Now in its 6th year, the unconference for product managers at all levels had a record breaking turnout – 500 registered with another 500 waitlisted. Vision & Execution was proud to be a Silver sponsor this year. We were also very pleased to be selected to present two topics. Please see the attached links:
Championing Breakthrough Ideas
How do I influence management to accept my breakthrough idea?
Are you struggling to be heard by executive management so your strategic idea can be funded? Are you bored with the limitations of maintaining a current product that only improves incrementally and looking for a new challenge? Are you concerned that your cash cow business is at risk to emerging competitive technology?
Growth depends on innovation – sustainable growth depends not just on disruptive technology but on a full spectrum of innovation from incremental innovation to the radical. This workshop is designed to teach the soft skills and management tools to build internal consensus and momentum to win management support for innovative ideas.
Creating Products that are Easy to Sell, Easy to Buy
Learn how you can reduce friction in the sales channel and with customers to generate rapid uptake of your new product idea. Learn techniques to ensure you design products that meet the minimal feature set that drives purchase intent. Learn how to identify sales and channel hurdles that could relegate your product to the bottom of the pile and design to overcome them.
Even if you weren’t able to be at Product Camp we hope you can take advantage of these presentations. Be sure to mark your calender for 2014 and see how you can get involved!
And, if you’re struggling to figure out how to improve your product development process to bring better products to market faster, you might want to take this 5 minute benchmark survey to help pinpoint your organizational issues. Take survey: NPD Benchmark Survey
Patrina
There is a lot of political rhetoric in the US about the middle class and small business, in particular the role small business will play in leading the US back to prosperity. CIT commissioned a very interesting study of middle market companies and what they’ve learned about how to prosper as a result of the Great Recession.
One of the key findings noted in this report was the importance of change. 51% felt the need to continually change in order to survive and prosper. Change means many things to many people – is it incremental or disruptive or somewhere in-between? How much is needed to sustain your competitive advantage? According to the study a majority of these leaders learned the importance of challenging the status quo… identifying greater efficiencies around operations in order to have a leaner company.
The study also found that the value of strategic planning was considered the 3rd key lesson learned by 43%. Not surprisingly the companies that fared the best could claim they “have a clear strategy in place, reached by consensus of key executives, it has been communicated, and it addresses short and long-term implications.” Sadly, only a third of the companies surveyed could make that claim. The study reported that only 40 percent of companies with weak or lacking strategic management say that they are stronger than they were before the Great Recession.
A statistic from the survey surprised me, although it probably shouldn’t have. 39% of the companies surveyed rated R&D ineffective. With all the hype about open innovation and crowdsourcing and the well-known challenges of the not invented here syndrome I optimistically hoped that R&D was opening up. R&D budgets are challenging with even the largest companies so I suspect budgets are even tighter for these middle market companies. All the more reason to leverage crowdsourcing and open innovation to mitigate tight budgets and enhance the R&D pipeline and portfolio.
The CIT study reported that leaders from companies with a strong strategic management rating were particularly receptive to two lessons:
There is a great need to challenge the status quo; and
Strategic planning needs to be a higher priority for companies.
To shed some light on what that strategic planning might look like I pulled some insights from a recent Price Waterhouse Coopers report where they articulate 3 key strategic approaches from a survey of 1,330 CEOs in 68 countries on how these executives plan to adapt and thrive in these disruptive times.
1. Target specific pockets of opportunity for organic growth, avoiding spreading their resources too thinly.
2. Maintain a clear focus on the customer, taking active steps to stimulate demand, loyalty and innovation in their customer base – through mechanisms ranging from digital marketing platforms to collaborative R&D.
3. Fine-tune their operational effectiveness by reducing costs without cutting value and collaborating with trusted partners.
We invite you to engage our expertise to design a winning strategic vision that will enable greater resiliency to maximize the opportunities ahead.
One of my favorite quotes is from the artist Marcel Duchamp who when asked about the source of his inspiration, stated “it was in the air.” I love that quote for two reasons – it speaks to the ethereal quality of where new ideas come from and it reminds us we are never alone when latching on to something new. It’s never too early when testing research hypotheses and developing prototypes to examine who else is inspired to solve similar problems and how they’re applying their technology. It’s also never too early to be talking to potential users.
We had one exemplary client who is truly ahead of the market. By testing his idea with potential customers he identified key features and other attributes necessary to win customers over when the market catches up with his idea. However when products are created in the silo of pure technology development without the key ingredient of customer validation they risk certain failure. If little to no investment is made talking with potential customers early on — or worse talking with only one customer — demand will often fall far short when attempting to build out a market presence. This sad yet all too familiar scenario can be avoided with proper strategic planning. When little emphasis is placed up front on customers’ desires, perceived value and pent up need or demand — stated or otherwise, you set you and your product up for failure. We hope these public examples (Major Product Flops in 2012) make the point and encourage you to engage in strategic planning up front in your product development cycle.
