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dividends. Time spent learning to empathize
with the customer and really figuring out
what makes them tick will help you target
with a laser-like focus.
Innovative companies are often guilty of
trying to execute on a big vision that is too
all-encompassing for the user to fully
engage with.
2.
Don’t try and reinvent the wheel
if you don’t need to.
The internet has democratized access to
all kinds of information, and if a successful
process or structure exists for a non-core ele-
ment of your business, use it. This can be
anything from administrative office functions
to technical elements on the periphery of
your central business proposition. If an effec-
tive solution exists, then chances are it will
not add value to your business to develop it
from scratch.
3.
Have a solid business model from
the very beginning.
Have a clear idea of the value you are
creating, how you are going to capture it
and how you will be able to protect it.
Having clarity from the outset will provide
a marker of ongoing success—or not—and
allow you to make strategic business deci-
sions accordingly.
Many Silicon Valley businesses do not
take this into account until a lot of resources
have been expended, taking themselves in the
wrong direction and forcing an otherwise
unneeded late-stage pivot.
4.
Don’t be afraid to learn from your
predecessors, competitors and similar
businesses.
You do not need to fail to gain a
learning experience. I highly recommend
learning from others’ failures rather than
your own.
But be careful: Learn, don’t mimic.
Success comes from applying judgment,
which is drawn from experience—yours
and others’.
5.
As hard as it may be, try to sepa-
rate your natural emotion from your
business concept.
You should be passionate about your
venture and committed to it, but it is easy to
fall in love with your idea and ignore the
signals from the market and the views of
others.
Your decision on how (and whether) to
take [a product, business, service] to market
needs to be founded on research and data.
Too many times in Silicon Valley we have
seen businesses launch that should have been
altered or even killed in the planning phases,
purely because a besotted and charismatic
founder pushed them through. This is a
recipe for failure.
Yossi Feinberg is the John
G. McCoy–Banc One
Corporation professor of
economics, director of the
Corporate Entrepreneur:
Driving Innovation and New
Ventures Program and faculty
director of the Stanford Ignite
program at Stanford Graduate
School of Business.
FEBRUARY 2016 •
PPB
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