Carbon Trading, Now On Blockchain

Cryptocurrency meets carbon trading. That’s the pitch from Nori, a new Seattle-based startup, that just raised $4 million in funding from cryptocurrency focused investors including Placeholder, North Island Ventures, Tenacious Ventures, and a big, privately held agriculture multinational that the company declined to disclose. Founded by Paul Gambill, a former Deloitte Technology employee who left…

How to Make an Ecommerce Career Work for You

If you’re ready for a career change and have ever thought about opening your own business, now may be the perfect time to do so. Ecommerce has experienced substantial growth over the last four years and is expected to nearly double by 2021. While sites such as Amazon, Wayfair, and Zulily dominate the market, small…

Alibaba Considering Blockchain Use in Complex Supply Chain

Chinese ecommerce conglomerate, Alibaba Group, is planning to use blockchain tech in its supply chain, the company’s top executive told a Chinese daily.  According to Alibaba Liu Song, vice president of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has said in an interview that the company is considering blockchain tech implementation for cross-border supply chains. Song’s remarks…

Sears Inching Closer to Bankruptcy

Sears Holdings is readying a bankruptcy filing that could come as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing people familiar with the situation. The Journal reported that the company has hired M-III Partners to help with the bankruptcy proceedings. M-III has been working with Sears for more than two years,…

How is Best Buy Thriving in the Age of Amazon

In Best Buy’s perfect world, all 380 of its new “in-home advisors” would park their clean, white Priuses in front of a customer’s house rather than in the driveway, where the car could block others. They would quickly appraise the neighborhood, survey the landscaping, and see if a security system is in place. After knocking…

Microsoft and Walmart Team Up to Take On Amazon

Walmart has plenty of competition, but you could argue that its only real rival is Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). And the two massive retailers are engaged in a technological arms race to make shopping as easy and convenient as possible for customers. That’s an area where the e-commerce leader has had an edge. Because Amazon started as…

How Amazon Rattles Other Companies

Amazon’s ambitions have few limits, and the mere specter of its entry into a particular industry can shape markets. When the company has appeared interested in expanding into a new business, it has spooked investors in potential competitors, leading to large sell-offs. The most recent example: Amazon, along with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway, announced…

The Genius of Jeff Bezos

Intelligent fanatics hit targets that no one else sees. Jeff Bezos was able to see differently than nearly everybody else in the early 2000’s, and continues today, largely in part to his fanatical preparation. In Jeff Bezos’ biography The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, childhood friend Joshua Weinstein recalled, “He was…

Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert’s Thoughts on Strategy & Profitability

Following our year-end financial results announcement this morning, I wanted to reflect on the progress we made over the past year and emphasize key elements of our strategy going forward. As many of you know, 2016 proved to be another challenging year for most “bricks and mortar” retailers. Our company was not immune to these…

The Fervent Loyalty of a Costco Customer

“The greatest companies in lousy industries share certain characteristics. They are low cost operators and penny pinchers in the executive suite. They avoid going into debt. They reject the corporate caste system that creates white-collar Brahmins and blue-collar untouchables. Their workers are well paid and have a stake in the companies’ future. They find niches,…