Several of our clients in 2012 had developed interesting, even potentially disruptive technologies. While each of these clients had been successful in designing a solution that met the needs of one customer or geographic region they failed to consider the broader applicability. Developing technology solutions with the potential to scale (which gains interest from the venture community) means understanding how your innovation will be used beyond one customer type, vertical or geographic region. Most importantly, it means prioritizing which opportunities to go after first due to ease of market entry, low friction in the channel and significant competitive differentiation.
True innovation means discovering untapped market needs and opportunities. How much time and effort have you invested in understanding unstated customer needs and how your solution might address those needs? Let us help you uncover the “white space” that your solution can go after for rapid market success.
We’ve been thrilled this past year to work with so many innovative companies from Western and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia. As we anticipated nearly a decade ago the center of innovation would no longer be dominated by Silicon Valley but expand globally as countries created their own entrepreneurial ecosystems. While most countries have a ways to go to reach Silicon Valley’s level of maturity we’ve been especially impressed with innovations from Eastern Europe and Asia where their cost advantage combined with innovative technology either creates new markets or disrupt existing ones.
An article from McKinsey Quarterly explains this phenomenon quite well. Essentially new competitors unencumbered by insular thinking and functional disconnectedness are more tuned into their customers and more nimble. Some companies are rising to the occasion through more focused collaboration internally and greater emphasis on what customers truly value. These great case studies illustrate how some companies have overcome their deficiencies to establish market leadership.
A recent article from MIT Sloan Review highlights how many emerging market entrepreneurs have innovated by creating a cost advantage that comes on the back of a business model that is not only different from, but also conflicts with the business model of the established companies. This type of disruptive model is much more sustainable than just cost advantages alone.
A recent study from KPMG cites that countries which were never part of the technology innovation map are taking center stage. Tech innovative companies Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and Samsung are being joined by upstarts from emerging economies such as Tencent and Baidu from China and Yandex from Russia. Visionary technologists like Masayoshi Son from Japan and Jack Ma from China are getting in the headlines.
As you think about your product pipeline and where to source new ideas, you might want to keep tabs on new competitors in Europe and beyond. Check out this infographic on venture backed companies in Europe. And as reported in the KPMG survey, Innovation is unfolding in other parts of the world. China, in particular, is investing to be on par with Silicon Valley. The US is respected as the world’s technology innovation center, but as technology innovation becomes more global other countries are gaining momentum to become technology innovation leaders.
Stay ahead of the game and maintain or improve your global competitive advantage. Vision & Execution can help you apply our Innovation Collaboration StrategyTM to your innovation process to enable you to create your own disruptive solutions.
An Interview with Alfredo Coppola, Executive Director of US Market Access
Q. Where are the “hot spots” in this cooling global economic trend?
A. Eastern Europe in particular is a stronghold for innovation. We are now reaping the benefits of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Estonia and Latvia, for example, are countries no one had heard much of before, but now along with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, are producing some of our more interesting startups. The new “open” culture since the fall has allowed what are now 20 somethings to see a brighter future leveraging their historically strong academic training. Because of the phenomenal engineering and mathematical programs in these universities we see great technology in search of sales and marketing skills to grow the business, an expertise that we offer through US Market Access.
Q. What are the attributes driving their success? Government? Ecosystem? Talent?
A. It starts with the education system and optimism from the more open culture. It’s seasoned with growing support from governments and the start of ecosystems tailored after Silicon Valley. Each country is unique and they will need to find their own version of the Valley to make it work for them. There is still much to do here which is why many companies look to the US, specifically Silicon Valley, as their model.
Q. Where is their growth coming from? How are they getting their start?
A. Seed funding is coming from governments and local investors in many cases although with the web services startups the capital needs are less intensive and many startups are able to bootstrap their way to market. The investment community in most other countries needs time to mature because this sector lacks the experience and metrics to know how best to value a company in order to select the winners. The UK has come the furthest thus far with their investment community infrastructure. The investment needed to scale still comes largely from the US.
Q. Why US vs. other large markets such as China, India, Africa, or the EU?
A. China is appealing because it’s large, but it is difficult market for newcomers because of many economic problems, including slower economic growth and lower consumer spending. India is challenged with stalled political reforms. Africa is the second fasting growing economy but the majority of the population still lack stable jobs. Europe, while large, is overwhelmed with Euro issues. Despite fears over the impact of the Euro, the US economy has trudged along. When companies want to grow big and fast they frequently choose the US over any other region, regardless of economic conditions. The US, and specifically Silicon Valley, has the best ecosystem for entrepreneurs and moves more quickly than anywhere else in the world.
Q. Would you care to give a prediction about how things will unfold over the next couple of years?
A. We’ll see a significant increase in success stories from the “New Europe” (Central and Eastern Europe) than companies from the “Old Europe” (France, Italy, and Spain). Innovations from Old Europe will eventually re-align themselves, but it will take some time. They will continue to struggle with risk taking relative to other countries because of antiquated bankruptcy policies and cultural perceptions of failure. And, we’ll start to see more international-friendly VC funds – those willing to invest in non-US companies. Overall, Europe will become a more dominant supplier of entrepreneurs.
