Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!
The Amazon Arbitrage David Perrell (reading time: 16 minutes)
If you are a direct to consumer brand, you have an important question to ask: should you work with or against Amazon? That is a key strategic question. One reason to be weary of working with the ecommerce giant is its push into private labels. While the development of private labels isn’t new, Amazon has a distinct advantage because of its data. This insightful post by David Perrell explores how Amazon is trying to accelerate its flywheel and what a DTC brand should know about it.
Another good post on Amazon is its exploration of convenience stores covered in Bloomberg. Think one click ordering but in the physical world.
Crafting Strategy Henry Mintzberg, HBR (reading time: 31 minutes)
While this newsletter has a definite penchant towards “new” articles, there is lots of value of exploring older topics. In our strategy work, we’re constantly digesting old & new methodologies and theories. Henry Minztberg is on top of that list. In this seminal piece on crafting strategy, Mintzberg explores how strategies are developed. What I love about this piece is the notion of strategy’s emergent properties; it is not simply a one-time exercise but rather an ongoing set of information retrieval and actions.
Crafting strategy, like managing craft, requires a natural synthesis of the future, present, and past.
The Trust Crisis Harvard Business Review (reading time: 25 minutes)
One of the core values we have at PNR is trust. It’s not simply because we deal with sensitive client information, we really truly believe it’s an important value for our firm. This HBR post delves into the meaning of trust for an organization and what it means to truly build or rebuild it.
How to Build a Breakout Brand Jeremy Liew, Lightspeed Ventures (reading time: 5 minutes)
This is a good short post on finding organic channels for growth. Paid channels have become saturated as they mature. As a consequence, an acquisition strategy needs to include a component of organic growth.
The Streaming Wars: Its Models, Surprises, and Remaining Opportunities Matthew Ball, Redef (reading time: 38 minutes)
Matthew Ball is my definitive go to for understanding the shifting video landscape. His writing on the matter is world class and in this article he takes it a step further. If you are interested about the future of television and streaming, I highly recommend that you check out this article. The post analyzes what is happening in video, the viability of new market entrants and future opportunities.
