The opening day of the Localogy 20/20 virtual conference this week looked at how the COVID crisis is accelerating the disruption of local commercial cityscapes and brick and mortar retail. And it offered visions for how it can be reshaped.
And that was just the beginning. We learned how radio is being transformed into a new audio ecosystem. We got a clear explanation of why 5G is such a transformational technological advance. And heard from a top VC what it takes to attract investor interest in this environment.
Other speakers shared insights into the product development process, how SMBs process the term “CRM”, and painted a picture of the evolving food delivery ecosystem.
Day One Roundup
Localogy’s analyst team joined forces to provide same day recaps and analysis of each session during the course of Day 1. Here is a quick taste of the coverage with links to the full posts on each session.
Cities Undergoing Transformation
Nathan Elliott, Frontrunner Technologies
Jack Illes, Hollywood Redevelopment Group
Genevieve Morrill, West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
The three panelists on our first session, Nathan Elliot, Jack Iles, and Genevieve Morrel, all spend their days imagining how to keep cities fresh and vibrant. All three agreed that, however painful, the current crisis presents opportunities.
“The world stopped, it paused,” Nathan said. “And it forced us to look at the future.” Similar to how a forest fire leads to new growth (maybe not the best metaphor this week), Nathan said the pandemic has a similar impact on cities. Pain, followed by renewal…. Continue reading
How Will Radio Continue to Change
Eric Hadley, iHeartMedia
iHeart’s Eric Hadley introduced us to the concept of “share of ear.” Today at Localogy 20/20 he revisited that principle and expanded on several other concepts that orbit the business opportunities for audio content.
For those unfamiliar with the share-of-ear construct, the idea is that our visual stimulus is overcrowded… but there’s still lots of headroom to get information audibly with the growth in all-day hearables like airpods. This coincides with the explosion in audio content being created, such as podcasts…. Continue reading
The Top Line Impact of 5G Rollouts
Jake Moskowitz, Ericsson Emodo Institute
5G has become quite a buzzword and probably overused in a lot of marketing. But it’s a legitimate technology that will bring us much more than just faster networks. Yes, 5G will be up to 100 times faster than 4G in some cases, but its advantages are more about what those higher speeds can accomplish in practical terms.
For example, as we’ve examined, 5G’s low range, high-frequency signal requires base stations that are hundreds of meters apart, versus the miles that separate 4G towers. That plus the technology’s precision means triangulating device location down to the millimeter, which has lots of local commerce implications…. Continue reading
eTail Triggers Retail Transformation
Naveen Jaggi, JLL
Ken Madsen, Mad Creative Production
The U.S. isn’t just “over-retailed.” It’s worse that than. It’s “under demolished.” This observation drives to the heart of the perfect storm the retail world now faces. Many of the problems retail faces predate the pandemic. In particular, the acute oversupply of retail space was a big issue pre-COVID. As it has with so many other things, COVID has ripped the bandages off of retail’s wounds and exposed them to the elements… Continue reading
Shifting Innovation Hubs
Micheal Yang, Omers Ventures
Investor Michael Yang, managing partner at OMERS Ventures, and I talked about a wide range of issues, including prop-tech, insurance, health care, and enterprise SaaS. Early in our discussion, we discussed how Covid-19 has changed what a “hub” means. Michael also talked at length about the notion of native virtual companies. He noted that one of his portfolio companies, whose CEO is located here in the Bay Area, is completely virtual. Increasingly, though sales and engineering are considered remote options. The office in Michael’s mind is becoming a “really expensive conference room, hotel, and social convening [space]”…. Continue reading
Eating Out Meets Curbside Delivery Meets Delivery
Jon Sewell, Chomp
Peter Curzon, YELP
Carl Orsbourn, Deliver the Dish
Restauranteurs face a big question. Can they move at the pace of change that is required of them today? Carl suggests the independent restaurants may not be able to adapt quickly enough to the changes. Peter chimed in with data showing that 26,000 restaurants have closed, with about 60% of these being permanent closures. Peter talked about the impact of summer and outdoor dining and how that has helped some businesses survive. But that with winter coming, all restaurants are going to have to turn back to pick-up and delivery as their means of survival… Continue reading
CRM – Now a Must Have, Must Use Solution
Adi Engel, vCita
George Bilbrey, SignPost
Paul Donlan, Wix
We launched the session by trying to understand if “CRM for small businesses” really means anything to the business owner. Adi talked about it from the perspective of a 360-degree view of their business with particular attention to payments. She believes the role of software is to enable small businesses to do more with their limited time…Continue reading
The Golden Ticket: Customer Intent
Product Management 2020
Ryan Cantor, Thryv
One of Ryan’s key points is that Thryv continues to have a legacy business and two sides of the business that are on the same directional vector but the metrics that matter to those two sides are very different.
Ryan talks a lot about the notion of product-market fit and retention and he acknowledged that in the early days, Thryv made some mistakes when they launched their initial software. Ryan said something profound. “What you say to make a sale isn’t what you say to keep a sale.” In my mind, that belongs in the local, SaaS hall of fame. He spoke at length about the importance of churn and how Thryv has shifted its thinking considerably from sales acquisition to retention and usage… Continue reading
