&D, created a publishing division in 2018 and expended $1 billion in acquisitions and partnerships including Machine Zone, Magic Tavern, Adjust.
2. Ascensus ~$3 billion valuation
Dresher, PA based financial services concern manages savings plans, health savings accounts (HSAs), retirement programs, and 529 college funds. Ascensus is the largest independent record keeping services provider, third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator in the United States. The firm has over 12 million customers with $327 billion in assets under management (AUM). Barclays and Goldman Sachs have been selected to underwrite the IPO.
Status: 2021Q3 Target Date, IPO
Leadership: David Musto, CEO
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 12 million customers
Customer Control: Plan aggregation, technology platform provider
Data Supremacy: Analytics and insight on participant behavior
Digital Monetization: Plan fees at scale
Growth Mindset: Stable long term expansion.
3. Coinbase (COIN) ~$95-100 billion valuation
As the leading cryptocurrency exchange, San Francisco based Coinbase has benefited from the rapid ascent of Bitcoin, Ethereum. Coinbase dominates US based cryptocurrency exchanges with a 24-hour trading volume of $3.2 billion. A recent private auction valued shares at $350, raising market caps to almost $100 billion.
Status: 2021Q1 Target Date, Filed 2/25/2021, Direct Listing on NASDAQ
Leadership: Brian Armstrong, CEO & Co-Founder; Fred Ehrsam, Co-Founder
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 43 million customers, 2.8 million customers making transactions
Customer Control: Aggregation of cryptocurrencies for single point of trade
Data Supremacy: Analytics and insight on participant behavior
Digital Monetization: Transaction fees drive $1.14 billion in revenues for 2020, up 136% (YoY)
Growth Mindset: Investment in order book exchange (GDAX), brokerage, and custody technology
4. Coupang (CPNG) ~ $80 billion valuation
Harvard Business School drop-out Bom Suk Kim is set for one of the biggest tech IPO's for the year. Founded in 2010, Coupang started out as a Groupon copy-cat, focusing on daily deals and has emerged into an eCommerce digital giant. Coupang has emerged as a pandemic and post-pandemic winner by nearly doubling its revenues to $12 billion in 2020. As with all digital giants, the entity has an accumulated deficit of $4.12 billion as of December 2020 and has taken a long term mindset, building for market share and growth first. Should the expected March 10th listing be successful, Korea's e-commerce darling will have a $51 billion valuation (based on $28.50 per share pricing) and emerge as one of the top 5 companies by market cap in South Korea. The US listing will benefit Coupang with dual class voting structures, a key to a long-term mindset and one of the five tenets of building a Digital Giant. New business models in Coupang Pay for financial services and Rocket Fresh for food delivery.
COUPANG - BUY $80
Status: March 11, 2021, Filed 2/25/2021, Direct Listing on NASDAQ
Leadership: Bom Kim, CEO & Founder
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 14.85 million active users
Customer Control: Ease of use in ordering, Amazon approach to market place, last mile delivery.
Data Supremacy: AI and ML investments designed for operational efficiency from pricing to distribution and logistics.
Digital Monetization: Goods, services, payments, ads (future)
Growth Mindset: Dual class - voting structure, significant technology investment, long-term bets on last mile distribution. Market share increased 24.6% in 2020 up from 18.1% in 2019.
5. Epic Games
Founded in 1991, Epic Games is a Cary, NC based video game maker responsible for some of the most popular titles such as Fortnite, Infinity Blade, and Gears of War. The company has created more than 50 game titles and purchased the mobile gaming app House Party. It's game development platform, Unreal Engine, has significant mind share among game developers. A war with Apple on app store transaction fees may play a role in a lower potential valuation. As one of the few privately held gaming companies left, investors and fans would love to see this company IPO and tap into the broader market of gaming, e-sports, marketplace, and digital goods.
Status: No Immediate Announcements
Leadership: Tim Sweeney, CEO & Founder
Investment relationship - NO
Individual owned - NO
Family owned- NO
Company owned - NO
Network: 350 million active users
Customer Control: Addictive games, strong community engagement, and rich developer support.
Data Supremacy: Analytics and data are foundational to eSports and gaming. Epic has a sophisticated approach to monetizing user data to improve games and create new offerings.
Digital Monetization: Freemium to monetization of in-app purchase, V-bucks virtual currency, digital goods (e.g. Battle Passes)
Growth Mindset: Moved from gaming, to platform, to digital monetization, to lifestyle brand.
