Author Archives: scuttleblurb

[ALTR] Altair Engineering, [ANSS] Ansys

Simulation, CAD, and PLM: Part 1

Posted on by scuttleblurb

Many of the complex objects and structures around you were conceived as virtual objects modeled in computer-aided design (CAD) software.  Those CAD objects may have been converted into millions of small polygons (pre-processing), each one bombarded with advanced calculus to help engineers visualize the polygonal mesh’s response to different simulated physical conditions (post-processing) Source: YouTube: Abaqus CAE: […]

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[Z] Zillow

[Z – Zillow Group] On lead gen and iBuying

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Over the last 5 years, Google has increasingly been crowding out organic results with paid ads and preferencing its own properties in search results, frustrating online businesses that feed under its canopy.  TripAdvisor and Angie’s List used to brag that most of their traffic came from unpaid organic search while competitors with weaker brands were […]

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[ADM.L] Admiral Group

[ADM.L – Admiral Group] Barriers to scale; moats vs. revenue models

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“I have always been attracted to the low cost operator in any business and, when you can find a combination of (i) an extremely large business, (ii) a more or less homogenous product, and (iii) a very large gap in operating costs between the low cost operator and all of the other companies in the […]

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[APPN] Appian, [PEGA] Pega Systems, [SMAR] Smartsheet

[APPN, PEGA, SMAR] No/low code evolution

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There are some smart people who think that our brains are wired to process the world hierarchically[1][2].  For instance, neurons in one part of the visual cortex fire when they detect lines tilted at particular angles, sending those patterns to a “higher” layer where certain other neurons are attuned to the detection of particular letters, […]

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[EFX] Equifax, [EXPN] Experian, [FICO] Fair Isaac, [TRU] TransUnion

FICO and the Consumer Credit Bureaus: Part 2

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From the early 2000s to now, EET have evolved from credit reporting agencies selling indistinguishable datasets to information technology companies offering predictions[1].  Over time, all 3 bureaus have gotten bigger, their delivery mechanisms have changed (from phone calls and paper reports to software), their data sources have expanded – to encompass different kinds of data […]

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[EFX] Equifax, [EXPN] Experian, [FICO] Fair Isaac, [TRU] TransUnion

FICO and the Consumer Credit Bureaus: Part 1

Posted on by scuttleblurb

This circuitous 2-parter is going to open with the consumer credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – EET), switch to FICO, and loop back to the bureaus…apologies in advance for the disorienting structure. Let’s start with Experian, which like many companies formed through motley acquisitions, wasn’t so much created as it was allowed to emerge. […]

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[IT] Gartner

Some thoughts on Gartner

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I sometimes flatter myself by thinking this blog offers interesting insights when in fact I know a key reason that many of you subscribe is to save time: You could spend dozens of hours talking to management and combing through annual reports, proxies, and transcripts, or I can just do it and share what I’ve […]

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[LILA/LILAK] Liberty Latin America

[LILAK – Liberty Latin America] Once more unto the breach

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LILAK, the widow maker.  For many years, a core holding of Generic Value Partners.  This stock has been pitched many times, each new pitch underpinned by sensible-sounding premises that are by now so familiar that their recitation seems almost tiresome: cable moat, Malone, consolidation, forced selling, insider buying, secular growth.  And yet, since it began […]

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