I have spent this week out in California with a new client and have been introduced to runner the foothills of Mission Viejo. Running my nice flat miles in Michigan is nothing compare to two-three mile steady ascents! I can now see the utility Brad Feld finds in his Garmin Forerunner.

This grueling week of running and working with my client, a “new market” mortgage start-up, got me thinking about what makes winners in business. I use this analogy:

Market winners are good climbers. If you look at endurance sport champions you see “good climbers,” runners and cyclist (i.e., Lance Armstrong) that know how to get very efficient and maintain form throughout sustained ascents. This translates into gain ground on leaders or extending distance on followers in the race.

Business is no different. If you know how to quickly get more efficient and maintain form (customer experience) in harder markets you will gain market share. This is what Kaleidico is doing for our clients showing them how to get more efficient in starting-up or expanding their business into Internet channels, while maintaining their form.

The emerging opportunity in maintaining form in this emerging mortgage market is getting the mortgage Internet experience closer to the Internet experience customers are accustomed to in this channel, the Amazon, PayPal, EBay experiences that deliver point-of-sale satisfaction.