article thumbnail

It’s Time To Stop VCs Driving Entrepreneurship

The Horizons Tracker

This has resulted in the share of overall employment in young firms falling from around half of the workforce in 1980 to just 39% by 2006. It runs the risk that startups targeting niche problems get crowded out in favor of those forced to chase mass market problems. in 1985 to 5.3%

article thumbnail

Finding the Sweet Spot Between Mass Market and Premium

Harvard Business Review

A decade ago, the Mach 3 razor was Gillette’s premium offering for men, until the Fusion line was launched in 2006 at a 40% price increase, followed by the Fusion ProGlide in 2010 and the Fusion Proshield Flexball in 2016—to name a few of the brand’s major releases.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

At the High End, Reaching a Mass Market

Harvard Business Review

In 2006 Peter Gelb, general manager of the Met, introduced a revolutionary new offering for the 130-year old opera house: broadcasting its performances live in high-definition to movie theatres across the world. Globally, over 1 million people have visited an Affordable Art Fair. million worth of art.

article thumbnail

Why Elon Musk’s New Strategy Makes Sense

Harvard Business Review

The first installment had been written in 2006. The second installment moves Tesla beyond the traditional car market, with a plan to reconfigure our cities, energy systems, and our impact on the environment. They then moved into the luxury market where they applied plenty of competitive pressure with the Model S.

article thumbnail

Your New Hit Product Might Be Underpriced

Harvard Business Review

Playmobil priced its play set far too low, which allowed customers to make money from it in the resale market. Another noteworthy minivation was Audi’s Q7 luxury SUV, launched in 2006 for €55,000. The luxury SUV that set a record for pre-sales. At the time, gasoline prices were soaring and sales of large SUVs had declined.

article thumbnail

Cable Providers Win Even in an a La Carte World

Harvard Business Review

And while the networks reach all those households, they don’t have to market to all of them. “[Cable networks] don’t want to deal with the mass market,” Hazlett says. The service providers are doing that for them by selling subscriptions with their channels. ” So where does that leave the cable providers?

Hedge 9
article thumbnail

10 TED Talks to Help You Reimagine Your Business

Harvard Business Review

Leading business and marketing practitioner Seth Godin imagines a world where the mass market dies, where mediocrity holds no economic value. While much of Godin's thinking has come to bear true in our social media-induced world, this TED Talk will get you thinking differently about where you spend your marketing dollars.

Godin 8