This article was first published on Techbeacon. Sketches of new apparel styles for the next clothing season. Racks of sample garments scattered throughout the building. High-end workstations running apparel CAD. Rolls of multicolored fabric in the sample department. These were some of the sights that greeted customer development team members … Read More
The process of coming up with a multi-year product strategy often frustrates action-minded product executives. On one hand, this work is necessary to set long term goals and plot a path to success. On the other hand, product planning sessions often consume a great deal of time and energy. Worse, … Read More
A version of this post first appeared on Techbeacon.com. What is business strategy? Michael Porter presented a succinct definition in his seminal 1996 article in the Harvard Business Review: “The essence of strategy is choosing to perform activities differently than rivals do.” Strategy is how a company wins against the … Read More
This post originally appeared on Techbeacon.com. What do you do when tasked with making the US government work like a lean startup? “Just start,” advises Hillary Hartley. Or, as we say in startup country: “JFDI.” Hartley is the cofounder and deputy executive director of 18F, a government organization that causes … Read More
This post first appeared on techbeacon.com. When you think of Michelin, you probably think of tires. In particular, the tires you’re about to replace on your car. The 126-year-old French company evokes images of reliable, durable rubber tires for all kinds of vehicles. “Pushing the envelope” or “cutting-edge innovation” probably … Read More
This article originally appeared on Wired.com. Getty Images Google Glass exploded into the tech scene in 2012 with the pomp and circumstance of an Apple product unveiling. It put “wearable technology” into the lexicon of the masses. Accolades poured in from both the technology world and the fashion world. Celebrities, … Read More
When we start working on a new initiative (whether in a startup or corporate setting), the possibilities are often endless. Too often we don’t spend enough time choosing the right problem to solve. We proceed to solve it with a beautiful solution – but the problem itself turns out to … Read More
This post first appeared on xconomy.com. What does the word “startup” mean to you? Many words can come to mind: new, exciting, experimental, small, lean, agile, fast. To me, “startup” mostly makes me think of “agile” and “fast.” In an early stage startup, everybody is focused on the same thing. … Read More
This article first appeared on https://conceptspring.com/blog. What’s the number one challenge most product development teams face? Most teams would probably say: time. There is never enough time. Deadlines always come sooner than we want. How can we do more faster? When a product is relatively straightforward, the product team can … Read More
This article first appeared on Xconomy.com. February 2014 will go down in history as a month with two huge startup exits: Nest (acquired by Google for a whopping $3.2 billion) and WhatsApp (acquired by Facebook for an even more whopping $19 billion). If you haven’t caught the startup bug, there’s … Read More