Category: Entrepreneurship

Business Model, Entrepreneurship

Some Advice for Start-ups with Ad based Biz Models

I believe that start-ups that are working on ad-based revenue models are in for a rude shock. In my opinion, this model has lead to the demise of one too many interesting start-ups. Some reasons for me to having arrived at this decision are as below: Advertising industry itself is going through a major tectonic shift and will need to re-discover itself in a new avatar before it can support any new business model. Having an ad-based revenue model is worse than having no revenue model at all as it provides start-ups with an illusion of revenue sooner than it […]

Business Model, Entrepreneurship, Innovation

Lessons from a Failed (Billion Dollar) Business Model Innovation Attempt

In May this year, Better Place, an auto tech company filed for bankruptcy, burning close to a billion dollars. They had a brilliant solution to a complex problem. Their idea was to replace fossil fuels with batteries – literally. What this meant was that as you re-fuel your cars with gasoline, you could get your batteries changed at a fuel station. This was in stark contrast to all the other start-ups in this space, who have been working on increasing the range of their batteries to go longer distances or increase the speed at which one could charge the batteries […]

Entrepreneurship, Ideas

Disrupting the paints industry…

What happens if the cement manufacturers start doing research and find a way to add color to the concrete itself? Will consumers accept this approach to color their homes? I do not know if this will disrupt the paints industry, but sure will open up a lot more opportunities for the cement companies to differntiate their offerings (as currently, all cements look the same and the only differntiation is in the branding). Add to this, if the cement manufacturers find a way to create concretes blocks with designs in different colors, I am sure that will make an interesting phase […]

Entrepreneurship, Ideas

The Art and Science of Timing Decisions

This is a very interesting post by Jonathan. He talks about the two differing points of view on decision making – Instintive decisions (as argued by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Blink” and taking time to make your decisions (as argued by Frank Partnoy in his book “Wait: The art and science of Delay”. In my opinion, what style you use to make decisions is mainly a function of your personality. For example, I prefer instinctive decision making and that has worked really well for me. So, we should reflect about our own personality and use what works best for […]

Business Model, Entrepreneurship, Ideas

The true potential of enterprise mobility

is when you re-think & re-design all your processes, work-flows for a world where everyone (yes, everyone) only uses a mobile device. How will all the processes (purchasing, invoicing, production planning, material handling, etc) change? How will the applications that you use change? How will your ERP system need to change? What will be the effect on how you manage production? How will you service your clients? How and where will your employees work from? What will your reporting change? Will you still require so many middle managers? Mobility offers you this possibility to re-wire, re-design and re-write the DNA of […]