Your POV
Ready for the new crop of Digital Giants as they IPO? Which IPO do you think will do well? Find out how these digital giants are competing at the dawn of digital giants. Pre-order the book and find out how Everybody Wants To Rule The World t
Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org. Please let us know if you need help with your AI and Digital Business transformation efforts. Here’s how we can assist:
Developing your digital business strategy
Connecting with other pioneers
Sharing best practices
Vendor selection
Implementation partner selection
Providing contract negotiations and software licensing support
Demystifying software licensing
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales.
Disclosures
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy,stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website. * Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Constellation Research recommends that readers consult a stock professional for their investment guidance. Investors should understand the potential conflicts of interest analysts might face. Constellation does not underwrite or own the securities of the companies the analysts cover. Analysts themselves sometimes own stocks in the companies they cover—either directly or indirectly, such as through employee stock-purchase pools in which they and their colleagues participate. As a general matter, investors should not rely solely on an analyst’s recommendation when deciding whether to buy, hold, or sell a stock. Instead, they should also do their own research—such as reading the prospectus for new companies or for public companies, the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC—to confirm whether a particular investment is appropriate for them in light of their individual financial circumstances.
Copyright © 2001 – 2021 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Executive Network
Analyst Blog
News Analysis: Coupang, South Korea's Digital Giant, Set For A $51 Billion+ Debut rwang0 Sat, 03/06/2021 - 16:44
Digital Giant Seeks $3.6 Billion Raise
Harvard Business School drop-out Bom Suk Kim is set for one of the biggest tech IPO's for the year. Founded in 2010, Coupang started out as a Groupon copy-cat, focusing on daily deals and has emerged into an eCommerce digital giant. The Korean born, New Englander, studied in the US, trained at Boston Consulting Group, and founded the 02138 magazine startup all before heading back to Korea to build an Amazon like "next geneartion e-commerce model".
Source: Korea Daily Times
So far, the market has had a healthy reception to the listings of emerging digital giants, with AirBnB and DoorDash completing highly successful debuts. Coupang has emerged as a pandemic and post-pandemic winner by nearly doubling its revenues to $12 billion in 2020. As with all digital giants, the entity has an accumulated deficit of $4.12 billion as of December 2020. Should the expected March 10th listing be successful, Korea's e-commerce darling will have a $51 billion valuation (based on $28.50 per share pricing) and emerge as one of the top 5 companies by market cap in South Korea. The US listing will benefit Coupang with dual class voting structures, a key to a long-term mindset and one of the five tenets of building a Digital Giant.
The Seoul headquartered company has six global offices in Beijing, Los Angeles, Seattle, Shanghai, Shenzehn, and Silicon Valley. At the heart of Coupang is an online marketplace for merchants like Shopify, a shopping portal for consumers like Amazon, and a supply chain logistics distribution network like JD.com. Coupang has 15,00 drivers with the largest last-mile logistics fleet in South Korea, and 100 fulfillment and logistics centers in over 30 cities. Almost 70 percent of the country lives within 6 miles of a Coupang delivery center.
Coupang has followed the digital giant model of investing for the long term with massive technology investments in machine learning and AI to deliver on personalization at scale, inventory procurement, risk management, last mile logistics, and pricing optimization.
Key investors include Softbank Vision Fund (SVF) with a 39.4 percent stake, Greenoaks Capital Partners with a 19.8 percent stake, Maverick Holdings with a 7.7 percent stake, Rosa Park Advisors with a 6 percent stake, and Black Rock with a 3.7 percent stake. Revenue per active customer has risen from $161 in Q4 2019 to $256 in Q4 2020. Coupang has grown active user from 9.16 million in 2018 to 11.79 million in 2019. In 2020, Coupang reached 14.85 million active customers. Goldman Sachs, Allen & Company, JP Morgan Securities, and Citigroup Global Markets are among the nine underwriters for this IPO.
The Bottom Line: This Digital Giant Dominates The Korean Market
Constellation estimates South Korea's e-commerce market to grow to $250 billion by 2026 from $129 billion in 2019. With just a little more than one-third penetration of the 43 million South Koreans above the age of 15, Coupang has built a sizable network. As with all Digital Giants (Get my latest book Everybody Wants To Rule The World to find out more), the business model and monetization models can expand with the investment in a a 100 year platform and strategic expansion into new offerings. Following the lead of Asian Digital Giants (i,e. Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, and Tencent), expect Coupang to build on its expansion into:
Financial services - Coupang Pay.
Food delivery - Rocket Fresh
Coupang has a shot to move beyond the confines of Korea as it will need to grow its network. Expect the IPO proceeds to be used for expansion as this emerging Digital Giant enters its next phase of growth.
