The Week (April 2)
By any measure, Uber has been having a terrible year. Some have posited it could threaten the tech bubble. “Uber is by far the most valuable of the 187 ‘unicorn’ startups valued at $1 billion or more, despite losing at least $1.2 billion in the first half of 2016.” But Uber is unlikely to spark a chain reaction. “The tech industry’s funding sources are more diversified than they were in the original dot-com bubble, and the definition of what makes a ‘technology company’ is also much broader. Odds are, investors will see Uber’s flaws as an isolated case of bad corporate governance, not evidence that they shouldn’t be investing in startups.”
Tags: Chain reaction, Corporate governance, Diversified, Dot-com bubble, Funding, Investor, Isolated case, Startups, Tech bubble, Terrible, Uber, Unicorns
Economist (March 3)
A new kind of global company is on the rise. Diversified multinationals from emerging markets are challenging long-held business principles. In the West, companies with strategic focus are considered more competitive than conglomerates. Yet diversified multinationals, such as India’s Tata Group, are competing successfully on a global level. These companies developed, in part, “to deal with the problems of operating in places where governments are frequently incompetent and markets are hopelessly underdeveloped.” Western businesses may have much to learn from this new breed of company.
Tags: Conglomerates, Diversified, Emerging markets, Tata