Despite the pipeline of 60 venture-backed companies currently in registration for IPO in 2012, M&A is still the most common exit for most startups. And prognosticators forecast an improving M&A market after the slowdown in the 2nd half of 2011. So how do companies who position themselves for acquisition and those who acquire them deliver on the value they anticipate. Industry data reminds us time and again that the failure rate for mergers and acquisitions hovers between 70% and 90% despite the annual $2 trillion spent every year.
A key criterion for success when acquiring for innovation’s sake, as opposed to scale economies, is laying the foundation for fundamental change in both the business model and the organizational culture. Buying what could be considered disruptive or bleeding edge IP or products means that business as usual doesn’t cut it. Few companies who go on buying sprees soften the beachhead internally for the degree of change required. Incentives and other management metrics are not aligned in advance with the potential of the new technology so old and new management are caught in the crossfire while making important strategic decisions about budget and other business priorities.
Achieving the potential business value of an acquisition means losing the emotional attachment to the cash cow business(es) that enabled the acquisition in the first place. It requires a clear understanding of where the creative destruction within the organization should occur and puts incentives in place for the organization to create a new business from the ashes.
Let Vision & Execution work with your teams to facilitate decisive action around new business models and product roadmaps as you plan for or seek to integrate innovative acquisitions.
Despite the bearish predictions for the economy from 2012 prognosticators, according to the December Economic Conditions Snapshot research sponsored by McKinsey, executives are more optimistic than they were in September. Although not as optimistic as they were in June, the majority of North America executives expect corporate profits to rise; other regions are more conservative. Concerns over low consumer demand appear to have executives holding off on M&A activities and capital investments.
Consumer demand presents greatest concern for economic growth
If concerns about low consumer demand hold true where will companies achieve their growth? Market share! Companies who better understand customer needs and deliver their solutions more effectively will stand to gain from their competitors. While an obvious statement, it’s amazingly difficult to execute. Systems, internal folklore, and politics all get in the way of staying focused on customers and meeting or exceeding their expectations. As you think about your New Year’s resolutions, why not resolve to break down one of these barriers to growth?
Vision & Execution specializes in identifying how to address the customer needs that will propel your business forward.
I recently attended a conference on Financing Innovation sponsored by the Financial Times and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. A missing topic was the funding of technology commercialization – or moving inventions out of the lab and prepping them for market readiness. A brave soul stood up and asked the question and got the pat response “There’s too much risk, and in this economy who wants more risk?”
The public sector, and the occasional foundation, have striven to fill the void between research projects and startups poised to generate cash flow. Securing funding from the public sector, however, is an arduous and expensive activity. How does the average research team or startup find the funds to move out of the lab and prepare for market entry? Even with these government and university funds there is still a significant gap in funding technology demonstrations — from proof of concept prototypes to commercially viable prototypes that could prove the business case for the new technology –leaving many wonderful innovations stuck in no man’s land. Most of these are technology commercialization programs are university based but in some states there are organization designed to support inventors through the process of securing SBIR and other government grants to help advance research projects to market ready products.
It seems we need some innovation in helping to fund the more capital intensive research and inventions. In the meantime, here’s what’s happening in your state to try to bridge the funding gap.
Let Vision & Execution help you identify the potential market opportunities your research represents to facilitate your ability to raise the additional funds you need.
The June 2011 McKinsey Global Survey on Economic Conditions suggests that executives expect to achieve corporate profitability despite lower expectations for their national economies to rebound. It appears that despite no growth in capital expenditures and stable or decreasing workforces that companies will increase their profitability. Well profitability yes, perhaps, but not top line revenue – fewer expenditures plus expectations for a reduced risk for inflation should keep costs in check.
In a separate piece of analysis by McKinsey – Sustaining top-line growth: The real picture – their data showed how tough it is to beat the market. Exhibit 2 shows that corporate revenues, on average, tracked neatly with overall market conditions. So how will your company beat the market, or are you content to ride the wave?
If you’re looking to beat the market, please contact Vision & Execution to hear about our many tools and services to help your drive strategic growth.
Vision & Execution helps companies align your marketing and sales initiatives with customer value to achieve your sales goals. We delivers the insights you need to leverage marketplace realities to drive higher sales with greater profit margins. We provide you with the strategic and tactical plans to achieve your growth objectives. Our broad business and technical acumen put you on track to realize your full revenue potential.
Happy New Year from Vision & Execution! We hope 2010 exceeded your expectations and that 2011 looks even better.
What do the prognosticators say about 2011? Will it be better or worse than 2010? What industries and, for that matter countries, are expected to prevail? It was quite interesting to take a survey of 2011 predictions…the topics of the predictions were generally more insightful than the predictions themselves. Some recurring themes…
Here are some interesting sites to check out for more detailed predictions:
On the economy:
On innovation
On social media
On technology
On cleantech
On mobile
On business analytics
Perhaps the most interesting report about 2011 predictions were those made 70 years ago by seven 1931 Visionaries.
What trends or predictions will impact your business? And, how can we help?
