The think tank for global entrepreneurs
Archive for the ‘Opportunity Analysis’ Category.
Case In Point: Cisco Systems
In the early 1980s Stanford University had some 5,000 computers of various types. There was no campus-wide network, the systems were like islands. Bridges were needed to connect them together. Cisco Systems was founded in 1983 in the living room where Len Bosack and his wife Sandy Lerner lived. Their solution was to create the bridge that networked the networks. Continue reading ‘Managing the Rapidly Growing Venture’ »
By: Robert W. Price
Wall Street Journal: Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Here’s some of the advice that we share with the entrepreneurs that we mentor. Ever since the day that Archimedes, the famous Greek mathematician, leapt from his bathtub and ran through the streets of ancient Syracuse triumphantly shouting Eureka, “I found it!,” the history of science, technology, and business has been punctuated by exciting moments of true insight and discovery.
Discusions about Forging Your Unique Solution
You had identified a solid problem in your industry space. Now it is time to turn your focus on creating the perfect solution. In his book, A Good Hard Kick in the Ass: Basic Training for Entrepreneurs, Rob Adams argues that you never really know your customers as well as you think you do because, “All you have is a one-time snapshot.” And besides having just a snapshot of the customers, the industry is constantly changing. Continue reading ‘What is your unique solution?’ »
Discussions of Industry Risk Analysis
The only certainty in the uncertain process of new business venturing and developing new products is that the unexpected lies ahead. The simple fact of bringing into existence products and services that currently do not exist implies that much of the information required by potential stakeholders—such as technology, price, quantity, tastes, supplier networks, distributor networks, and business models—are not reliably available. Continue reading ‘How do we analyze the industry risks?’ »
Discussions of Industry Dynamics and Risk Analysis
Understanding the environment of the industry is most important when planting the seeds of a new business venture. The environment is defined as all elements outside the boundary of an organization including the industry, government, customers, suppliers, the financial community, and other business ventures. Continue reading ‘How do you define your business space?’ »
Discussions About Creating Your Problem Statement
A problem is a situation that needs to be corrected. It can be experienced in a variety of ways but is looked on as a discomfort, or a pain of some sort. In the early days of the PC industry, computers were very expensive, having gone through many hands before reaching the consumer. Continue reading ‘What is the problem statement for your new business idea?’ »
Who Says It’s A Great Idea? (It Better Be a Domain Expert!)
Physicist Niels Bohr once said that an expert is a man who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. In business, according to Michael Dell, “Opportunity is part instinct and part immersion in an industry, a subject, or an area of expertise.” The discussion and value of the domain expert in entrepreneurship is nothing new in the literature, considering that Karl Vesper had profiled Noyce and Moore, founders of Intel, back in 1979. Continue reading ‘How solid is your business idea?’ »
Getting To The Future First And Winning
Eric M. Berg from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Technology Centre, based in Menlo Park, CA described to us that the second half of 1990’s was a period of massive investment in ICT. As discussed in a previous Article, this investment laid the groundwork of a “public world network” which is based on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP Protocol.) Continue reading ‘Catching The Next Wave on The High-Tech Revolution’ »
Discussions About Finding Opportunities In the Future
Recall from our previous discussion, that entrepreneurship, risk, and uncertainty are long-time bedfellows and how they push the entrepreneur to the limit. Some influential business thinkers, most notably Geoffrey Moore, seem to suggest that disruptive technologies and the environment of uncertainty that follows favors entrepreneurial activity. When disruptive technologies force changes in common product platforms and force new rules of the game entrepreneurs can be more responsive with their creativity and innovative organizations. Continue reading ‘How do we manage uncertainty and entrepreneurship?’ »
Case In Point: Finis Conner, A Salesforce of One
In 1961 Finis Conner headed for California with $100 in his pockets. After a studying at San Jose State University he worked at the Memorex Corporation where he met his future business partner, Alan Shugart. Together they founded Shugart Associates in 1973, where they produced and sold 8″ hard disk drives. The company was sold to Xerox Corporation in 1977. Continue reading ‘Creating Your Marketing and Sales Strategies’ »
Case In Point: Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Microsoft
In 1973, after graduating from Lakeside High School in Seattle, Bill Gates went on to Harvard Business School. It was at Lakeside where Gates and his eighth-grade buddy, Paul Allen discovered computing and developed an interest in writing software. In January 1975 Allen came to Harvard to share with Gates the latest issue of Popular Electronics magazine and shouted, “It’s about to begin!” Featured on the cover was the Altair 8800. Continue reading ‘New Business Venture Opportunity and Analysis’ »
According to Larry Huston, managing partner of consulting firm 4INNO, future competitive advantage will depend on “innovation networks” — individuals and organizations outside a company that can help it solve problems and find new ideas for creating growth. A senior fellow at Wharton’s Mack Center for Technological Innovation, Huston was vice president of knowledge and innovation for many years at Procter & Gamble, where he was the architect of its Connect + Develop program, an approach that helped extend the company’s innovation process to include 1.5 million people outside of P&G. Huston spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about how innovation networks function.
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Discussions About Lead Users
Dawn Lepore, former CIO for Charles Schwab, told us that everything—from defining your space to defining and analyzing your market, to creating the perfect product or new service—starts with a focus on the customer. Continue reading ‘What are lead users?’ »
Discussions of Industry Dynamics and Risk Analysis
Understanding the environment of the industry is most important when planting the seeds of a new business venture. The environment is defined as all elements outside the boundary of an organization including the industry, government, customers, suppliers, the financial community, and other business ventures. Continue reading ‘How do we define and analyze the industy?’ »