Monthly Archives: November 2008
I came across an interesting article about mobile television takeup.Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T have all tried to launch mobile TV in the United States, but with takeup at only 1% of cell users it’s pretty easy to say that mobile TV has failed to prove itself to be an innovation.Sure people might find it to be a useful invention, but customers refusal to pay an extra $10-25 per month for it on top of their $40-80 monthly contract, proves that it is not a valuable innovation. So if in the current environment customers might only take up mobile television if it were free, what are the mobile operators to do?Stop offering mobile television as fast as they can….That might be a little problematic for Sprint, given that they just signed a $500 million deal with the NFL, but maybe they have an out.Why do I think that killing mobile TV … Continue reading
While most individuals and organizations natural reaction to an economic downturn is fear and retrenchment, they also present a time of great opportunity.Where would Microsoft be if they hadn’t continued investing through the downturn of the early 90′s?Microsoft may never have finished the hugely successful Windows 95.Where would Apple be if they hadn’t continued investing through the technology crash of 2001-2003?Apple may never have fully realized the promise of the iPod and subsequent iPhone.When a recession arrives, great opportunity presents itself:The unemployment rate increases (more available workers)Interest rates drop (lower cost of capital)People become fearful of losing their jobs making it easier to recruit from companies reducing or eliminating their innovation investments (increased labor mobility)People are more open to moving if a spouse’s job is eliminated or at risk (increased labor mobility)When a recession arrives, it is easier to acquire tax breaks or other incentives for expansion, new sites, etc. … Continue reading
I had the privilege yesterday to interview Shawn Frayne, a founder of Humdinger Wind Energy. This being the Internet Age, we didn’t have to wait until we could sit down in person to chat. Instead it was an almost commonplace phone to Skype, to mobile (Skype Forward) call from Seattle to Hong Kong.To my parents, I would say “I interviewed him by phone.”BackgroundHumdinger Wind Energy was inspired by Shawn’s discovery of the story of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse of 1940. From seeing video of this historic collapse, Shawn became inspired to try an alternative approach to generating electricity from wind energy. The genesis of the wind belt and subsequent founding of Humdinger Wind Energy Was the result of an initial goal 4 or 5 years ago to create an inexpensive wind generating device to power simple LEDs for lighting, or to recharge cell phones in Haiti. This original …
Wipro is coming to America, and Romania, and Egypt.It used to be that Wipro was an Indian company employing mostly Indians in India and that when they did an outsourcing deal with you, they would offshore the work to India.Times are changing though. An increasing number of potential outsourcing clients are becoming disillusioned with offshoring (especially for software development work). The reasons can vary, but include:Development overhead that wipes out most of the financial gainsFinding that senior development staff is better suited to coding than directing Indian subcontractorsTime zone hasslesLanguage barriersEmployee retention issuesI can’t say that I think this is a bold or innovative move. This is something that Wipro has to do or they will not be able to compete with IBM, CSC, Accenture, HP/EDS, etc. While doing a process analysis for a large UK-based financial and healthcare software company I personally witnessed some of the drawbacks and the … Continue reading
Hello all,I’ve posted the last of my notes from Business Innovation Factory (BiF-4), so I will now be returning to writing original blog posts for you. When Business Innovation Factory posts the videos from BiF-4, I will update all of my BiF-4 posts with links to the video for the speaker.If there are any topics you would like me to cover or you come across any interesting innovation articles that you would like me to comment on, please send them my way via the Contact Us link.All the best,Braden KelleyChief Innovation OfficerBusiness Strategy Innovation
Spoke briefly about the The Medici Summit.People at the Harvard Centennial on Monday/Tuesday changed their speeches based on the financial cris, but not here at BiF:We view risks differentlyInnovators and EntrepreneursPeople adjust behavior to the perceived risk around them:Example of German taxi drivers and the introduction of anti-lock brakesNo reduction in accidents despite this safety featurePeople drive faster, follow closer in response to this safety feature’s introductionApple’s $500 million investment in the Newton versus Palm’s spending $7 million on the Palm Pilot:Why did Palm spend so little?Because that is all they had left to spendWe think we can increase success by having (or spending) more money, but we can’tWhen we have more money, we spend it on trying to reduce the riskStrategy/PlanningResearching if anyone else is doing itIf they are, maybe we give up (falsely)What about Google? They weren’t the first to do search, other people were doing similar …
