Networking event

On the December 6^th the Boston Event Guide had their annual Holiday Networking Cocktail Party, hosted by the Boston Networking Club.  The event was held Splash lounge in the leather district, right next to the South St. Dinner.  Prior to this date I had never been to one of these events.  When I first walked in I immediately caught on that this was going to be very informal.  There was music playing and everyone was dressed very nice, short dresses, no ties; I on the other hand was wearing my money suit (its dark Forrest green with a subtle yet noticeable gold thread woven through the material) money!

            I checked in with the door ladies and they handed me a 3x5 card with 5 numbered questions on it and a pencil; there was an organized icebreaker this evening, a people survey.  Some of the questions were: went to grad school? Ran marathon? Has been to Europe? Has worked for more than 3 companies? The objective to go around asking people questions and filling out the cards with names, the person with the most cards wins a prize.  Being the fierce competitor that I am, I was determined to win the competition, I talked to many people and filled out 4 cards, I was in the zone.  After a while I realized that I wasn’t really networking or even talking to anyone, I was getting my answers and running to the next person.

            I slowed down and stated to chit chat, at this point everyone had 1 or 2 drinks in them so people were chatty, I met a child custody lawyer, the director of the electronic medical records program for partner’s health, a senior accountant for fidelity, a Iraq veteran, and a director of bio-detection program at GE.  I exchanged business cards with a few people; I don’t think any of my new contacts have any current usefulness in my network.  I kept thinking about my business plan project, if Networking.com was around, I could check into this event and be matched up to people in the energy distribution industry or perhaps at Siemens, my target company.  Oh I met some professional pretty ladies, which is never a bad thing.

The 20 Most Innovative Startups In Tech

ZocDoc is a way to book doctor appointments online.

I find this brilliant! I am an avid user of Opentable, which allows you make restaurant reservations, there are few things more frustrating then trying to match up your schedule with someone else’s during the phone, it an area where human interaction is simply not needed, booking online through a graphic schedule is so much simpler, see the open slots, click on the one you want, and that’s it, plain and simple. Brilliant, they should do all schedules like this. They should invent something that integrates your personal outlook calendar to anyone else’s and sets up and appointment. Google should get on this!

TaskRabbit is creating an on-demand workforce. It creates jobs and supplemental income.

This takes craiglist the next level, it’s great for people looking to make some extra cash without a long term commitment, a person may have an extra day off here or there.  Same thing for someone who needs a one time assist, not an expensive contractor with giant OH to pay for.

MoviePass is an all you can eat movie ticket solution. Pay $30 and see as many as you want per month in theaters.

Netflix for movie theaters, I like it. But will Movie theaters and studio be as willing to give up big box office revenue?

H.Bloom is a subscription service for flowers. It delivers to hotels and apartments, as well as to husbands who need help remembering anniversaries.

This has similar aspects to one of the projects in class.

Skillshare lets anyone teach a class to anyone who's willing to listen.

This is also similar to a project in class.

Joor makes it easy for boutiques to buy wholesale from designers.

It’s like a Wholesale Marshall’s, I like it.

Kickstarter is a way to raise money from the community

I was actually made aware by this site from one of my friends who is an aspiring film director, it’s actually a cool way of raising money, if the goal isn’t met, then all the donations get returned.

The Age of the Consumer-Innovator

I found this article interesting; it was always a concept I was aware of but never actually saw any data, much less a stud on it.  It makes perfect sense that most innovations arise from people trying to address their everyday needs.  The example that the first dishware was around as yearly as 1886 is fascinating.  

            The article mentioned how it is easier to create a prototype nowadays than it has ever been how design technology is available and companies with manufacturing resources are available to produce individual custom parts for a reasonable fee.

Some of the companies we’ve been looking at such as Yahoo and Facebook, and in its early stages even Apple, where the results of consumer innovation originally designed for personal use.  Netflix came about because its founder (Reed Hastings) was sick of paying late fees, and the delivery method of the USPS, which Netflix still uses today, was prototyped by him driving around mailing DVDs to himself and timing how long it took.

 The greatest motivator for innovation is need and no one is more intimately aware of need that the consumer.

I've innovated some custom parts and contraptions in my day usually to address an urgent need I was facing.  For example, when I closed up my windows for the winter I don’t use the DIY heat shrink insulation kits, but instead I use a roll of self adhesive plastic rolls (I think it is meant to be something you place under plants so the moisture doesn’t ruin the surface) its much faster to setup and works better, not too mention cheaper!

Some companies, like Google, have mechanisms in place for people to send feedback, thoughts and suggestions, there by acquiring perhaps novel ideas of functionality that they may not have come up with.

Any company that wants to remain successful must constantly be on the lookout for the next innovation if they want to continue to remain competitive.

