Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!
Insights on VC Pricing: Lessons from Uber, WeWork and Peloton! Aswath Damodaran (reading time: 22 minutes)
There has been a lot written on the recent spate of tech IPOs and their apparent failings. Few of these articles in my opinion go into any depth of the actual mechanics of these businesses. This is why I found this article so refreshing. It dissects the issues these companies and the underlying causes.
Bluntly put, the pricing offered by venture capitalists for private companies must place scaling success over sound business models, over-the-top total addressable markets over plausible ones and founder entrenchment over good corporate governance.
The Agile Fluency Model Martin Fowler (reading time: 34 minutes)
The challenge with implementing Agile lies in the fluency or capability of the organization. Rather than trying to become an expert right away, this article provides a neat framework to follow: focusing, delivering, optimizing and strengthening. While this is geared towards development, there are some practical lessons for agile management as well.
2019 Brand of the Year: Loblaw zeroes in on shoppers Strategy (reading time: (9 minutes)
One of the common refrains I’ve been saying, as of late is that customer experience is the new strategic imperative. Loblaws has taking this to heart and have hired a chief customer officer. This is one of a few moves by the company to double down on its growth strategy. Another strategy has been the creation of their media group (Loblaw Media). Grocery is quickly becoming an interesting space to watch.
Culture Eats Strategy: Nucor’s Ken Iverson on Building a Different Kind of Company Farnham Street (reading time: 10 minutes)
Unfortunately, there aren’t many lessons that can be learned from “successful” companies. The error made often is to assume that correlation equates causation; attributes of successful companies do not provide a blueprint on how to create one. With that caveat in mind, this article explores how a steel company beat the market for 25 consecutive years. These are some great insights in this post including decentralization and incentives.
The Show Must Go On! Inside Cirque Du Soleil Founder Guy Laliberté’s Plan To Create Another Entertainment Phenomenon Forbes (reading time: (9 minutes)
Guy Laliberté is an icon in Quebec. After having sold Cirque Du Soleil in 2015, he’s started a new project; PY1. This piece in Forbes is a glowing review of Guy’s career and looks at his new project’s potential. I have to say that I’m a bit skeptical from what I’ve heard so far but I can no one succeeds without trying. Guy is taking a huge swing at bat with this new endeavor.
