Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!
The platform play: How to operate like a tech company McKinsey
The title of this article caught my eye since it a question that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Every company will need to behave like a “tech company”, but what does that mean in practice and how does transition occur? This post contributes to the conversation by suggesting that platforms are the lens through which organizations will undergo this change. Specifically, they point to Customer Journey, Business Capability and Core IT as the platforms for each organization.
Smart home, machine learning and discovery Benedict Evans
In this insightful article, Ben Evans asks how will machines connect to each other in a smart home. He also asks what applications of machine learning does the end user need to actually understand versus simply take advantage of. Mr. Evans asks more questions than providing answers. This makes sense since we are still in discovery mode for so many of these technologies.
Why and How Capitalism Needs to Be Reformed Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio is one of the most recognizable figures in the business world. He runs one of the largest hedge funds in the world. When he speaks, people pay attention. This lengthy post is a rude wake up call to what is currently happening in the US. Mr. Dalio provides a thorough analysis of the causes and consequences of the widening income gap. He also provides some relevant suggestions on how to fix it all.
Andreessen Horowitz Is Blowing Up The Venture Capital Model (Again) Forbes
The most interesting news in the venture capital space this past week came from VC firm Andreesen Horowitz. They are technically not a VC firm anymore having registered all 150 employees as financial advisors. This will allow them to invest more deeply in crypto and even publicly traded shares. The firm is known for having reinvented the VC model and now with capital increasingly becoming a commodity, they are poised to do it again.
Digital Transformation Is Not About Technology Harvard Business Review
I’ve been quite public about my dislike of the term “digital transformation” but it a term that still symbolizes the transition we’re living in. This post in HBR does a good job of providing a few important guiding principles to follow. The one that resonated the most with me is determining your business strategy first before anything else.