Competitive Positioning Strategies

The Mobile Telco Model Is Broken....And That Might Not Be a Bad Thing I had a good conversation with a senior Telco CEO yesterday. We both agreed: the mobile telecom model isn’t just under pressure... it’s broken. And not recently. It’s been structurally broken for over 15 years. Revenues? Growing at 2% a year globally, below inflation. ROIC? Still under the cost of capital for most operators. NPS? Telcos hover around 20–30 while tech companies push 60+. Opex? In many markets, it eats up 80% of revenue. And price erosion? We’ve normalized losing 30–40% of GB value per year. And what are we still selling? Buckets of data. Now, when something is broken, you need to go to foundational aspects of our business. First, telcos must become digital-first. Customers don’t compare you to other telcos, they compare you to Uber, Amazon, and Apple. That’s the bar. If it takes 12 clicks to activate a line or change a plan, you’ve already lost. Second, you need deep personalization at scale. Spotify knows your mood. Telcos still offer “Youth Plan 3.0.” Microsegments aren’t enough. You need individual-level context. Every offer, touchpoint, and upsell should feel tailor-made. Third, get out of the legacy trap. The OSS/BSS model is dead. Nobody has three years to rebuild a CRM or billing engine. Those projects fail. The only path is cloud-native, agile execution, rapid deployment, fail-fast loops, and zero patience for waterfall digital transformation roadmaps. Amazon Changes 2.5 million prices every day and I can assure you they don't have a group of consultants running a 3 year transformation project to make it happen. Fourth, adopt customer obsession as a core value, not a slide. Amazon isn’t customer-centric because it says so; it’s because the product, support, and incentives are aligned with the user every step of the way. Telcos need to unlearn product-first thinking. Finally, stop thinking of your network as a commodity. It’s not a GB plan. It’s a programmable platform. One that can offer privacy, identity, location, QoS, and trust. If you can expose that as a service, you stop being a utility and start being essential infrastructure again. The model is broken. But that might be the best thing that’s happened to this industry in years.

€800 billion a year. That's the price tag Mario Draghi says Europe must meet to stay competitive with the US and China. As an investor and sustainability entrepreneur, reading the Future of European Competitiveness report was eye-opening. It's clear that Europe has to close the innovation gap and invest boldly in clean energy and digitalisation, but this is only part of the challenge. Draghi emphasises that radical change is necessary to prevent the EU from becoming less competitive on the global stage. Here are a few key points from the report that resonate with me, both positively and with concerns: 👉🏻Scaling EU Companies: Draghi highlights that Europe is failing to scale its companies, which limits our global competitiveness. We have incredible innovation happening here, but the lack of support to take these companies to the next level is a major issue. 👉🏻Investment in R&D: The report points to underinvestment in research and development. If we want to remain at the forefront of sectors like clean tech and mobility, we need much more capital flowing into R&D, especially in emerging technologies like AI and renewables. 👉🏻Venture Capital: Draghi's report underscores the urgent need for more venture capital across Europe, a core message I strongly support. We need greater acceptance of venture capital as an asset class, especially in Germany, where the market remains risk-averse. This lack of funding pushes our most innovative companies to scale up elsewhere, particularly in the US. Europe needs to step up to provide the environment needed for startups to thrive and grow right here at home. 👉🏻Common Debt: The idea of joint EU borrowing for green and digital projects is essential to remain competitive, especially in areas like clean tech and mobility. This is a necessary step to unleash the full potential of the sector. 👉🏻The China Challenge: Europe's reliance on China, particularly in clean tech, needs to be rethought. I've seen firsthand how fierce the competition is in the electric vehicle space. While Draghi stresses reducing dependencies, I do think we must be cautious of the economic disruptions a rapid decoupling could cause. 👉🏻Streamlining Policy: Entrepreneurs are struggling with the slow pace of European decision-making, especially in green tech. We risk losing our competitive edge if we don't accelerate policy change. Europe has an incredible opportunity, but it requires bold action. Do you think Europe is ready to rise to the challenge, or will bureaucracy stand in the way? Let's discuss in the comments... #Draghi #Innovation #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #VentureCapital #Investment

