Time magazine has a nice profile this week on Warren Buffett:
Genes, luck and birthplace may have helped make Buffett the world's third richest man. But in the past year, his good fortune has also turned him into one of America's most unexpected radicals.
Buffett has had an aw-shucks attitude towards technology – or it would seem. Excerpts from my book:
“Can any industry hide from technology-driven disruption? Some would argue the legendary investor Warren Buffett has done well by staying
away from investing in tech companies (or those susceptible to technology-driven turmoil). In his words, “In business, I look for economic
castles protected by unbreachable ‘moats.”
Buffett prefers to stick with investments in companies like Coca- Cola because, as he says, it is “very easy for me to come to a conclusion
as to what it will look like economically in five or 10 years, and it’s not easy for me to come to a conclusion about Apple (or other tech company).” And he says that in spite of his friendship and board counsel from Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft.
Look at Coca-Cola, though, as it rolls out its Freestyle vending machines. “The dispensers each contain 30 cartridges of flavorings that mix up 100 different drink combinations. The cartridges are tagged with
radio frequency ID chips, and each dispenser contains an RFID reader.”7
Or Burlington Northern Santa Fe, another of Buffett’s investments, which has used technology to lead the rail road industry, including “[a warning system that] uses satellites to detect speed-limit violations,
improperly aligned switches, and missed signals. If a conductor doesn’t respond appropriately, the system is supposed to stop the train automatically.”
Another example is Procter & Gamble, which is pioneering new forms of social media marketing. It is also extending its Tide franchise into the fragmented dry-cleaning business with stores that use email promotions, provide 24x7 secure locker access, “greener” cleaning options, and other technology innovations. The accomplishments of its CIO, Filippo Passerini, are described further in Chapter 10.
Next there is GEICO, one of Buffett’s earliest and most lucrative investments. GEICO disrupted traditional car insurance by selling via mail rather than agents. Today, it is a technology marvel with elaborate call centers; many of its customers manage their GEICO interactions mostly by web or mobile device and its claim adjusters are equipped with Toshiba Toughbooks and digital cameras. In a likely Buffett-inspired knock on our technology-obsessed lives, GEICO is not, however, afraid to run commercials that show people doing dumb things with their smartphones!”
Photo Credit: Time
Productive day, watched and awesome video on public adjuster marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6CGBvyHwTw and also read through just about every page of this site
Posted by: Conyvie | August 08, 2018 at 10:32 AM