Technology, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship
Facebook imagines a future in which consumers will pay for online and offline services with its cryptocurrency - Libra. Our view is that Libra will eventually enjoy broad adoption. The cryptocurrency floodgates are open, it’s primarily a question as to how Libra and others will be regulated. Regulation boils down to the size of the … Continue reading Facebook Calibra and Libra.
Companies mentioned: Accenture (ACN), Alibaba (BABA), AWS (AMZN), Azure (MSFT), Bottomline Technologies (EPAY), Broadridge (BR), DataRobot (Pvt.), GCP (GOOG), IHS Markit (INFO), Oracle (ORCL), Palantir (Pvt.), Qlik (Pvt.), Solera (Pvt.), SS&C (SSNC), Tibco (Pvt.), Verisk (VRSK). Accenture’s CEO of North America, Julie Sweet, will become CEO of Accenture effective September 1st 2019. Ms. Sweet is … Continue reading Accenture Is Preparing to Double-Down on M&A. We Share Our Ideas for Likely Target Areas.
FTC slaps Facebook on the wrist and levies $5B fine. Combining legacy Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. A grand product strategy or slick tactical move to avert regulators? Facebook only found religion as it relates to user privacy after the FTC threatened to break up the company into three separate entities - 1) legacy Facebook, 2) … Continue reading Checkmate. Facebook Wins.
Services that Blend Technology and People Are Optimal. Someday in the future complex processes will be able to operate without human intervention. Many complex autonomous processes won't occur in my lifetime. I don't consider warehouse robots nor autonomous vehicles to be terribly complex, it's more a question of repetitions (vehicle miles traveled). I do consider … Continue reading Technology + People = Best
We used Google to search for various terms related to Artificial Intelligence to gauge popularity. We ran queries using Google's trend analysis to gauge the popularity of various search terms related to Artificial Intelligence. You may access our results here. We executed Google searches on the following five search terms: "AI", "Machine Learning", "Deep Learning", … Continue reading AI, Machine Learning and More
It has leaked that semiconductor giant Broadcom (tkr: AVGO) is working to acquire CyberSecurity software company Symantec (tkr: SYMC). Semiconductor investors are not fans of the deal as AVGO shares have traded off 6% since the news leaked. Conversely, we like the prospective acquisition for a couple of reasons: First, Symantec’s recurring revenues will help … Continue reading We Applaud Creative M&A Strategies
Our experience is that it is best to take action during disruptive periods - or better yet - at the first signs of trouble. The "wait and see" approach often leads to irrelevance and ultimately death. Deutsche Bank plans to shed 18,000 jobs and exit the institutional trading business while simultaneously investing in technology. This … Continue reading “Wait and See” Does Not Constitute A Strategy
Two-factor authentication or 2FA is virtually painless and greatly mitigates the risk of compromised personal and enterprise data. People don’t like to be told “take your medicine” much less read about it. However, an ounce of prevention goes a long way. Whether you wish to add a layer of security beyond the common password to … Continue reading Use Two-Factor Authentication (“2FA”) to Reduce the Risk of Compromised Data
Much was made of Apple's chief designer Jony Ive stepping down last week. Rightfully so. What does it mean when companies aren't led by domain experts? "He’s not just a designer. That’s why he works directly for me. He has more operational power than anyone else at Apple except me. There’s no one who can … Continue reading When Companies Aren’t Led by Experts
Identifying acquisition targets is an arduous process. Machine learning can help. It is somewhat easier to identify acquisition targets today than it was 10 years ago given the advent of private company databases such as Bob's Guide, Crunchbase, CB Insights, PitchBook and others. However, we have yet to find a data service that combines a … Continue reading M&A Deal Sourcing – A Significant Opportunity for Machine Learning