Your POV
Will you build, partner, or perish in a world of digital giants? Let me know what you think about Coupang and their model? Better yet, pre-order the book and learn the secrets of the world beyond Digital Transformation, get my latest book Everybody Wants To Rule The World t
Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org. Please let us know if you need help with your AI and Digital Business transformation efforts. Here’s how we can assist:
Developing your digital business strategy
Connecting with other pioneers
Sharing best practices
Vendor selection
Implementation partner selection
Providing contract negotiations and software licensing support
Demystifying software licensing
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales.
Disclosures
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy,stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website. * Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Constellation Research recommends that readers consult a stock professional for their investment guidance. Investors should understand the potential conflicts of interest analysts might face. Constellation does not underwrite or own the securities of the companies the analysts cover. Analysts themselves sometimes own stocks in the companies they cover—either directly or indirectly, such as through employee stock-purchase pools in which they and their colleagues participate. As a general matter, investors should not rely solely on an analyst’s recommendation when deciding whether to buy, hold, or sell a stock. Instead, they should also do their own research—such as reading the prospectus for new companies or for public companies, the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC—to confirm whether a particular investment is appropriate for them in light of their individual financial circumstances.
Copyright © 2001 – 2021 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Executive Network
Analyst Blog
News Analysis: Wipro Doubles Down On BFSI With $1.45 Billion Capco Acquisition rwang0 Sat, 03/06/2021 - 15:42
The Battle For The Hearts And Minds Of BFSI Clients Just Got Interesting
On March 4th, Bengaluru headquartered, global IT services giant, Wipro, signed an agreement to acquire UK-based Capco, technology and management consulting firm in an all cash transaction for $1.45 billion. The acquisition gives Wipro a stronger footing in the highly lucrative banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) market where Capco brings $700 million in revenue, 5000 members of the workforce, 30 new large BFSI clients, and a book of business with 100 clients in 30 countries.
Thierry Delaporte, CEO and Managing Director of Wipro Limited, noted "that Wipro and Capco shared complementary business models".
The BFSI market has been the most stable and most lucrative industry for IT services firms. Capco brings management consulting, digital transformation, and technology core services to the table. Customers work with Capco on strategy to security, cloud migration to business model monetization. This end-to-end approach will add to Wipro's scale in application development, compliance, risk management, testing, and other offerings. A successful post-merger integration will enable Wipro to accelerate into the higher value and higher margin offerings and improve market share with existing and new clients.
The Bottom Line: Thierry Delaporte Is Very Serious About Growing Wipro
Over the past decade, Wipro had seemed less competitive in the BFSI market when compared to Cognizant, TCS, and Infosys. The Capco acquisition puts Wipro back into the mix of short list candidates. Moreover, Capco's presence adds scale and permission for Wipro to be among the top 3 players and gives Wipro the brand permission to cross-sell capabilities into the market.
While this may seem as a direct BFSI play, Capco, founded in 1998, has also developed a thriving energy practice with transformation of utilities, oil and gas, and commodity trading and risk management. Wipro will also gain a significant foot hold in the rapidly growing and very critical low carbon, clean energy, and energy tech space.
In less than seven months, Delaporte has cut costs in the management ranks, improved operating margins, re-invested in sales teams, and has executed the largest acquisition in Wipro's history. With three months left in his first year, customers, partners, and employees are wondering what else will be in play as Wipro enters into a growth posture.
Your POV
Are you a Wipro client? Do you think Capco will add to your loyalty to Wipro? Are you a Capco client? Do you feel this will be a good acquisition for Wipro given Wipro's track record in acquisitions?
Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org. Please let us know if you need help with your AI and Digital Business transformation efforts. Here’s how we can assist:
Developing your digital business strategy
Connecting with other pioneers
Sharing best practices
Vendor selection
Implementation partner selection
Providing contract negotiations and software licensing support
Demystifying software licensing
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales.
Disclosures
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy,stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website. * Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Constellation Research recommends that readers consult a stock professional for their investment guidance. Investors should understand the potential conflicts of interest analysts might face. Constellation does not underwrite or own the securities of the companies the analysts cover. Analysts themselves sometimes own stocks in the companies they cover—either directly or indirectly, such as through employee stock-purchase pools in which they and their colleagues participate. As a general matter, investors should not rely solely on an analyst’s recommendation when deciding whether to buy, hold, or sell a stock. Instead, they should also do their own research—such as reading the prospectus for new companies or for public companies, the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC—to confirm whether a particular investment is appropriate for them in light of their individual financial circumstances.
Copyright © 2001 – 2021 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Executive Network
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