I constantly get recruiter reachouts from big tech companies and top AI startups- even when I’m not actively job hunting or listed as “Open to Work.” That’s because over the years, I’ve consciously put in the effort to build a clear and consistent presence on LinkedIn- one that reflects what I do, what I care about, and the kind of work I want to be known for. And the best part? It’s something anyone can do- with the right strategy and a bit of consistency. If you’re tired of applying to dozens of jobs with no reply, here are 5 powerful LinkedIn upgrades that will make recruiters come to you: 1. Quietly activate “Open to Work” Even if you’re not searching, turning this on boosts your visibility in recruiter filters. → Turn it on under your profile → “Open to” → “Finding a new job” → Choose “Recruiters only” visibility → Specify target titles and locations clearly (e.g., “Machine Learning Engineer – Computer Vision, Remote”) Why it works: Recruiters rely on this filter to find passive yet qualified candidates. 2. Treat your headline like SEO + your elevator pitch Your headline is key real estate- use it to clearly communicate role, expertise, and value. Weak example: “Software Developer at XYZ Company” → Generic and not searchable. Strong example: “ML Engineer | Computer Vision for Autonomous Systems | PyTorch, TensorRT Specialist” → Role: ML Engineer → Niche: computer vision in autonomous systems → Tools: PyTorch, TensorRT This structure reflects best practices from experts who recommend combining role, specialization, technical skills, and context to stand out. 3. Upgrade your visuals to build trust → Use a crisp headshot: natural light, simple background, friendly expression → Add a banner that reinforces your brand: you working, speaking, or a tagline with tools/logos Why it works: Clean visuals increase profile views and instantly project credibility. 4. Rewrite your “About” section as a human story Skip the bullet list, tell a narrative in three parts: → Intro: “I’m an ML engineer specializing in computer vision models for autonomous systems.” → Expertise: “I build end‑to‑end pipelines using PyTorch and TensorRT, optimizing real‑time inference for edge deployment.” → Motivation: “I’m passionate about enabling safer autonomy through efficient vision AI, let’s connect if you’re building in that space.” Why it works: Authentic storytelling creates memorability and emotional resonance . 5. Be the advocate for your work Make your profile act like a portfolio, not just a resume. → Under each role, add 2–4 bullet points with measurable outcomes and tools (e.g., “Reduced inference latency by 35% using INT8 quantization in TensorRT”) → In the Featured section, highlight demos, whitepapers, GitHub repos, or tech talks Give yourself five intentional profile upgrades this week. Then sit back and watch recruiters start reaching you, even in today’s competitive market.

At a time when geopolitical uncertainties are on the rise, finding a solution to Europe’s productivity gap has never been more crucial. AI provides a unique opportunity for Europe to reinvent its economy and significantly boost its competitiveness. European firms are making progress but need to further leverage cloud, modernize data architecture, and focus on skilling to scale AI faster and unleash its full potential.  A coordinated industrial strategy, including shared AI infrastructure and investments will also avoid dispersion of initiatives and help businesses across all European countries access powerful computing, R&D, and training. Europe has all it needs to take advantage of the AI revolution. Now is the time to execute on it.  Accenture’s just launched report, 'Europe's AI Reckoning: Reinventing Industries for a New Era’, highlights three key actions your company must take to seize the opportunity: 1. Develop a ‘cognitive digital brain’: an AI powered central nervous system for enterprise decision-making and continuous learning. 2. Secure the digital core: reduce the vulnerabilities, redundancy and technical debt that rise with continuous technological transformation'. 3. Strategically decouple respond to sovereignty risks via three-layered decoupling approach: architectural, jurisdictional, supply chain.  We must turn principles into action and position Europe as a global leader in AI. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/da6_Dumx #AI #Europe #DigitalSovereignty #Innovation #EuropeanCompetitiveness

Europe’s economic potential is being held back by fragmented capital markets, regulatory divergence, and limited cross-border scale. Despite the EU’s vast pool of private savings, we continue to underinvest in innovation, infrastructure, defence, and strategic sectors. To close the gap between European ambitions and European performance, the EU must act with urgency to integrate its capital markets: not as an abstract goal, but as a foundational pillar of Europe’s future competitiveness. A true Savings and Investments Union requires more than incremental change. It demands a single rulebook, central supervision, an operationally integrated post-trade environment, and a stronger ecosystem for equity investment. Only a unified, liquid, and transparent market can deliver the capital efficiency needed to support European innovation, industrial policy, and strategic autonomy in a rapidly evolving global economy. Euronext welcomes the European Commission’s consultation as a timely opportunity to break through outdated assumptions and reframe the debate. With our unique federal model and deep local roots across seven markets, we are ready to support bold, systemic reform. Now is the time for Europe to match its capital with its ambition and unlock the full potential of its economic union. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e99Vxkdm

