Note: John Azubuike (@jnazubuike) and I are currently conducting research on software startups in the ocean freight shipping market. We expect to publish that towards the end of January 2017. Our blog post about freight trucking startups opened the door to numerous conversations that we may never have had, with people who know more about […]
Tag Archives | Competitive Strategy
#OpposingViewpoints: Do Economic Moats Happen By Accident?
By Brian Laung Aoaeh on August 15, 2016 in Business Models, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Startups, Strategy, Technology, Venture Capital
Do economic moats occur naturally or by accident? I had never contemplated this question till Andy Rachleff graciously emailed me back after I sent him my presentation on economic moats seeking his comments about two weeks ago. Why did I email Andy? That’s a great question. In early 2010, when it started becoming clear that we […]
Economic Moats – For Early-Stage Tech Startups (Presentation)
By Brian Laung Aoaeh on July 28, 2016 in Business Models, Entrepreneurship, How and Why, Innovation, Startups, Strategy, Technology, Uncategorized, Venture Capital
This presentation distills the essence of the following blog posts into a presentation format. The target audience is early-stage startup founders, and investors. Economic Moats Blog Post Series Network Effects Switching Costs Intangibles Efficient Scale, and Cost Advantages Connecting The Dots #OpposingViewpoints: Do Economic Moats Happen By Accident?
#NotesOnStrategy: 20 Important Questions
By Brian Laung Aoaeh on June 15, 2016 in Entrepreneurship, Management, Startups, Strategy, Venture Capital
I found these notes in one of my old notebooks . . . as I was reorganizing my desk a few days ago, after taking the CFA Level III exam for a 4th time early this month. I do not have any answers written down, but I assume I wrote them down as a starting […]
“Liking” Facebook’s Business Model – The #EconomicMoats Remix
By Brian Laung Aoaeh on March 10, 2016 in Business Models, Case Studies, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Intellectual Explorations, Startups, Strategy, Technology, Venture Capital
Note: I published “Liking” Facebook’s Business Model on December 26, 20011 at Tekedia. This article updates that discussion by incorporating developments since then. It also folds in discussion of the economic moats that Facebook has developed around its business. Large segments of this article are exactly identical to the post that was published by Tekedia […]
Connecting The Dots: Economic Moats & Early Stage Technology Startups
By Brian Laung Aoaeh on February 5, 2016 in Business Models, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Investment Thesis, Management, Startups, Strategy, Technology, Venture Capital
I started writing about economic moats in September 2014. Since then I have written about Network Effects, Switching Costs, Intangibles, and Efficient Scale and Cost Advantages. The purpose of those posts was to outline how I think about economic moats while I am studying a seed stage startup and trying to determine how things might unfold […]
Revisiting What I Know About Efficient Scale, Cost Advantages, & Early Stage Technology Startups
This is the fourth post in my series of blog posts on economic moats. I have already written about Network Effects, Switching Costs, and Intangibles. In this post I will discuss how Cost Advantages and Efficient Scale might develop as an early stage startup travels through the discovery phase of its life-cycle. 1Any errors in appropriately […]
Notes on Strategy; Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies for Early Stage Tech Startups
Running a business without a strategy is like breathing air without oxygen. My post Notes on Strategy; For Early Stage Technology Startups led to follow up questions from a handful of readers who asked for additional posts with more explanations and examples. 1Let me know if you feel I have failed to attribute something appropriately. Tell me how […]
How Studying Bankruptcy And Working On Two Turnaround Assignments Prepared Me To Become An Early Stage Venture Capitalist
By Brian Laung Aoaeh on August 1, 2015 in Behavioral Finance, Business Models, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Innovation, Investment Analysis, Key Performance Metrics, Operations, Organizational Behavior, Private Equity, Sales and Marketing, Startups, Strategy, Team Building, Uncategorized, Value Investing, Venture Capital
When I started business school at NYU Stern in the fall of 2005 my plan centered on taking every class in Bankruptcy & Reorganization, and Distressed Investing that I could. I took 3 elective classes in that area; Bankruptcy & Reorganization with Prof. Ed Altman, Case Studies in Bankruptcy & Reorganization with Prof. Max […]
Notes on Strategy; For Early Stage Technology Startups
Alternate Title: What Can 24’s Jack Bauer Teach a Tech Startup Founder About Strategy? Running a business without a strategy is like breathing air without oxygen. The purpose of this blog post is to attempt to synthesize certain fundamental lessons on strategy that are relevant for anyone trying to build a business.1 As part of […]