We have been working recently on the positioning of our new nano products in preparation for their launch into a number of territories when we came across this pictorial (Roger J. Best, 2012). While an interesting conceptual framework, my reaction was that Market Share is not just Product Position X Marketing Effort. What’s missing is […]
I first learned to create spreadsheets in 1987 when I was working for Citibank Venture Capital group. I was an eager young MBA student using the latest Compaq computer. It had all the latest technology, including two floppy drives (amazing, I know) and an orange, six-inch monochrome monitor. Incredibly, it was portable! Carry it with […]
Phommeny Khamsing. Oleriovics Pavvilovsky. (Actual names given to me. They have not been changed to protect the fraudsters). These are but two characters who have recently purported themselves to be investors to me, but turns out, not surprisingly, that they are not. They are among the breed of those hunting the naive or desperate to defraud them […]
I read a post on Linked In that espoused 5 reasons why VC’s will be crushed by crowdfunding. https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2207837/2207837-6171038551375900672 I beg to differ. Here’s why: My first VC job was in 1987, so I’ve been around the business long enough to see both the strengths and pitfalls of the VC industry, and I have been […]
Cuba Gooding Jr. delivered one of the most famous lines in movie history to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGYk0nf4Ono He wasn’t interested in talk anymore. He just wanted to see the contract. He wanted Jerry to deliver the goods. This is a valuable lesson in selling, and one I came across this week. About […]
When building your business, market yourself and your products keeping the Bulls Eye strategy in mind. Here’s how it works. Each ring represents how close you are to a prospect. Note that I didn’t say customer, because a customer is someone you’re already doing business with. A prospect is someone you want to do business with. […]
I find myself unexpectedly in London. Back in May when I was home in Toronto, I booked some flights, first to Greece to visit our partners Mobiak, and then to Riyadh. Yesterday I commenced the return portion of the tickets on my way back to Toronto for some Christmas holidays. I had a connection at […]
Competition is so fierce in today’s business world you must assume that someone is always trying to take your customers away, figuring out how to do what you do for less, and doing what you do but better. The pressure to innovate, deliver value and keep customers coming back is more important than ever. It […]
In the early 1900’s the primary mode of transportation in North America was horse-drawn carriages, and buggy whips were widely used to give the pony a little extra incentive to keep moving. But along came the automobile and soon after the horse drawn carriage industry was gone and buggy whips became a symbol for technological obsolescence. […]
My good friend Giuseppe is a generous and interesting man. As a young engineer in his late twenties he was working in Rome helping design a water desalination plant for a client in Saudi Arabia. His company asked if he would like to go there for six months to one year maximum. He agreed, and […]
Dan McLaughlin - 