Are you a Wolverine | What happened to this disruptive wedtech | You are invited to
Gumi & Company
We are improving the world through ventures and technology, with people ; ) Join us!
In today's letter;
A few years ago, I came across an innovative product that would revolutionize the wedding industry. The product would bring food ordering and delivery experience to weddings. It was tested, it worked very well at its launch event, was used at a few events after, then nothing since.
What could have happened?
I had and have little information about this product but, if I assumed what went wrong, it could be that:
??The product did not achieve a strong product-market fit. Perhaps, the product was more suited to some types of event which it wasn’t tested at or introduced to. A more thorough market research and product idea validation, while iterating based on continuous user feedback, would have achieved stronger product-market fit
??The product encountered operational and scalability issues that hindered it from meeting demand and delivering the seamless user experience it promised at its launch. Data-driven financial forecasting could have provided valuable insights to allow the team estimate and plan for resources, anticipate cash flow needs, identify cost drivers, and estimate potential return on investments, all of which would have helped ensure operational readiness and scalability
?? The marketing and go-to-market strategy (including pricing) may have been ineffective in reaching and acquiring new customers. A comprehensive go-to-market and marketing strategy could have developed initiatives to build the brand, strategically target and engage the right customers, and build effective acquisition channels.
I will surely toast to the team’s resilience and learning mindset if I notice them at any future events but, till then, I guess I will continue yelling out my order to the waiters (through the loud music) and watch it get delivered to another table, or not at all ??
A ton of articles go on about how large companies are giants with feet of clay, tottering and running the risk of perilous failure if they do not adapt the exponential technologies that underpin digital transformation.
However, I think leaders of these large organizations probably have underground club meetings where they meet at night, laugh and shout cheers (or skol) because of a few inherent advantages they have, being as large as they are for as long as they have been.
What makes them laugh? First off, data moats i.e., the loads of enterprise data that they have in comparison to newer organizations. Case in point, imagine the first afternoon the newly minted Chief Information Officer of a four decade-old Nigerian insurance player decides to work magic with the volume of data they have, the relative speed that they have over upstarts in collecting this data, all under the shining light of Metcalfe’s Law - which in this context translates to the understanding and implication of the value of enterprise data increasing exponentially with scale.
Another thing they probably cheer and laugh about is access to sizeable capital for investment in building digital transformation solutions to drive superior growth performance. This same capital can be used for hiring better data science and analytics talent, to solve more interesting problems for a larger size of the market (remember they have been building a market base for longer).
The combination of these data moats and access to capital form such an outsized advantage that can’t be underestimated by competitors and especially new market entrants. Imagine Wolverine fighting a lightweight UFC fighter.
While Wolverine may not look as young and flashy as the UFC fighter, and while he may be half-asleep, there is probably a time he wakes up, gathers his friends at their underground drinking jaunt, laughing and cheering because they know that when morning comes, with Adamantium (data) bonded to their skeletons, they are going to kick your....
领英推荐
Zenith Bank Plc?was trending?on social media last week. The bank was reported to have increased employee salaries by a whopping 100% as a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) move- to counteract inflation and the effect of other economic actions..
Zenith isn’t the only organization to have responded in this way, as at the beginning of subsidy removal, it was reported that?Guaranty Trust?also made COLA moves for their junior officers.?
So.. what is an organization that is also experiencing a harsh economic climate to do when it has good intentions but not nearly as much bank as Zenith or GTB?
?? Some increase is better than none at all. Reviewing salaries in response to changes in cost of living is good practice. For organizations that don’t have any policies in service of this, now is a good time to start. Reference points are changes in the cost of living index, inflation rates, and also compensation insights from peers in the industry.
?? Tailoring work arrangements. Most companies went remote/hybrid for the first time because of COVID-19, and the argument for it was very clear. While economic challenges do not an epidemic make, they are still grounds to put in place work arrangements that while ensuring jobs are done, also help to cushion some of the effects of the current situation. This requires some consultation with employees as well as consideration of work needs, to find an in-between that is practical and productive.
??Acknowledge the situation officially and state what the organization will do to aid employees. Even the first bit on its own (acknowledgement) goes a long way.
??Fourthly, and this can’t be?emphasized enough. The most important thing any organization can do is to focus on?#innovation, i.e. how it can do things better in order to increase its value creation (and by implication its reward for doing so).
Situations like this affect businesses, often leading to downturns/deaths. Survival and growth must remain?top of mind for organizations, and considering awarding/implementing COLA allowances is one of the best/most foundational things it can do for its people.
?How has your organization responded to changing economic conditions? What are your recommendations for it?