Category: entrepreneurship

Why the order of what we build matters more now

Posted on by Steve Sammartino


When the connected society arrived on the back of the web, companies who made stuff moved to make networks to connect directly to their customers. But it kinda shows that they are more interested in the stuff they make, than the connections they need. The supply chain has moved from a set of separate steps, owned by different people, to a network which can be staffed by a single firm.

So what we see now is many companies who started by building connections, and added the product once the connection was established. They earned attention and now they plug in the products their audience needs to a system they control.

In a world where connection is the core asset, the latter strategy will become infinitely more poweful than the former. 

A simple Amazon strategy every business can implement

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Jeff Bezos Genius

The future is a pesky little thing to predict. Much of it will surprise us no matter how well versed we are in emerging technology. A lot will change 10 years from now in ways we just couldn’t imagine. But, some things won’t change, and it is easy to know what these things are. So much so that this is a key question Amazon leader Jeff Bezos bases large parts of business strategy on:

“What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?…. You can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time…. In our retail business, we know that our customers want low prices, and I know that’s going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want a vast selection. It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says; ‘Jeff, I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher’ [or] ‘I love Amazon; I just wish you’d deliver a little more slowly.’ Impossible.”

And it is clear to see that while they use technology to make these things possible, the future is predictable and something Amazon or any business can build their strategy and infrastructure around. Jeff said this 4 years ago at the Amazon Web Services forum. With 40% of that 10 year window expired, and I’d say it’s all still true. Seems he has predicted the future, just by flipping the question.

So the only question remaining for your business or startup is this: What things can you be working on that just won’t change?

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This will change your perception of brand loyalty forever

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Loyal dog

Brand loyalty is a strange thing, it seems like it is a bit back to front to me. Powerful and large corporations expect you to be loyal to them. But ‘we’ are the one’s who feed them with our money. If a dog should be loyal to it’s owner – those that feed it – then surely brands should be loyal to us?

Here’s another error companies make when it comes to loyalty. They are loyal to marketing methods, social forums and their infrastructure. If there is anything a brand should have total disloyalty to it’s the methods in which they go to market. They are just tools. And tools should always be replaced when a better method arrives. Especially when the objective is serving others.

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Dev Diner -a radical resource

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I recently met Patrick Catanzariti aka ‘PatCat’ the founder of Dev Diner who really gets the need for collaboration. We had a chat about all things tech, the future of work and jobs, and how we all need each other. We need our different skill sets, so we can navigate and build the future we want. Hackers need Hustlers, who need Hipsters…. it doesn’t matter if you cut code, or hack media for free PR – we can’t do it alone. Pat is trying to bring people with tech skills to the market place and help them realise their value.

We had a little chat about all things, tech, culture, startup and future below.

Agile is a mindset, not just a software development method

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

how to MVP

If you work for a big company, there’s a good chance your IT department is rapidly moving from a Waterfall Methodology to Agile for software development. While the movement is not new, it certainly is gaining traction with large corporates. But here’s how it could become a lot more effective:

Replace the word ‘software’ with ‘project’.

I truly believe the Agile method can be applied to most projects, and not just those involving code. It’s simply a better way of doing things in a rapidly changing world. And if you don’t believe me check out this incredible resource: Agile in a Nutshell.

This is not only a great way to learn about Agile development, but it’s also a great referral guide while knee deep in the project. Even if you’re not in software development I’d highly recommend reading it and just replace the word ‘software’ with ‘project’. Do this and I’m sure you’ll see ways in which your startup or Big Co can move faster and more effectively that can seriously be game changing.

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How to Start Small to Grow a #MASSIVE Company

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

One of my totally favourite projects is working with Pollenizer getting startups off the ground and doing corporate venturing. The biggest challenge many entrepreneurs and pretty much every big company trying to get internal startups going is understanding why small is beautiful. Unless the initial business is small enough to test, weird enough to get attention, and easy enough to try in an analogue fashion, then we’ll never get off the ground. We need to think #antiMASSIVE first.

Here’s some of my thoughts on the topic.

 

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The startup toothbrush test

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

oral b toothbrush

When something is new, it is easy to get blinded by the newness and confuse whether people really need it. Here’s a simple test Larry Page employs – The toothbrush test. Will people use it as often as they use their toothbrush? And lets hope that’s twice a day! 

When something is totally new, the biggest enemy is the inertia of doing nothing. It’s much harder than getting people to switch to a substitute. A substitute only has to be a better value equation. Something which is a step change needs to be life changing to the point where it becomes a new daily ritual.

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