AB_23's Profile

Thank you for the very thoughtful essay! As someone who often finds that the standardized running shoe doesn’t fit my feet perfectly, I am really interested in these products. I agree that the high price point will be a barrier for some customers, but I think the value proposition will continue to grow for customized products. I don’t think the price point needs to (or even should) come down significantly, because I believe the target customer wants this product to feel and seem exclusive. To create a profitable market, Adidas needs to educate its customers on the benefits of a shoe completely customized for your feet that also doesn’t rely on cheap human labor. A good place to start would be with celebrity athletes that can champion these products to their fans.

In response to your other question, I believe Adidas should incrementally adopt this change to their manufacturing process. While there are other players in the space, it is critical that Adidas continues their track record of high-quality products and doesn’t completely switch over to a relatively unproven manufacturing process.

Great essay! I really appreciate your thoroughness on a very important topic. I am really interested in what the patient involvement needs to be. Coming from the healthcare industry as well, I see how difficult it is in chronic disease management to get patients to adhere to their medicine. I wonder if additional technology can help bridge the gap and integrate seamlessly with Twine Health.

Eli Lilly recently developed a pill bottle with sensors for Alzheimer’s patients. Unfortunately, these patients often have co-morbidities (like diabetes) and can often forget their medication. At the time medication needs to be taken, the pill bottle sensor lets the patient know where the pill bottle is located and reminds them to take the pill. If the pill bottle moves and is located close to the patient, then the sensor sends a notification to the caregiver that the pill was most likely taken. I wonder if a technology like this could be used with the Twine Health app to allow health coaches to monitor patients.

Source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-sensors-enabled-eli-lilly-to-improve-the-patient-experience/

This was a great essay! Thanks for bringing up this topic. I believe it is important for not only non-profits, but also for-profits to be incentivized for social-good projects. I do believe that there are some substantial drawbacks to crowd-sourcing that all need to consider:

1. The sample size could be too small to be able to adequately substantiate – it’s important to build a strong data set and not extrapolate data
2. Context understanding is key. As mentioned in posts above, crowd sourced projects can often ignore key geographical, social, economic, and other constraints that could reduce your probability for success in the project.

Overall, I do believe crowd-sourcing, like redesigning toilets in India, draw attention to unmet need areas and are a positive way to push for solutions.

Great essay! I didn’t know these details about the Amazon warehouses. I agree with your statement, “The choice to crowd source ideas, knowledge, and implementation from teams around the world is essential for Amazon to stay competitive.” However, I wonder if teams are working in the constraints of Amazon’s current warehouse design & structure. I think the ideas would be more valuable if the teams were asked to start with a blank slate and advise Amazon on changes it needs to make beyond robotic abilities. I also wonder how clear Amazon is to these crowd source participants about their standards for customer service, etc. While automation is extremely beneficial in efficiencies and cost reduction, I worry that some of the potential solutions may lower the customer service standards.

What an amazing essay! While I am one of the only ones who doesn’t like the taste of chocolate (crazy!), I was excited about the number of ways 3D printing could be used in the food industry.

For Hershey’s, I do see 3D printing as a niche opportunity. I was reminded right away of what Dylan’s Candy Bar is doing with 3D printing (source below). Dylan’s has positioned 3D candy as a customized, exclusive product. I think Hershey’s could have a 3D candy station at their worldwide store locations and available as customized orders online. Similar to how Dylan’s operates in their store locations, there could be a Hershey’s 3D printer station. This experiential product will draw customers in and generate buzz about the product. Hershey’s could charge a higher price for customized 3D chocolate, because customers will have a higher value proposition for this customized order.

Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-3d-printer-gummy-candy-dylans-story.html

I really enjoyed your commentary on the rapidly changing healthcare industry. I think it’s interesting to see that the FDA has a Digital Health Action Plan now, which outlines guidelines and collaboration opportunities for manufacturers.

As a previous employee of a for-profit pharma manufacturer, I think there are opportunities to collaborate with the agency and operate with speed on implementing machine learning in healthcare solutions. My previous company recently struck a deal with Rimidi, a diabetes healthcare solutions company that currently has a portfolio of tech-smart diabetes products in development. While the patient unmet need has been quantified, the approval timeline could be significantly impacted if the FDA does not approve the data from the clinical trials. To answer your questions about how the agency can be involved with manufacturers of these products, I believe that agency representatives need to be brought in early to the process, and the manufacturer needs to provide a thorough education on the unmet need and potential risks of this project. Unfortunately, I think there is a long way to go before both sides feel comfortable approving these new digital products. My belief is that once there is a critical mass of digital products in the marketplace and a clear pathway for approval, then the process to protect public health through digital means will be accelerated.

Source: http://www.pmlive.com/blogs/digital_intelligence/archive/2017/december/lilly_boosts_its_forthcoming_diabetes_digital_health_offering_1214767