Will you disrupt or be be disrupted? This is an often repeated refrain. After Clayton Christensen published his series of books starting with ‘The Innovators dilemma’ the story of simplified solutions upending complex expensive ones are common lore. Who has not discussed the long march of simple over complex – PC over mainframes, Korean over Japanese over American cars, E-Trade over Schwab over Merrill Lynch. Skype and other VOIP services over phone co’s. Square over Visa and Mastercard, Smartphone camera’s over Digital cameras over Kodak and Nikon.
Victor Belfor wrote this article 6 years ago and as I read it his prescriptions for staying relevant and competitive seemed as relevant (which is strange in a way in this fast transforming era):
1. Identify the function that most customers of your segment find most important.
2. Ask customers what needs they hope to address with your product.
3. Disrupt yourself with a simplified stripped down low cost version of your product.
4. Identify an existing market segment or invent one if not defined and ‘make it your own’.
When Eloqua was founded in Toronto in 1999, “marketing automation” was not a thing.
Every Company Is Up For Disruption, So Keep Your Products Simple https://tcrn.ch/2IDD4pQ
