In the past 100 years, we needed institutions to create scale. Firms provided us with a more efficient way to create value by lowering collaboration costs and increasing the access to information. Centralized firms enabled what individuals could not do on their own. One side effect, though, was that the customer became “out there”. Also, [...]
Archive | Market Power
The strategic stuff that lets you create market power — from business models, AND market definition, AND Value Propositions, AND solid go-to-market strategy, AND market defense plays AND pricing models — and win in the marketplace.
The Elastic Enterprise
I was recently connected to Haydn Shaughnessy, the Forbes columnist and E2.0 expert, who just wrote a book, called the Elastic Enterprise. In it, he mentioned that one of the main transformations that the elastic enterprise brings is a new form of scale. As you know I’ve written about this topic of scale in the [...]
What Replaces Marketing
During the last few months, I’ve been teaching and advising some students over at Stanford University on Entrepreneurial marketing (in a class taught by Chuck Eesley). My key thesis is that Marketing is Dead. In many ways, old news. And, the more helpful and less theatrical lesson: Marketing in the 21st century is always about [...]
Stop Talking About Social and Do It
“Leadership” has changed when a decentralized group of people can take down a government. “The Value Chain” has changed when the customer is no longer just the “buyer” but also a co-creator. “Human Resources” have changed when most of the people who create value for your organization are neither hired nor paid by you. “Competition” [...]
Why Porter’s Model No Longer Works
This post went live mid-week last week, on HBR. It is the 3rd installment on a series of why fast / fluid / flexible is crucial for the social era. The headline has caused some interesting discussion / perspectives. (It also got some VERY strong personal attacks going.) I’m curious to see what you think, [...]
TED Bookstore Curation
This year, I got asked to co-create the TEDbookstore with fellow TEDsters. I mentioned in an earlier post, it was a bit of a “sophie’s choice” moment because I felt like I could have done another theme and direction and chosen another 10 amazing body of work. There are two threads that unites these. Certainly [...]
Social Means Freedom, For Better or Worse
This is part II of a series on how the social era affects every business model, from how we organize, what we produce, and what we sell. (Part I, the foundational rules of the social era can be found here.) Do let me know what you think.. and especially what you want to see addressed [...]
Rules for The Social Era
I mentioned in a prior post that I would soon update what has been keeping me heads-down. For months now, my Harvard editor and I have been planning on a series on the Social Era — and what it takes to win in it. Instead of ‘Built to Last’, we need to ‘Build for Speed’. [...]
What Does Wall Street Reward?
A recent analysis said that, all things being equal, a heavy reliance on marketing spend will hurt a company’s stock valuation. Of course, we say. Duh, we think. But have we ever really thought about how much a factor that is? Let’s think about it using an example. There are two stores in the middle [...]
What is Happening To Netflix Is Unfair
Here’s the deal. Companies are around to profit maximize – a corporate form of self-interest. For many years, this was the organizing principle of all commercial enterprises. The rules, and rewards seemed fairly clear. Not many people argued with it as a system that worked. Then came the social era we live in. More than [...]