Just back from LesBlogs 2.0 (funny how fast the iterations are, six months to 3.0?) - thank you Loic and everybody else!
When listening to what the gentlemen VCs/angels said, one thing struck me:
"There's a lack of ambitions among European startups!"
With that my (quirky) mind forked to what I often hear from VCs, business consultants and everybody else who are "experts" on staring up companies:
"What problem is your product going to solve?"
Without a good answer, then you're quickly written off.
Now, what about electric light? Were candles and kerosene lamps a problem?
What about the horse and carriage situation? Did the car solve a problem?
Did airplanes solve a problem?
Did the assembly line fix an obvious problem?
Not so. Suspect that the former technologies were fine, just fine. No problems present.
That transport was slow, workshops less than streamlined or the light low in lumens were not issues until new standards were set by the new and "unwanted" products.
So why not aim for something bigger than "solving a mere problem", something that would "move the world"?
Stop listening to the "experts".
Make a product nobody wants... yet.
That would be ambitious.
Exactly. Skate to where the puck is going to be.
Posted by: Richard Rodger | December 08, 2005 at 12:35
Excellent.
I wish I had a penny for every time a CEO told me "But it's worked fine for us for fifty years!"
Yeah, well... "fine" sucks.
These are the same cats who think that engaging in price wars with offshore importers is a good strategy.
Instead of innovating and constantly striving to make their products better, to connect with their customers better, they go into a weird defensive mode where suddenly, everything is about price. The first step is to look for cheaper manufacturing. The second step is to cheapen the product. The third step is to start either saying "no" to customers or charging them extra for customer service.
Next thing you know, they've become an exact replica of the lame, cheap competitor who copied their design and flooded their market with crap versions of their stuff.
The "need" is this: "Because we want to make (it) better."
Very cool post.
Posted by: olivier blanchard | December 08, 2005 at 15:29