Leadership Style

Well , let me start out by saying that I am a Visual learner, I am able to see or read something and learn it, I’m the type of person that can read something in a text book, process that information, and recall it on demand.  I picked up MS access in 2 weeks, just by sitting down and reading this giant database developer’s Bible, not everyone is like this, some of my co-workers have had that very same book for years and still don’t get it.

   This is beneficial to my leadership in various ways; I can process information relatively quick, such as legal, financial, and technical specifications, and in turn break it down for others.

I would say that the two complementary team skills that are most prevalent are “Follow Thru” and “Quick Start”.

I am a “Follow Thru” because I always have a plan, it may not be a very well thought out plan, nor may it qualify as a good plan, but I need to have some idea as to why I moving.  This to me is a very valuable quality, especially when working with others, if there isn’t a central idea or direction that everyone is working towards, nothing will get done.  It like a sports team, they must work together or they’re going to lose.  I’m also very good at reconciling different ideas and view points, I can listen to a room full people, each stepping over each other, process the good from the bad, and combine it into a half decent idea.

I also say that I’m a “Quick Start” because I’m constantly in motion, always willing to try something new, and change directions if needed.  If we can’t come up with a good plan that everyone agrees on, I’m the guy who can get everyone to rally on the one aspect we have a consensus on and move in that direction, then we’ll take it from there. 

I put a lot of trust on my team members, this has back fired in the past, but I’m not one to micromanage, I have a certain expectation that everyone will carry their own weight as best they can.   At the end of the day, I’m also willing to stay up all night a pick up the slack, and get it done.

Product Innovation Challenges

I wasn’t surprised by this article, it definitely feels like time has passed since the new “it” product rolled out.  With the exception of the Ipad, (which isn’t necessarily a completely new concept, similar to smart phones and portable media players, Apple just took touch tablets to the next level) there has not been any really disruptive consumer goods, perhaps Blu-Ray players or 3D TVs.  Everything just seems to be an upgrade from the last model year, instead of 3g now there’s 4g, instead of 4 razor blades, now there’s a 5 blade razor.  It appears that companies rather be a strong second mover instead of an innovator.  Computer technology has slowed down; the netbook was the last big thing in that industry that comes to my mind.  Everyday items such as kitchen appliances haven’t made a big splash (what is the next George Foremen grill?), in the automotive industry nothing worthy of mention since the Prius a while back. The article mentioned 3 major reasons why this is.

    Information gaps that undercut new product investments

CGM apparently are losing touch with consumers, it is becoming similar to the music industry, very few original acts, but a lot of production and sampling from the past.  Companies are focused on making money on what is proven and popular now instead of setting the trend for the future.

    Inhibitors of effective product portfolio management:

Product Portfolio Management, this was one of the genius traits of Steve Jobs, when Jobs started his second round with Apple, if I recall correctly they were way over extend trying to compete in hundreds of different product lines.  He narrowed it down to less than a handful, and focused all their energy on making the best 3 or 4 products on the market.  HP is still all over the place, IBM left the industry all together, they don’t make PCs anymore! It’s like a saying my old music director once told me “Jack of all trades, master of none!”

    Deficiencies in post-launch performance measurement practices:

I’m not really sure what they mean by this, I understand the phrase, but not how it corresponds with a deficiency in product innovation.  Perhaps some companies pull the plug on a new innovative product without really knowing how well it is being received?

Either way I am curious as where is Apple going to go next, especially now that Jobs is gone, what will be the next innovation?

Inbound and Outbound Marketing

My company survives purely on inbound marketing, it does not run commercials, or prints ads, and every new customer comes and finds us, but there is a catch; we are the electric company, a customer doesn’t have a choice, they have to buy electricity from us.   In my opinion, marketing is all about differentiation from competitors and need, the more a customer needs your product and the fewer amounts of competitors and or substitutions, the more a company can rely on inbound marketing.  Utilities are the extreme on inbound marketing they have a product that customers can’t live without, (with the exception of the Amish, super green people with solar panels and wind turbines on their property, or people that don’t use water).  Other companies that can survive are super “duper” brands, for example, to the best of my knowledge, I have never seen an ad for Facebook, it gets plenty of press from the media, and word of mouth, there are plenty of competitors, substitutes; and plenty of people live without it, but it continues to grow and build its brand, being a network the bigger it gets, the harder it is for a person to not get on it.  Some companies inherit the benefit of needing only inbound marketing by having a first mover advantage; such is the case of the only gas station or hotel in a city.

My company does carry on some outbound marketing though, mostly to build its brand; it does a lot of PR with sponsoring charity walks, volunteer activities, and academic scholarships.  NSTAR has to have a good public perception because it is regulated by the state, and if its customers aren’t happy they complain to their representatives, which make life very difficult for NSTAR. 