📰 Excluding non-EU companies is not the right path for our tech development My latest for EUobserver 🌍 In a world facing bleak demographic projections, economic growth will hinge on productivity gains, themselves increasingly dependent on technological progress. This is why technology is at the heart of geopolitical competition. 🚨But be careful: 1️⃣There may be no such thing as full dominance in technology. The current competition between🇺🇸and🇨🇳shows this. While the US leads in semiconductors, cloud computing, and AI, China is a global leader in solar panels, EVs, lithium batteries, drones, and high-speed rail. 2️⃣Being at the forefront of innovation may not be enough. What truly matters is having a productive ecosystem capable of adopting those innovations and translating them into tangible productivity gains. 🇪🇺 The EU fears losing ground in the global tech race. 2️⃣strategic pitfalls should be avoided: 1️⃣ Excluding non-European companies solely on the basis of origin → this would only lead to technological isolation and prevent European firms from accessing leading-edge technologies, ultimately undermining competitiveness 2️⃣ Replicating foreign models → diverting resources instead of building on🇪🇺own competitive advantages 🔎 To illustrate these points, I look at two key technologies: cloud computing and AI. ☁️ Cloud computing A few non-EU firms dominate the🇪🇺market, and there might be a temptation to introduce “Buy European” clauses. This would be fundamentally misguided. ✔️ As I argue in my latest policy paper for the Center for the Governance of Change, the EU already has the tools to ensure competitive cloud markets. The priority should be a three-pillar response: 🔹 Stronger competition law enforcement 🔹 Closing regulatory gaps through oversight of software licensing and interoperability 🔹 Strategic public procurement that supports European providers without excluding non-EU ones 🤖 AI The US dominates virtually every segment of the AI value chain. In response, the EU launched the AI Continent Action Plan. While promising in some areas, the push for Gigafactories risks massive investment with little impact given the scale mismatch with US firms. ➡️For instance, Meta alone will surpass 1.3 million GPUs by end-2025, while Europe’s five planned Gigafactories would jointly deliver around 500,000 chips only by 2028. ✔️ Rather than replicating brute-force strategies, Europe should pursue its own model — rooted in competitive but regulated markets, strategic demand power, smart specialisation, and trustworthy innovation. 📌 What Europe needs is a coherent approach grounded in four principles: 1️⃣ Fully enforce competition law 2️⃣ Build on Europe’s comparative strengths 3️⃣ Use trade defence instruments if necessary, but ❌ never exclude companies solely for being non-EU 4️⃣ Ensure that European firms can adopt and benefit from emerging technologies Link: https://lnkd.in/dxn6MbNN

We broke into a saturated market (and booked 20+ meetings in a month) Here's how you can do it too👇 You may think Cold Email can’t work when: - The market is mature - Buyers already have a vendor - You’re the new player with zero awareness   We faced this issue with the Dutch IT resale market. It is a mature market. Most companies already have a trusted partner for disposing of old equipment. On paper we had zero brand awareness, low chance to break through. But here’s what happened when we ran a localized campaign 👇 📈 Open rate: 74% 📈 Consistent reply rate: >2% across industries 📈 20+ qualified meetings booked 📈 Multiple conversations started in accounts with entrenched vendors   Here's what we did and you can replicate: 1️⃣ Localization done right Don't translate, work on matching tone to context, for example: Email 1: “Hallo” → casual, friendly Email 2: “Dag” → polite, neutral Email 3–4: “Beste” → formal, respectful   2️⃣ Credibility in one line Instead of vague claims, use hard proof. For example “We paid €42,000 for equipment another vendor valued at €17,000.”   3️⃣ Consistency over one-hits Test, iterate and apply the same playbook across industries.   Don't let saturated markets scare you away! If you have a credible offer + you know how to localize + a repeatable process You can win conversations even in locked-up markets, and get 20+ meetings per month or more. Which part feels hardest for you to get right in your outbound: 1. localization, 2. pinning down the offer 3. or consistent processes? #outbound #coldemail #b2bmarketing #localization 

