Remove Business Model Remove Development Remove Fixed Costs Remove Operations
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Groupon Doomed by Too Much of a Good Thing

Harvard Business Review

This is the essence of Groupon's declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon's profits before subtracting its subscriber-acquisition costs and stock option-based compensation.

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Is Rooftop Solar Finally Good Enough to Disrupt the Grid?

Harvard Business Review

The costly and complex operations of transporting energy have made utilities natural monopolies, while regulatory barriers and the high fixed costs of building and maintaining regional electrical grid infrastructure have also kept much competition at bay. This story of disruption should feel familiar.

Energy 8
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What BMW’s Corporate VC Offers That Regular Investors Can’t

Harvard Business Review

Talented founders know that corporations simply cannot replicate the deep experience private VCs have in starting companies, nor their expertise in assisting startups with complex challenges such as deal making, business modeling, resolving disputes among founders, executing a successful IPO, and so on.

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What Could Amazon’s Approach to Health Care Look Like?

Harvard Business Review

While Amazon’s collaboration with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase would obviously leverage the purchasing power of three massive employers and could lead to innovative insurance models, it seems that the bigger opportunity would be in improving how care is delivered to patients. Making routine transactions seamless and reliable.

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The End of Traditional Ad Agencies

Harvard Business Review

Harley helped V&S launch Fan Machine by enlisting its fans to develop a new campaign. In every part of the industry, the open innovation model is changing the economics of advertising by switching significant fixed costs to variable costs and sourcing creative from more relevant and, many times, lower cost sources.

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The U.S. Media’s Problems Are Much Bigger than Fake News and Filter Bubbles

Harvard Business Review

It’s not that the media sets out to be sensationalist; its business model leads it in that direction. Two developments bear noting. The media’s bias toward big events stems from three features of its economics: Fixed costs. An advertising-based model.

Media 9