Sometimes the best business strategy is to stop innovating and just sell what you’ve got.
An old mentor used to say, “You have to take the roast out of the oven.”
Tagged: start-up RSS
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Bill Rice
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Bill Rice
Why aren’t there more technology incubators?
The “threshold resistance” to building (or at least proofing) a new business is nearly zero dollars. The challenge is getting smart people working closer together.
I think the opportunity is great than ever. It seems so many digital refugees and nomads have been created as a result of the recent/current recession–the ecosystem is fertile.
What do you think? Could a little corner of your office be a tech incubator?
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Bill Rice
In Case Anyone Wants to Know Kaleidico’s Strategy
From one of the smartest guys in the software business, Joel Spolsky:
I’ve never learned as much about business strategy as I did from the simple infantry concept called fire and motion (it’s also sometimes referred to as fire and movement).
Here is how it works. You fire at the enemy. That’s the fire part. And you move forward at the same time. That’s the motion. Get it?
You’re firing because then your enemy has to take cover. He can’t fire back at you when he’s cowering behind a wall. But firing is not enough. You also have to move forward, or you won’t make any progress. Moving forward brings you closer to the enemy. And closer enemies are easier to hit. You need both — fire and motion — to accomplish anything. Almost every military tactic, whether it’s employed on air, sea, or land, is a variation on this fundamental pattern. Successful business strategies are based on fire and motion, too.
(Source: “Fire and Motion,” Inc.com, April 2008)
I was in the military too. Competitors, feeling any fire? We’re moving!
Jerry Neumann 12:34 pm on November 24, 2009 Permalink
Seems like there are new ones popping up all over the place, at least in NYC. In the past month I've been through three (or four, depending on how you define it) that are still 80% empty.
One of the problems being an incubator seems to be that determining who you want in the space is a harder decision than a VC or angel investment decision. Investing money, you can put in more or less and even put in a little and see how it goes before putting in more. If you're going to incubate, you make a bigger commitment: your time. I think it's hard to commit, say, $10,000 worth of your time and office space and, when that has been used up, decide to stop. You have less 'optionality.' So the decision whether or not to incubate can take a lot of thought.
Aside from giving some space to some people you know well already, running an incubator is probably a full-time job.
Bill Rice 12:48 pm on November 24, 2009 Permalink
Right, maybe just offering co-working space is a better concept.
I think you hit on another good point: Getting successes is as much about getting the right mix of skills and talent into the space.