PhD

PartnerHacker Daily #46: Warren Buffett's Ecosystem Bet

Apples and ecosystems

Get this! “In 2018, Warren Buffett said he invested in Apple for two reasons: its brand and its ecosystem.”

Buffett is notorious for recognizing the things other people overlook.

If you take a look at Apple today it seems like he made the right call betting on an ecosystem.

If brand and ecosystem are good measures of future success, which companies do you think come out on top in the coming years?


Ecosystem integration as a growth engine

Ecosystems are important because “every digital connection — all those unseen data exchanges and transactions that happen, all those B2B relationships a company has — contributes to the customer experience.”

Warren Buffett understood this in 2018 (probably earlier).

Ecosystems can include customers, suppliers, logistics, providers, financial institutions, data providers, and more.

Before ecosystem integration, each of these parties exists as a separate entity, and only interacts with the rest.

Ecosystem integration is the process of creating a digital fabric to tie together “all the business processes and systems at play so they can respond swiftly to supply chain disturbances as well as market opportunities.”

According to the article, “Twin Market Forces” are responsible for the increased necessity of ecosystem integration. Those forces were COVID and an accelerated use of e-commerce.

Council Post: What Ecosystem Integration Is And Why Its Time Has Come
Every digital connection — all those unseen data exchanges and transactions that happen, all those B2B relationships a company has — contributes to the customer experience.

In the past, integration was an inside-out process. Now, it’s becoming outside-in.

"In the age of the cloud that’s changed out of necessity. Ecosystem integration is about opening up a  company to as many suppliers, customers, marketplaces, service providers, and SaaS apps as necessary so it can conduct frictionless business in real-time.”

Today, customer experience is as important as product/service functionality.


Meme of the Day


Outside-in thinking

Who’s on the outside of this vibrant partnerships community that should be inside? Bring them in, share the PhD!


You're invited to the official PH launch party!

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