Carla SanchezArmas

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On May 4, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Zoom: Prepared for a Pandemic :

Zoom will remain very viable in the academic environment if it is capable of addressing the high criticism of important universities, such as Stanford, that don’t rely on their security measures and data management.

They have a first mover advantage in the Covid-19 era, which is not minor and has a strong effect on user reliability as well as brand recognition.

I agree Joe, that Zoom will be vulnerable to a monetization strategy, but still it is the best platform for big audience interaction, so maybe a subscription base strategy will be soon implemented, specially for academic directives.

On May 4, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Etsy: Success from Serving a Niche Market – But for How Much Longer? :

I believe one of the key value propositions for Etsy is the curation of its products. Etsy reminds me of how an art gallery should work like, in the sense that exclusivity and talent is a key asset to the sales capacity. Leveraging network effects and data driven sales is fundamental, but the aptitude to understand niche markets is fundamental for their growth.

Peloton has thrived in online subscriptions and retail sales. With hardware, gear, and apparel, a culture is being built around the Peloton experience. I think they have a wonderful way to capture value through brand culture, experience and belonging. A transversal brand value that allows them to be more than an old workout gear that is used only to hang your clothes.

On May 4, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on The Louvre: Winning at Digital Engagement :

How interesting Jo. I it is noteworthy how culture and digital innovation will come hand in hand. I believe museums will be growing in VR experiences, not only for the tailored user-centric experience, but also for the piece alone. Every piece has a history that need to be told in its own context and with its own origin. How can you see a Greek sculpture in all its glory, with colors on it and not only with white marble on it? There is much to be accessed in partnership (not only with Nintendo, but smartphones and VR apps, maybe like Snapchat) that will come as great opportunities to capture value for museums and other cultural institutions.

On May 4, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Glossier: Disrupting the Traditional Beauty Industry :

Great post! I think in addition of data leverage, being very considerate of how important is their first mover advantage is as a digital native not only for product development, I believe the one thing Glossier is doing in social listening. As much as the sales funnel is a great strategy for the brand, I believe they ignite the flywheel by connecting with consumer feedback and particular needs, to offer innovative products that answer to their needs.

On May 4, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Mercado Libre: a winner in Latin America :

Such an interesting post, Andrés!

I’ve been wondering about the big areas of opportunity for a fintech platform in Latam, that has such informality in its economy and hence such a big space for financial inclusion. With a big growing base of smartphones in the bottom of the pyramid sector, the opportunity to offer services for digital finance is immense. The credit culture is scarce and new generations, with more productive digital tools will be more sensitive to these services.

On May 4, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on The Need to Knead: How the “Bread Boom” is Forcing Adaptability :

Baking much bread through Covid-19, I am lucky to say I haven’t encountered any shortage of yeast or flour, in Mexico or Cambridge. Though I haven’t mastered sourdough or focaccia, I wish someone would accompany me in my process on zoom. If one thing Covid-19 has taught us is that technology needs to enter the sphere of distribution in the food industry, particularly in the space of perishables. If there is enough for everyone, why isn’t everyone getting it? Data insights into supply chains, and particularly into supply shocks are fundamental. If there is anything the bread trend is teaching, is that we need evidence-based decision through data analytics in distribution and supply chains.

On May 3, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Harvard Business School – Time to Embrace The New Reality? :

What an interesting post! I’d love to comment on several things:

1. It is a fallacy to say that the “opportunity cost of attending school have just dropped” in the Covid-19 era, the exchange rate will be very costly for the majority of the international students and if HBS is not considering this they will lose an enormous asset of their in-class experience: diversity and multicultural experience.

2. The online experience will democratize education; if this is well coordinated more people will have access to high-quality education without the cost of leaving home, visa process and other externalities. Paradoxically, I believe the in-person experience will be more costly and more exclusive, for reasons stated before and because I am sure that classroom capacity will lower to what it was.

3. We learn in 3D environments, if there is space for VR, it is in a “field trip” scenario that they should consider. I see this not for classroom purposes, but more for “outside” of classroom learning experiences like manufacture, textile, industrial spaces, or even for Med School, Archeology, Architecture, etc. VR is a great area to explore for educational purposes!

On May 3, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Harvard Business School – Time to Embrace The New Reality? :

1. It is a fallacy to say that the “opportunity cost of attending school have just dropped” in the Covid-19 era, the exchange rate will be very costly for the majority of the international students and if HBS is not considering this they will lose an enormous asset of their in-class experience: diversity and multicultural experience.

2. The online experience will democratize education; if this is well coordinated more people will have access to high-quality education without the cost of leaving home, visa process and other externalities. Paradoxically, I believe the in-person experience will be more costly and more exclusive, for reasons stated before and because I am sure that classroom capacity will lower to what it was.

3. We learn in 3D environments, if there is space for VR, it is in a “field trip” scenario that they should consider. I see this not for classroom purposes, but more for “outside” of classroom learning experiences like manufacture, textile, industrial spaces, or even for Med School, Archeology, Architecture, etc. VR is a great area to explore for educational purposes!

On May 3, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on “Zoom by Day, Houseparty by Night” :

I would relay on a subscription base monetization strategy in the future, I believe the success of this app is anchored in how much time you spend on it and how useful it is for you to connect with people. I agree that spontaneity is a key element, therefore, features like calling in people to join in or challenging an extra player for a game would are good ways of triggering additional network effects.

I agree with you, Partha, that the biggest challenge will come after Covid-19, when people are going to be eager for in-person meetings and this will displace for a while, so remaining essential will be their biggest challenge and partnering with other ludic apps like Spotify or Netflix could add extraordinary value proposition.

On April 23, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on How Well Does Spotify Know You? :

I discovered myself researching more on the machine learning music, that is one unexpected turn of events for me. I would imagine I’d be pushing for more aggressive partnering with music labels to help them design artists’ tours by pulling data to know, for example, where is their strongest fan base; or streaming music videos; or moving from online to offline, with concerts. I believe the language of music is close to the language of math, so I am an optimist on this machine-generated music, and intrigued to see how well AI performs in the artistic world.

On April 23, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Stitch Fix: Your Personal Shopper :

I totally agree with this and was wondering myself how big and broad the inventory is, not only in pieces, but in sizes. Looking at the sample of the survey question I thought that maybe it was not that detailed in the tailored approach, but more of a number of styles that fit most. I see that a good curation of style might come with partnering with many apparel companies and this would also help with the inventory cost and management.

On April 22, 2020, Carla SanchezArmas commented on Use Me if You Dare, Hack Me if You Can :

I find this post very relevant in Covid times, I believe Tiktok is one of the biggest winners of social isolation and I wonder how the backend of this moment looks like, and how older people joining the platform out of boredom has impacted the community and its content, like when parents and aunts joined Facebook and then the content and engagement shifted.

About its algorithm I wonder if they see themselves as a data business, rather than a content business? That is how I would understand their sustainability, because I don’t think the content is valuable for the long term. If this is the case, I believe they need to address all the security concerns around them.