If you’ve done Dubai you’ve definitely seen - if not visited - an Americana restaurant without realising it. Think KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s, Krispy Kreme, Baskin Robbins and more - all operated across the Middle East and North Africa by Americana Restaurants, the region’s biggest food service companies. The scale is huge. Americana runs over 2,600 restaurants in 12 countries, serving millions every week. In 2024, despite adding more than 200 new outlets, profits fell 39% to $159million as consumer boycotts of US brands spread in response to the Gaza conflict. That’s when Americana pivoted. Rather than cut jobs, they drove cost efficiencies, stayed debt-free, and doubled down on regional expansion. First-half 2025 results show: revenues up 15.6% year-on-year to $1.2billion, LFL up 12.4%, EBITDA up 17.9%, and FCF up 151%. But Americana is also shifting strategically. Chair Mohamed Alabbar is now pursuing local fast-food brands to reduce reliance on Western franchises, aiming to tap into a $33billion dining market growing at ~9% annually. And it’s not just Americana. Big US names are under pressure too. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Starbucks and McDonald’s have seen regional sales dented by anti-US sentiment. In some markets Coke sales are down over 20%, while historic local sodas like Egypt’s Spiro Spathis have seen sales surge a whopping 300%. A powerful reminder of the importance of developing and developed markets alike. Growth will keep coming from emerging economies, but only if brand strategies fit local sentiment, politics, and culture. Americana’s story is a live case study of how to adapt fast, build resilience, win in complex markets, in a complex world. #RegionalGrowth #ConsumerTrends #BrandStrategy #FoodIndustry #MiddleEast #ConsumerProducts #Luxury #Retail #Americana #QSR FYI: Helle Valentin - Lula Mohanty

One of the questions I got on stage at IAA MOBILITY last week really stuck with me.
It was part of the panel “Future-Proof Mobility: Scaling What’s Next.” The question was, “you have helped built major global brands like Canyon, Specialized and many others – how do you build a young brand today so that it stands out in this booming but also very saturated market?” And my answer was that I'm calling the apporach “Edge & Engine” __01 Edge, because in a saturated market, you don’t out-shout, you out-sharpen. Pick one under-served micro-segment and be insanely specific. Build a hero product around 2-3 non-negotiables and give it a distinct design language you can spot from 30 meters away or get the different concept in 2 seconds. ––> Be famous for one thing first. __02 Engine, because you want to turn that hero product into a platform. You want to build an OS, an operating system via connectivity, OTA features, service bundles, theft/insurance, financing etc. >> Hardware gives you contribution margin, services give you recurrence. >> Build community equity (beta rider club, referrals, ambassadors) so earned > paid. >> Go DTC plus surgical retail with just a few flagship touchpoints and fast service SLAs. >> And from day one: stay disciplined on unit economics (LTV/CAC > vanity growth). << Hardware sells once. Your OS renews every month.>> Spoiler, we are not near perfect in every aspect of this approach. But this is my idea of what I believe is the right way to go. How would you approach it? #micromobility #urbanmobility #branding #business #inspiration #transformation #future Canyon Bicycles GmbH Specialized Bicycle Components Internetstores

When you walk into a restaurant in 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗿𝘂 vs one in  𝗩𝗶𝗷𝗮𝘆𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗱𝗮, what feels the same … and what doesn’t … tells you everything. Let me explain. Every city has its own flavour code. 𝗩𝗶𝗷𝗮𝘆𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗱𝗮, diners want ingredient-level transparency and a strong sense of local authenticity... if it’s on the plate, they want to know where it came from. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗿𝘂, on the other hand, leans into experience ... craftsmanship, storytelling, and that ‘something extra’ that elevates dining into discovery. So before launching in any new market, we invite guests into flavour labs - immersive tasting sessions where locals co-create the menu with our chefs. We install real-time feedback loops, bring in regional connoisseurs, and fine-tune both our 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴  (which reflect our brand DNA) that define the brand and 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 (crafted to suit local palates) that resonate with the city. Then come what we call 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 - the bridge between comfort and curiosity. A very important element that binds the menu together. They help diners start with something familiar, then gently nudge them toward the new. This triad - 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 forms the backbone of a scalable yet hyper-localised restaurant strategy. That balance between global consistency and local intimacy is what builds true customer loyalty because the secret to scaling restaurants across diverse markets isn’t just great food but listening deeply enough to know what people hunger for beyond the menu. Our obsession with decoding customer behaviour locally ensures we hit the mark and stay globally consistent but locally relevant. While our signature dishes define the brand’s identity and I love them, it’s the local heroes and connector dishes that reveal the true character of each market. From 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗿𝘂 to 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻, these dishes often surprise me , teaching us more about our guests than any data ever could. They show how taste, culture, and expectation vary across regions, and how far diners are willing to travel with us on a culinary journey. Observing these nuances across continents not only deepens our understanding of customers but also shapes how we scale globally without losing the soul of the brand.