During a recent discussion about the new companies (I hesitate using the term 'startup.' Why is that?) buzzing around the Bay Area the topic of new product development came up.
Some firms cannot stop innovating new products/services. They love their customer and they want to deliver the world, so they create new offerings, new services, new payment models. New new new.
My experience as the Director of Product Marketing for a fast-moving startup (gulp) in 2000 was that introducing new products made it hard to market those already in the mix. Sure, the new products we're a good for our customers and fit into our core-business, but the challenge was time. Let's say with 20 offerings each gets an hour. If you're driving 5 offerings each gets 4 hours. Hmm. If you can succeed on all 20 with that single hour by all means, rollout now. If.
Our company faced the challenge of advancing each fantastic, interesting new product an inch each day when it needed a yard to gain traction. Many factors outside of our control sealed our fate, but this one made things that much more challenging.
On the other side of the specturm, many firms don't seem to innovate new products at all. This is slowing growth by either a little or a lot, and usually is part of the culture of the organization. This doesn't mean a consulting agency should start selling lawnmowers, but simply start thinking new. The fastest way to break out of this rut is to talk with 3 customers and ask them what they do with your product, how they use it, what else they want it to do, and what else they'd like you do do. Mow their lawn? Well, that's a start.
Kind of a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation.
Anesthesia machines
Posted by: Frank Caufield | May 18, 2009 at 03:31 PM