Khumbulani B

Lover of things!

I love Bulawayo ❤
I love Highlanders FC ❤

Business|Tech|Science|Nature

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@Shumblex @matigary I disagree that it's misplaced, he just does what he knows best. He needs help from an enterprising mind that does best at what they do. It's important to have enterprising gvt departments that tap into that talent. On it's own, it has no direction but quality.

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@matigary It's not him alone, if you look at most PHD holders, they are indeed academic. It is for entrepreneurs to take up their ideas and implement. Academics are risk averse, entrepreneurs thrive on risk. It just takes one smart entrepreneur to convert his mind into practice.

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@KMutisi @edmnangagwa Well said by HE!

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

Happy birthday
@KingJayZim 🎂 🥳 🎉 Cheers to many more Happy returns 🍻

[Tinashe Mukogo @tmukogo]

Nike has lost more than $220 billion in value over the past five years and is now being removed from the prestigious S&P 100 index because a data-driven strategy backfired spectacularly.

Before the crash, Nike's focus was on selling through wholesalers like Foot Locker. That meant giving up 40-50% of margin, with limited data on who was actually buying its shoes.

The numbers pointed to a clear opportunity for growth: build up the Direct-to-Consumer business, selling to end customers via Nike's digital platform and in Nike-owned stores.

Nike then aggressively pulled back from wholesalers, a shift so drastic that it caused Foot Locker's stock to fall 35% in a matter of days in 2022.

This pivot was bold, but supported by data at the time. In 2021, sales to Wholesale Customers grew a healthy 12%. But sales through Nike Direct were up 32%.

Profitability looked favourable too, since Nike Direct sales meant no margin was shared with wholesalers.

In June 2022, CEO John Donahoe declared: "our strategy is working."

In reality, Nike's strategy wasn't working. What looked like success was Nike riding the COVID e-commerce boom.

Meanwhile, the shelf space Nike vacated at partners like Foot Locker allowed brands such as Hoka, On Running, Brooks, and New Balance to capture Nike's core running and lifestyle market.

Where Nike once held a 75% share, it dropped to 60%, a fall it has yet to recover from.

When the COVID e-commerce boom ended, digital sales stalled, revenue growth softened, and the stock price crash accelerated.

By 2024, Donahoe was replaced by Nike veteran Elliott Hill, who has since shifted the company back toward wholesale.

The lesson

Data-driven decisions are best practice. But it's just as important to understand the business and the wider context, something data doesn't neatly capture.

In 2021, e-commerce was booming for every retailer, not just Nike. So when Nike Direct grew 32%, driven by its digital sales, that was not evidence that Nike had made the right long-term move, but rather that Nike was benefiting from a favourable wave, and the risk of that wave reversing should have received more attention.

The other key insight is second-order effects, the ripple consequences that follow a decision's obvious first result.

For Nike, the first-order effect was clear: cut out wholesalers, get more data and higher margins.

The second-order effect was leaving shelf space for competitors and damaging retail partnerships that may never fully recover.

So next time you're considering a strategic pivot, ask:

Does this data tell the full story, or just the part that's easy to measure?

What are the possible unintended consequences of this decision, even if the data says we're right?

Is there another explanation for what this data is showing us, one we haven't considered?

Thanks for reading. What do you think?

PS: I write on finance & strategy weekly, always looking to hear what others think. Follow along.

[Lee Mchoney 💋💕 @leemchoneyZim]

Im an artist, please support my music

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@tmukogo Just finished reading your insights on @Nike and it's quite an interesting one. Data needs to be read in context of the business, social and even political environment for sure! Thank you!

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@nziradzemasoja @KingJayZim @TeamFuloZim 😂😂😂😂

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@TeamFuloZim The food looks tired 😫

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@KingJayZim Aaah! Too much drama with food @nziradzemasoja 😀😀😀 1/10

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@akmats18 Congratulations, bro🎊👏🏿. I am always excited when a fellow with computer science upgrades to business.

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@dr_mairopa Thank you very much for the outreach 👏🏿

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@baba_nyenyedzi @BevinNgara This should be a natural process. The more people have confidence in the local currency, the more they use it. Another important factor is for all organisations to accept the local currency, especially fuel, everything else will happen on its own.

