Comments on: Survival is Competitive Differentiation

By: glasshouse

glasshouse — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:25:52 +0000

What happens when you find out the truth about your partner?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/11545990/031119stipballenger?classic_ui=1

By: Shirley

Shirley — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:46:10 +0000

Good article. I especially agree with the need to fix the product. Your product should operate as efficiently as possible and be user-friendly.

By: vinay

vinay — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:24:21 +0000

Some truths but a number of contemporary misconceptions in both the essays… Firstly, there is little analysis of the reason for the problem at hand. Ignoring the reason will not help overcome the problem, nor will it help avoid similar ones in the future. Yes, there is a repeat of the universal truths – cut the fat, fix the product etc …But what I clearly miss are * Customer is king – don’t do what you are best at, do what is most needed / appreciated by your customers * If you into true innovation (true innovation being hitherto unknown, has no existing customers), go survey yourself if your innovation is worth paying for. And how much. And then go figure how you will bring your idea to the market. And how much that would cost. * If you are not into “true innovation”, save the dollars (or what is left). Study why your predecessors have succeeded or failed. Now come up with a true innovation twist that will propel you to a success level four times the leader. Go back to the previous bullet. * Money, leveraged several times over, has been available cheap. Several school “science fair projects” have become startups. Whether you work in a fortune 100 or a garage startup, the law of the bell curve applies. 99% of startups will not become a google or microsoft or hp. Chances are you are not in the remaining 1%. So, what is your backup plan ? No, seeking more funds will not help. Try to do something that the society really needs. Again, this need not be something you love. and vice versa.

By: Competitive Differentiation Could Help Your Startup Survive | KillerBlog

Competitive Differentiation Could Help Your Startup Survive | KillerBlog — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:17:49 +0000

[...] at GigaOM, there’s a very interesting article about Competitive Differentiation, which could help your startup stay afloat. Here are some [...]

By: Why a cheap Mac netbook would be a mistake | paulwallbank.com

Why a cheap Mac netbook would be a mistake | paulwallbank.com — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:55:48 +0000

[...] It’s a lesson for all businesses in this economy. Focus on your core market and your margin. Giga Om has a good guide to “competitive differentiation”. [...]

By: pit

pit — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:03:27 +0000

you are trying to explain where you should become angry for a reason. you are not even scratching the surface of the problem. the type of economy which has lead us into these problems, is inflicted by the interest of shareholders, who invested money which was not their own, excessive ammounts of generated capital eager to find a place to make profits which are not possible in the old fashioned sectors of production any more. (car industry?) venture capital became part of the cancer of civilisation which the financial industry turned into, a risk for humanity and not just for a few startups. go back to start with your insufficiant skill sets and MBAs.

By: Jijesh

Jijesh — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:53:14 +0000

While I agree broadly with this post I think the key challenges due to this economic hard time are: 1. Shrinking top-line 2. Dwindling and unpredictable cash-flow 3. Expensive capital 4. Customer pressure to reduce cost, and 5. Customer pressure for higher performance

Broadly speaking paying attention to "what you do well," and managing your cash flow are the only two factors that matter.

By: 10012

10012 — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 23:32:15 +0000

Why would you retire debt if cash is king?

By: shyam

shyam — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:54:16 +0000

Never thought of retiring debt as one of the options, which is a damn neat call. Agree with most other points too, overlaps with some I'd made here.

There is a huge premium out there for guys who can make through the darkness, so everything/everyone has to be retooled to purely survive first, than to do a scorched earth 'reduce-headcount-by-x%' policy.

Another positive is that this will hit the big guys equally bad as much as the start ups, making it even more important to just survive.

Of course, the million dollar question is to know where the bottom really is on this.