Our Gas division on the other hand, does do a significant deal of outbound marketing, though they are the only ones who can sell gas in their respective regulated territory, there are plenty of substitute products such as, Oil heat, and wood pellet stoves, and other technologies.

Apple’s Business Model for Ipod and Itunes

The Ipod is it!  Unlike the PC, Smart phone, or tablet industries, to say there is a portable music player industry is more of a technicality, because in the grand scheme of things, there isn’t, especially in the mind of the average customer, there is just the Ipod! In my opinion by far the most successful product in this millennium with 315 million units sold, and it is one of the main reasons Apple became the largest company in the US.

Value Proposition

The biggest value the Ipod initially brought was its storage capacity, when others were playing around with 1GB or 2GB for twice the price.  Ipod comes out with 40GB, justifying its industry high price; it was and still is the most expensive mp3 player.  In addition Ipod came with Itunes, back then buying music online was all over the place, different sites had different catalogs, most mp3s were downloaded illegally (still are).  Itunes became the definitive one stop shop, for 99 cents a song, it is quick, it is safe, it is easy.

Customer Segment

Initially rolled out to Mac users, then released to the windows users, Ipod & Itunes took off, and is now for anyone who wants digital entertainment. There are even pre-loaded Ipods available for weird people who don’t have a computer.

Revenue Stream

As previously stated, Ipods were and have been able to maintain its premium pricing, customers recognize its quality and pay for it, no questions asked.  They make several hundred dollars per unit, empty, with no content.  Then they cough up a buck for every new song they want, some customers spend thousands of dollars on their collection.  Itunes is so popular, with millions of people using it for their Ipods, Iphones, Ipads, that millions of customers use it, Apple generates significant advertising revenue.

Ipod is an icon; everyone from kids living in slums to actual royalty has one. Having any other portable media player is like drinking store brand cola, it lacks the status. I own a android phone and a HP laptop, I don’t even know what are the other portable media players currently available, its Ipod or bust!

Porter’s Strategy and the Internet

Here are some of my thought on Porter’s Strategy and the Internet

“When seen with fresh eyes, it becomes clear that the Internet is not necessarily a blessing. It tends to alter industry structures in ways that dampen overall profitability, and it has a leveling effect on business practices, reducing the ability of any company to establish an operational advantage that can be sustained.” –Porter

Though not an all encompassing natural law as Porter presented it, the internet does shift the power in favor of the consumer reducing retailers to compete on price and price alone. Therefore it forces some small locals companies to compete with companies around the world.  A great example of this is text books, WPI has its campus bookstore that serves a niche clientele (WPI students) and charges a premium for their selection and convenience.  In the past, they had the supply channels with the distributor and the logistics to get the right book into the students hand faster and more cost effective.  The internet has completely wiped out this strategic advantage, a student is now able to find the exact book they need via the ISBN # and get a cheaper copy shipped directly to their home from some place in Malaysia, all for a better total price! Take away the internet, and the student would have never found their book in warehouse on the other side of the world.

“The Internet per se will rarely be a competitive advantage. Many of the companies that succeed will be ones that use the Internet as a complement to traditional ways of competing, not those that set their Internet initiatives apart from their established operations. That is particularly good news for established companies, which are often in the best position to meld Internet and traditional approaches in ways that buttress existing advantages.” –Porter

I immediately thought of Barnes & Noble and Southwest Airlines, these companies have been able to weave the internet into their competitive strategies and flourished.  B&N leveraged the internet into its existing relationship with college bookstores and did not allow its website to cannibalize its stores sales by under cutting price.  Southwest maintained its high margins via its exclusive reservations, in the past the only way to book a flight on southwest was to call or visit one of their sales people, with the internet, the only site you can book southwest is the official southwest one, thereby strengthening their strategy by making it more efficient and cost effective by reducing labor to man the phones and airport booths.

“Dot-coms multiplied so rapidly for one major reason: they were able to raise capital without having to demonstrate viability.” –Porter

During the Dot-com bubble, I was just a pre-teen but even I knew that these companies’s weren’t making any real money

“America Online, which has managed to maintain borders around its on-line community, is an exception, not the rule.” –Porter

Hindsight is 20/20, in the past AOL was the premier online community, that was really what differentiated them from the other ISPs.  But as the internet matured, and more content became available and more innovated free online communities developed people weren’t willing to pay $40 a month for broadband and an additional $20 for AOL.  Today there’s free e-mail, instant messaging, profiles, online photo albums, better communities such a FB, rending AOL obsolete.

“Once a company establishes a new best practice, its rivals tend to copy it quickly. Best practice competition eventually leads to competitive convergence, with many companies doing the same things in the same ways. Customers end up making decisions based on price, undermining industry profitability.”- Porter

I immediately think of Myspace, webshots, & AOL, all of which had features that were quickly adopted by orkut & facebook for free.  

