Strategic Foresight - Insights in Business and Technology

 MBA - Lesson -- Ever wondered what’s inside a company’s annual report and how to make sense of it? An annual report is like a company’s yearly “report card” that tells you how they’re doing financially and operationally. It’s a goldmine for investors, but it can seem overwhelming with all the numbers and jargon. Don’t worry—I’ll break it down into a simple 6-step framework inspired by Aswath Damodaran, a renowned finance expert, using layman’s terms and examples to help you understand. Step 1: Confirm the Timing and Currency What to Check: What time period does the report cover? What currency are the numbers in? Why It Matters: You need to know the “when” and “what” of the report to understand the context. Companies usually report their financials for a full year, from January to December 2024. The currency matters because if you’re in the U.S. but the company reports in euros, you’ll need to convert to compare apples to apples. Example: Let’s say you’re looking at Apple...

Superloops Growth Strategy Analysis Superloop employs a balanced growth strategy combining organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, with current emphasis shifting toward organic scaling Growth Strategy Breakdown Strategy Type Components Examples/Evidence Impact Organic Growth (Primary Driver) - Customer acquisition (+62.6% YoY) - Market share gains (nbn up to 6.3%) - Product innovation (FTTP contracts, higher ARPU plans) - Wholesale partnerships (Origin, Leaptel)  - 37,000 net new Consumer customers in HY25 - 30.6% organic revenue growth - $20M marketing investment (FY22-FY23)  Accounts for ~70% of recent growth Inorganic Growth (Strategic Supplement) - Targeted acquisitions (Exetel, Uecomm) - Uecomm acquisition adds 2,000km fibre - Origin migration: 130k customers - Exetel synergies ($5M+/year)  Accelerates infrastructure/customer base growt...

Telstra's Dual Strategy: Investor Lens Telstra's first half FY25 results have delivered a strategic surprise that signals management's growing confidence in the company's financial strength. With a clean 6% increase in underlying earnings, Telstra has not only raised its dividend as expected but also announced a significant share buyback program. This dual approach to shareholder returns marks a new chapter for a telecommunications giant that has dramatically transformed recently. Segment Performance: Mobile Leads with World-Class Margins   Mobile dominance continues:  The Mobile division delivered 4% earnings growth, exceeding analyst expectations despite only four months of price increases and disruption from the 3G network shutdown. Why it matters:  With Mobile (>40% market share) accounting for over 60% of total EBITDA and maintaining an extraordinary 47% margin (among the highest globally), this segment remains Telstra's crown jewel. The division's abi...

  Cloud-Native in 2025: A Comprehensive Overview of Trends, Opportunities, and Challenges Introduction As we approach 2025, cloud-native architecture has evolved from a cutting-edge approach to a mainstream strategy for enterprise digital transformation. This blog post explores the key trends, strategic importance, benefits, challenges, and future trajectory of cloud-native technologies. Key Trends Shaping Cloud-Native Ecosystem 1. Cost Optimization: FinOps Takes Center Stage Cloud-native architectures are becoming increasingly complex, making cost management crucial. The emergence of FinOps (Financial Operations) is transforming how organizations approach cloud spending. Key developments include: Tools like OpenCost providing granular visibility into Kubernetes spend Projects such as OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and OpenSearch enabling precise resource consumption tracking Organizations focusing on reducing overall spend without compromising performance 2. Developer Produ...

The Future of Software is New SaaS - powered by Services, AI Agents, Sharing This POV is available for download below.

First, what I wrote about ABB's FY23 Results last year.     Update on ABB's Business  ABB's Acquisition Spree - Ongoing Tussle and Drivers Behind it.  My other post on NBN and its Economics

Australia Telecom Industry in Transition - From Four Pillar to Six Pillar Model  Australia Telecom Industry - Fixed Services  Australia Telecom Industry - Fixed Internet Ranking   Australia Telecom Industry - Mobile Services  Australia Telecom Industry - Mobile Internet Ranking   My previous post on the Global Telecom Industry Evolution to date.

 Generative AI - Where is The Growth?  The current state of the Gen AI industry shows that big tech companies, especially hyper scalers, dominate the scene. They are the primary drivers of innovation and growth, focused on achieving long-term sustainability by shifting their focus from selling computing to selling generic and specialised model services with higher margins.  This has led to increased interest from venture capitalists, resulting in numerous startups focused on selling model-based services and integrating with existing apps and services. The low barriers to entry make it easy for startups to grow in the short term, but sustainability is challenging without a unique proposition. Many startups will likely fail, with some being acquired by larger companies.  Software providers such as Salesforce, Oracle, and Workday are also integrating AI services, either by building or purchasing specialised services to defend and survive the industry changes. Future of ...

Palo Alto Networks - Leader in Cyber Security   Key Indicators  Market Cap – 73.07 Bn EV – 72.95 Bn Debt - $2.26Bn P/B – 41.79 (Goodwill from M&A)  P/E (Trailing) – 184.99 (Growth)  P/E (Forward) – 44.44 (Growth) Economic Moat: Wide (product, innovative)    Palo Alto Network provides network security solutions. The company's solution offerings spread across network security, cloud-native application protection, security operations, and endpoint security and are available across multiple key industries. Cybersecurity has 5 stage lifecycle - Identify, Protect, Detect, Recover and Restore. This cyclical process is essential for protecting an organisation from cyber threats. It helps to ensure that corporations are constantly prepared and able to respond to evolving threats. Dominating Growth Strategy Since Nikesh Joined as CEO in 2018, Palo Alto Networks has grown with a CAGR of 24.9% with market cap. surging by $48Bn to $73.1Bn. This growth is spurre...

 IBM a Tech Giant - How it Lost its Way Key Indicators  Market Cap – $129.39Bn EV – $173.4Bn Debt - $57.5Bn, Cash - $17.9Bn  P/B – 8.57  P/E (Trailing) – 60.44 (Growth)  P/E (Forward) – 14.3 (Div. Centric,  No Growth) Economic Moat: Narrow (under threat)   Where is the Growth How it Lost its Way IBM a more than 100-year-old company that used to be a trendsetter in the technology space has become a laggard and is struggling to get its Mojo back. It is facing headwinds, and it is not clear how it will modernise its business. Today, IBM has 3 business segments, Infrastructure, Software and Consulting, and all of them are declining YoY. There are multiple reasons why IBM's revenues are declining except for the minor surge in 2021, and 2022. Let's look at the key reasons. Unlike its peer group players like Salesforce and ServiceNow which specialises in providing packaged application software in the Cloud (SaaS), IBM has no application software to offer...

 What is Singularity? A singularity is a theoretical condition that could arrive in the near future when a synthesis of several powerful new technologies will radically change the realities in which we find ourselves in an unpredictable manner.  The term "singularity" was first used in the context of technology by mathematician and computer scientist John von Neumann in the 1950s. However, it was popularised by futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil in his 1999 book "The Age of Spiritual Machines."  In 2005 Ray Kurzweil further extended this concept and wrote in his book titled: "The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology".  In his book, Ray Kurzweil defines the "singularity" as "a point in the future when technological progress becomes so rapid and profound, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilisation ." He believes that the singularity will be triggered by the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI)...