A Different Corner

Recently, I moved on from the outstanding institution of SAP to join a startup – MarketsandMarkets (MnM). A run of almost 5 years at SAP has been an endearing experience – it is an organization rooted in human values and stands out for equity and fairness. So why leave? Especially at a time that is so challenging, and grief stricken for all of us. The answer is simple – the importance of foresight. A capability whose need cannot be understated in today’s world – and something I am keen to help the world develop in my own small way.

I believe the speed with which our world is changing is bringing us to a different corner – and MnM is a market intelligence and research firm focused on helping businesses look around the corner through a unique intelligence platform. In this I see great purpose in today’s world.

Adding Unicorns at a blistering pace through the Pandemic, India now apparently has 40 of them. When we experienced the global financial crisis, their weightage in the combined market cap of India Inc was nonexistent. Today – they account for 5% of this value. Imagine this rate of change in a short decade! Plot this trajectory into the future – where do you think it’s going?

Let’s look farther afield. As we entered the 21st Century, the rapidity with which players like Nokia, Blackberry, Kodak and many others went from dominance to irrelevance in their chosen markets was symptomatic of a deeper phenomenon, which I believe we are just beginning to understand. In 1975, a company’s lifespan on the S&P 500 was close to 40 years. Today it is already sub 20 and shrinking further. Launched this month, the Daniel Kahneman co-authored book – “Noise” offers a treatise on errors in human judgement. Perhaps the biggest challenge of the 21st century (given the extraordinary speed of both technological changes, as well as the nonlinear nature of risk), nations/societies/businesses will not have second chances. There is little leeway anymore to get decisions wrong – and somehow in this environment, small has become beautiful, viz the extraordinary impact of start-ups. Why is this?

I have a theory – one which has guided the career decision I have just made. The age of centralized decision making is over – just like in a technologically interconnected world, computing is moving to the edge; in the globally interconnected world of business, decision making is moving to the edge. The butterfly effect is truly mainstreaming due to the power of global interconnections. Imagine, the Pfizer vaccine has 283 components coming from 86 suppliers in 19 countries! Truly no man (and especially no business) is an island anymore. Organizations will need to enable and empower micro leaders at the edge of the enterprise to take fast and effective decisions – else they will lose relevance. Consequently, the concept of the “Think Tank” will move into the private sector – with members of an organization’s think tank being derived from multiple levels and functions, while carrying one common characteristic. The Growth Mindset. What could happen as a consequence?

In the last 5 years, NVIDIA has doubled revenue by focusing on the significance of the computing power required by graphic processing units in deep neural networks. Lightweighting in the automotive sector has become one of the largest market opportunities for chemicals companies as BASF is demonstrating. Memphis Meats with its focus on plant based meat substitutes recently crossed $ 2 BN valuation as it completed its Series B. SAP took the niche experience management capability of Qualtrics to an unbelievable $ 27 BN IPO.

Now, let’s just revisit the old stories of the Nokias and Kodaks and Blackberrys. These were organizations that triumphed in the industrial age of the 20th century – where we grew up on Paretoing the 80:20 idea. Focus on 80% of your business and make this extraordinarily efficient. This concept actually changed dramatically in the 21st century – 20 is the new 80. Hidden in the 20% of the business we have been trained to ignore lies the weak signals of the future market. This is where I believe MnM can help organizations globally. How?

By enabling laser sharp focus on the 20% - and the markets that are beginning to emerge from within this. By putting this knowledge into the hands of micro leaders at the edge of organizations through a breakthrough KnowledgeStore platform. By enabling these micro leaders to band together into a “think tank” the organization can use to pilot its growth journey. And therefore, by bringing the growth mindset into the boardroom of every company in a fashion that can be executed upon. This is a destination that is very exciting – and a future I am keen to be part of.

As the founder of MnM, Sandeep keeps saying – “If you give growth, growth will come back to you”.