Rocket Watcher by April Dunford

Steve Ballmer states that he wants Microsoft to “Invent everything that’s interesting on the planet.” Is that really a strategy that can work, even for a company the size of Microsoft?

Share Some of the most interesting ideas for new startups come from the intersection of markets.  If I look back at some of the V1 products I have worked on I see it over and over again.
One thing to keep in mind when developing the messaging and positioning around such products is to make sure [...]

ShareDavid Crow has a thoughtful post about how startups need to think through their exit strategy in order to make smarter decisions along the way to make it happen.  He talks about how he’s surprised that almost every startup he talks to has a plan to get acquired by one of the big guys.  Here’s [...]

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There is a lot of talk this week about the new Facebook redesign and how much some users dislike it.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg allegedly said that “the most disruptive companies don’t listen to their customers.”  On the surface this sounds completely insane!  We’re supposed to listen to customers, aren’t we?
Well, sort of, sometimes.
There [...]

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In my last post I said I was going to talk next about how to get
started with a decent segmentation.  In my practical experience the
whole reason you want to have a few target segments is so you can build company expertise around a particular business problem in a particular market.  This understanding helps you satisfy [...]

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I think most start-up execs don’t really believe in segmentation.
Sure, if I ask for their segmentation they dutifully blow the dust off
a fairly nice looking slide that shows what markets they are
targeting.  Then I look at the customer list and the two things don’t
line up whatsoever.  The execs know they’re supposed to have a
segmentation that [...]

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Seth Godin wrote a blog post a week or so ago that has some product management bloggers buzzing.  Seth is the master of the teeny weeny blog post, so here’s the whole thing for your reading pleasure:
Was Jackson Pollock a good painter? The critics at the time certainly didn’t think so.
Twyla Tharp’s London debut was [...]

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We’re in the middle of a recession and suddenly all of the smaller companies I’m talking to are concerned about whether or not they should be dropping their prices.  The thinking is that in times of tighter budgets, the lowest cost provider has a market advantage.  Is that really true?  And if it is, are [...]