“The most successful dot-coms will focus on creating benefits that customers will pay for, rather than pursuing advertising and click- through revenues from third parties. To be competitive, they will often need to widen their value chains to encompass other activities besides those conducted over the Internet and to develop other assets, including physical ones.” -Porter

Defiantly Google & Facebook laugh at this statement, being two of the most successful dot-coms based on advertising and click-through revenue from third parties.

Overall he made some very great points about a having a clear value creating, profit generating strategy, but as every other economic expert he was only partly right.  

Milestone this week

“A period of introspection after each professional experience, whether it be good or bad, is valuable, if you have a bad experience, you need to learn from it” –Stan Lapidus

“Well you got your first failed business under you belt” –My brother

Sigh!!!!! Yes, yesterday after a year and a half of work and thousands of dollars invested, I finally pulled the plug on my startup in Brazil.  Similar to a bad romantic relationship, I stayed in it much longer than I should have for a number of reasons; knowing full well the economic principle of ignoring sunk costs, I should have cut my losses months ago.  And looking back, I probably should not have gotten into it in the first place!  My primary motivation was to help my family in Brazil, specifically my mother’s brother and sister; they had always been in a financial mess as long I could remember.  So instead of investing in an opportunity that I felt would give me the greatest return, I invested in something I felt best catered to their skill set.

Lesson # 1 -- Profitability should be the driving force behind investing.

I also over evaluated my aunt’s and uncle’s skill, I took them for their word, that they had exceptional talent in confection, and that this in turn would give us a superior product. Not the case.  In addition I assumed that since both of them were old enough to be my parents, that they would conduct themselves in a professional manner, didn’t happen!

Lesson # 2 – Talents and Skills must be evaluated using recordable metrics.

I assumed that my aunt and uncle were hard working people that were going to give it everything they got to the opportunity I was giving them, not the case!

Lesson # 3 – Build a team only with people who want to win.

Eventually I realized that we were in a highly competitive field with established major players, and that being based thousands of miles away made it impossible for me to make my employee accountable.  I simply did not have the proper talent needed to succeed, but I was too proud to amit my mistake, I kept pumping money into the business and praying that people who had been failures all their lives would suddenly change their ways solely by my weekly peptalks!

Lesson # 4 – Be honest with yourself and about the people around you.

Had I been more humble, I could have saved myself thousands of dollars and months of aggravation and disillusionment. Alas.

But I’ve caught the entrepreneur bug, I’m going to pay off my debts, regroup, and go at it again, this time humble and hungrier!

Also http://www.triz40.com I found it interesting, especially considering that when a problem really stumps you, the human mind tends to focus on it so much that its hard to think out of the box.  This tool will at least give some suggestions that one might have completely ignored.

Synergy

When I first read about Hirshberg's concepts, two things immediately came to mind, the saying “THE WHOLE BEING GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS” and that of my experiences working with a man that I’m honored to call friend. 

                It all started back in summer of 08, I was a hot shot analyst a year into my new position, with unlimited raw talent, but very limited experience.  My boss had mentored me and taught me everything she knew, but when she became the head of contract management, she needed support with respect to financial information that she couldn’t produce on her own, nor did she have the knowledge to teach me how to get it for her.  She hired a 50 year old financial analyst Ed, he was to provide us with the financials we needed.  Quirky would be a vast understatement in describing Ed; Louis Vuitton belt, wallet, and planner, giant gold rings and chains, Bruno Magli shoes, skin tight Italian shirts, this guy was something else, completely different from my reserved, mild manner, crew cut straight from mass maritime.  Ed was a brilliant accountant, he should have been a manager, but as he expressed to me a several occasions, the powers that be didn’t think he “fit the mold”. 

                Soon our department took on the role of planning and scheduling resources for the entire company.  There was tremendous pressure from the senior VP to get our hands around the 100 million dollar annual work plan, because no one did.  No one knew what work was actually on the plan, when it needed to be done by, nor how many workers were available to do it.  The company had data on hundreds (that I was aware of) spreadsheets, and a thousand-armed octopus of oracle data warehouse, with even thousands more Crystal reports.  It was “Data Paralysis” at its worse, Ed and I went at it full steam, he knew the business and what information we needed to present to paint an accurate picture.  My lack of formal analytical training proved to be my greatest asset in that I was always thinking out of the box, how could I not I didn’t know the standard practices.  The synergy Ed and I had as a team was unstoppable, we created a central database that tracked work orders, dates, hours, dollars, personnel, and you name it.  Working side by side our relationship had built in checks and balances; he would constantly push the envelope of innovation, I was the more thorough one, making sure everything was practical and feasible, dotting all the i’s per se.  Unfortunately my friend Ed passed away, leaving behind a wife and 2 kids, just 5 weeks after I left the department; but the time we shared was priceless, he influenced both professionally and personally.

First One

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