Comments on: 3 Qualities That Add Up to a Successful Product

By: Zigurd

Zigurd — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:23:44 +0000

Ringtone revenue peaked in 2007 http://bit.ly/11M9JV and has been in decline since then. Mobile application prices have declined, too.

The business model problem is not confined to users of Web browsers. And, anyway, the smartphone breakout into consumer markets is driven by Web browsers.

By: web

web — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:59:55 +0000

Its like the story about the engineer (this is as closely as I can recall it) who was called in to trouble-shoot a problematic circuit. He studies the problem for 5 minutes, grabs a pen and adds one line to the design of the circuit, then says, "That will be $1005 please." The boss says, "Thats outrageous, what for?" The engineer says, "Its $5 for the line and $1000 for knowing where to put it." People who dont know how to get a ringtone from their computer onto their phone, pay for ringtones.

By: Crick

Crick — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:54:51 +0000

The hare is fast to the tortoise, and standing still to the cheetah.
Speed isn’t everything.
I see Mr. Verwaayen’s point as, “you need your skates on fast enough make it to the race.”
Once in the race, there are other factors than sheer speed that make up the winners’ circle”

By: John Bartell

John Bartell — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:54:20 +0000

Where is the competition (perhaps in that comment about speed)? When customers have lots of choice, there is lots of competition, and products are perceived as largely undifferentiated, then profits are hard to deliver (content on the Web). When customers have little choice, there is virtually no competition, and products are highly differentiated, then profits are substantial (Microsoft Windows).

By: Shankar Saikia

Shankar Saikia — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:45:37 +0000

MOTHERHOOD & APPLE PIE!

This is basic stuff (speed, relevance to customer and business model) … absolute motherhood and apple pie that we all know and understand. The one nugget is that “telecom” missed everything.

By: vinai kashyap

vinai kashyap — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:53:25 +0000

Why is speed so important? Often time the successful products are not the first ones to market, but those that have been executed well. Or am I missing the point?

By: Atle Iversen

Atle Iversen — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:41:50 +0000

Sorry, cannot agree with this.

The ONE quality that makes a successful product is “relevance to customers”; a successful product solves a problem/need/pain for the customer (including the need to have fun with a “fart” application or silly ringtone)

– Speed: How many years did MS use to remove Wordperfect from the market ? How many years did Google take to become no. 1 ?

– Business model: What business model did Google have in mind ? Adwords came much later..If you have a product that will solve a problem for the customer, you’ll be able to find a viable business model.

By: gbp

gbp — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:31:58 +0000

Ben is a smart guy. His speeches usually end up as townhall discussions.
He was Vice-Chariman of Lucent back in 2000 time.
I hope Alcatel Lucent will get back to their glory days.