[Jamwanda @Jamwanda2]

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI IS NOT JUST BEING ACADEMIC; HE IS TALKING ABOUT TRANSFORMATION - WHAT HE TERMS METAMORPHOSIS - OF SOCIAL CLASSES ON THE BASIS OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS OBTAINING IN A COUNTRY. NOT AS FORCED EXTERNALLY OR AS INDUCED THROUGH COPYING CERTAIN HISTORIES. THIS ISSUE IS CRITICAL IN THE EVOLVING DEBATE ON PARCELLING AND TITLING RURAL LAND IN ZIMBABWE - OFTEN CRUDELY THROUGH SO-CALLED SABHUKU DEALS. WHAT IS NOT BEING ACKNOWLEDGED IS THAT OUR SOCIETY HAS MATURED ENOUGH TO METAMORPHOSIZE INTO FREEHOLD LAND SYSTEM, WELL AWAY FROM THE NON-COMMERCIAL COMMUNAL FORM. THERE IS A NEW REGIME OF PROPERTY RELATIONS OBTAINING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, IN KEEPING WITH OUR SOCIAL CONDITIONS, PRINCIPALLY GOVERNED BY URBANISATION AND DIASPORA-RURAL INVESTMENT DRIVE. BOTH ARE UNSTOPPABLE PROCESSES. I DOUBT MINISTER GARWE WILL WIN BY OPPOSING THIS INELUCTABLE RULE OF SOCIAL CHANGE. A BETTER APPROACH IS TO REGAIN INITIATIVE BY DEFINING A MODEL BLUEPRINT FOR THIS DRIFT TO FREEHOLD LAND OWNERSHIP!!! ARE WE READY FOR THIS DEBATE, OR CHANGE WILL FORCE THE THINKING AND PACE????

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@Jamwanda2 You summarised it well, boss!

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@NgonieSanaz That looks very reasonable. If one finds this too much, then they probably should work on their life first!

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

@LloydMsipa Happy birthday Chitova 🎂 🎉

[King Jay🇿🇼 @KingJayZim]

Please retweet, as only 7 people will see this post due to the inclusion of links.

Goooood morning! And the year is not playing games,yoh. , this is the last Saturday in August,2026, already? Ummmm!

Anyway, its Saturday and the beat goes on ! Join me for a deep dive into classic SOUL ,sprinkled with one or two brand newies for 2026,as we go live to Classic 263 Radio ,in Zimbabwe on FM and on https://t.co/1F5GywzpfV

Today we intro a new feature ,"Pillow Talk" ,two back to back Lovingtons, hard hitting slow jams 🥰😍.

But we open up with a very guilty pleasure of mine,a song I wouldn't normally play among friends for fear of being called a "Sissie" ,ghetto lingo for "Fairy" 😆

It's by Dolly Parton who we sadly lost on Tuesday 25 August,2026,it's a totally left field track ,a genre we dont normally play on the Pyjama Party ,but hey! We are talking about a music legend here.

Today we are sending birthday greetings to Beverley Rose, David Dunford ,and Leah Venus Emma Martinz .
And for tomorrow, Sunday 30th, we are sendung advance birthday love to @LloydMsipa .

Our "Howzits"? today are going out to Nkosi Gumbo ,Mandla Moyo ,Michael Mwanza ,Bizzie Doin Nuthin ,Love Jones,, Tony Friday,Hosea Singende, Lavona May, Gary Zerf Coretta-Jayde Zerf , Brian Finch ,Brian Brooks and Michael Kingston.

Tune in via Soul Shack Radio. On youtube https://t.co/QpgABPOAA0

On SoundCloud :

https://t.co/LHU2aLxa8k

Special thank you to our sound engineers who make it happen, DJ MUJAY @djmujay in London, and Casper Muzarawethu and his engineering team at Pockets Hill,Highlands in Harare Zimbabwe 🇿🇼
Catch you at 8;04am-9am UK ,9:04 -10am CAT
#PyjamaParty #SoulShackRadio

[Khumbulani B @K_Sibanda616]

🤔

[Stone Oreye @stoneoreye]

If she doesn’t watch what she eats, here’s why you need to leave her.

[Interesting STEM @InterestingSTEM]

Barry Marshall won the noble prize in 2005.

He was convinced that the Helicobacter pylori bacteria caused stomach ulcers, but no one believed him. Since it was illegal to test on humans, he drank the bacteria himself & developed ulcers within days. He treated them with antibiotics.