I never thought toilets could be so interesting. They provide a rich example of thinking beyond traditional product concepts when pursuing innovation to unearth smarter systems innovations. A narrow view If this is the toilet, I thought, bring on the shower. On a work trip to Shanghai, P.R.C., my hotel room’s high-end bathroom included a combination electric toilet and bidet. Walking towards it, the seat cover rose, offering a heated toilet seat. After I selected water temperature, direction and pressure, integrated water and air jets washed and dried my derriere. I might have survived Girl Scouts had this toilet been available in its campground outhouse. Manufactured in Kyushu, Japan, Toto and its competitors have placed this high-end version of a necessity in 65% of Japanese homes, as of early 2008. The only other nation with high penetration is Korea, although judging by the…
Business model strength, not numbers, should drive Facebook’s valuation
Are investors making a fundamental mistake in using LinkedIn’s market capitalization as a reference point for Facebook’s potential value? Selling consumer ads (at least twice the market size of B2B ads) to a network over six times LinkedIn’s 135 million members, why shouldn’t Facebook’s value be $100 billion, about twelve times LinkedIn’s $8.4 billion market capitalization? Think again. About LinkedIn LinkedIn’s revenue increased 115% from 2010 to 2011, from $234.1M to $522.2M with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increasing from $48.0M to $98.7M. For six straight quarters year-over-year revenue growth exceeded 100%. Behind these powerful numbers is a smart set of business models. The business models are synergistic as each leverages LinkedIn’s social media platform, a platform about advancing careers. The platform connects professionals through vital professional histories, business-related articles and commentary. My daughter introduced me to her college life…
Business model lesson in Komen’s public relations disaster
Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, global leader of the movement to eradicate breast cancer, learned a painful lesson last week that we should all remember. An organization’s value promise must guide every decision it makes unless it has previously alerted stakeholders to caveats. Your value promise captures the beneficial outcome your organization aims to create for your customers. Komen promises donors a terrific feeling of making a difference, by allowing them to honor a friend or relative affected by breast cancer and by giving hope for better treatments and even a cure. A remarkably successful non-profit and the leader in the breast cancer space, Komen protects its coveted “pink” and “Race for the Cure” brand identifiers like a lioness guards her cubs. So powerful is Komen’s presence that for every US woman who correctly identifies heart disease as women’s greatest health risk,…
Do you have a strong portfolio of business models?
The news has gone from bad to worse. The bad news: Kodak, the company that fueled the growth of the photography industry is selling its patents. Not the patents for intellectual property related to film photography, but its more than 1,000 patents for capturing, storing, organizing and sharing digital images, according to the Wall Street Journal. And the really bad news? Kodak has filed for bankruptcy. Yes, Kodak was that hard up for cash and did not find it. Its leaders failed one of the most important tests of strategic leadership – building a balanced portfolio of business models. Kodak invested in new business models too late. As film stopped delivering the riches, the printer/cartridge business model demanded too much cash for too many quarters, creating an unsustainable situation. A company can be viewed as a portfolio of different business models, each using…