William S.

  • Alumni

Activity Feed

On December 14, 2015, William S. commented on Thor Urbana Capital: brick and mortar in the online era :

Sebastian – very well written and informative post about the old and new business models for real estate development in Mexico. I wonder how sustainable the operations model is in the long term if there are only a few available real estate spots in the densest cities for TUC to develop? If I were in the market and well capitalized, I would simply buy an attractive spot and wait for TUC to come and offer me a ridiculously high price for the property because I know they are limited in the types of properties they are willing to develop… Also, as Steve mentions above, it looks like there are a few steps in the model that they have chosen to continue to outsource to ensure they get the highest quality product. I wonder if those players will steal their business model and start to vertically integrate themselves and push out TUC? Sounds like they have a great niche right now, but as time moves on I expect the returns will normalize and competition will become fierce.

Really interesting business model – and as a user I appreciate its simplicity and ease of use, same as you do, Alex. What is more amazing to me is that I never would have imagined such a disorganized system was capable of creating such a user-friendly interface. It is cool to see how the characteristics of the operations and business model are the same, while the structure of the two are quite different (i.e. User interface/business model has to be very easy to navigate and consistent, while the operational model is quite complex and constantly changing and evolving). Thanks for educating me on a service I use quite often!

Really interesting to see how the addition of tourism has been more of an boon than a boost to the community here. The tradition is obviously important to the community and heritage of the society, but the aging population of the laborers involved in the Daifune seems to indicate that the younger generation has not learned and appreciated the tradition. I wonder if in the future, when the older generation is unable to entertain tourists with the Daifune due to the physical demands, if the younger generation will step up and fill in the gap, or if the tradition will languish and die? I hope that they will be able to continue to entice locals and tourists alike to appreciate the tradition and will be able to turn it into a profitable experience for all.