What Ant Financial Tells Us About the Future of Square. Plus, Why The External View Is So Hard in Digital. (61)

This week’s podcast is on Ant Financial vs. Square. And has an introduction to the inside vs. outside view and base rates.

You can listen to this podcast here or at iTunes, Google Podcasts and Himalaya.

Key question: What will drive Square's growth?

Metrics for base rates:

• Sales growth
• Gross profitability (gross profits / assets)
• Operating leverage. Change in operating profits relative to change in sales.
• Operating profit margin
• Earnings growth
• CFROI

Related podcasts and articles:

• How Ant Financial / Ant Group is Revolutionizing Finance (1 of 3) (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 47)
• Ant Financial and the Sustained Innovation Trap of Network Effects (3 of 3) (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 49)

From the Concept Library, concepts for this article are:

• External vs. Internal View
• Regression to the Mean (average / base rates, rate of regression)
• Payment Platforms
• Marketplace Platforms
• Complementary Platforms

From the Company Library, companies for this article are:

• Ant Financial / Group / Alipay
• Square

This is part of Learning Goals: Level 5, with a focus on:

• 19: Basics of Ant Financial / Alipay and Payment Platforms

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I write and speak about digital China and Asia’s latest tech trends.

I also run Jeff’s Asia Tech Class, a podcast and subscription newsletter for investors in China / Asia tech companies.

This content (articles, podcasts, website info) is not investment advice. The information and opinions from me and any guests may be incorrect. The numbers and information may be wrong. The views expressed may no longer be relevant or accurate. Investing is risky. Do your own research.

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