Take-aways from a talk in the Trust Center on 6/24/16
- Your strategy dictates the sustainability of your company
- While two companies can start at the same time, have a similar idea and a similar technology, the strategy they set will take them in different paths and lead to different results.
- Example: Coinbase vs. Ripple: both want to engage with blockchain technology but Coinbase is trying to lead a platform for bitcoin while the other is trying to create a competing new platform as the “Anti-Bitcoin”
- The challenge is to implement your idea in a way that creates value and helps you capture value
- The “Action vs. Planning” entrepreneurial conflict
- Action - use when there is an obvious path and all you need to do is implement.
- Planning - use when you can get significant insights based on models/frameworks without the actual execution.
- In the real startup world - it’s usually a mix!
- In order to really learn you need to also go out there and interact with your customers.
- What you view as experience, your potential customers view as their first impression of your start up. They evaluate you and decide on future interaction based on this.
- Managing the uncertainty of different paths
- Axiom 1: There is more than one potential path to create and capture value from an idea (True for most ventures, not all)
- Example: Starbucks: Selling high end coffee for customers can either be selling the beans or be opening cafe’s.
- Axiom 2: Without moving down a specific path, uncertainty prevents ranking of alternatives
- Example: Webvan vs. Peapod: Same concept: internet meets groceries. Different strategy: Collaboration with grocery stores vs. disruption of the existing market.
- Sometimes it’s hard to know in advance which strategy will take the market and the only way to learn is to try.
- Axiom 3: Choosing to move along one path changes the way you can move towards future paths
- The paradox: choosing the right strategy/path requires knowledge and insights that can only be gained through real life experiences.
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