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Why Startups Fail: Six Issues to Avoid

Leading Blog

The four elements in the diamond collectively specify the opportunity : what the venture will offer and to whom; its plan for technology and operations; its marketing approach; and how the venture will make money. Marketing: How much to spend on marketing. Customer Value Proposition: This is the most important.

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Apple: Luxury Brand or Mass Marketer?

Harvard Business Review

It’s easy to make a case that Apple is now positioning itself to become more of a provider of luxury-level technology. To understand the cost of Apple products that we associate with mass market success, we mapped the U.S. But is that really right? Income data is from the U.S.

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It’s Time To Stop VCs Driving Entrepreneurship

The Horizons Tracker

Engines of creation. One could certainly be forgiven for not recognizing such a picture, especially if you’re a regular reader of the technology press, which features a daily exposition of the vast sums being raised by startups around the world. This gummed-up process of innovation is not confined to big-company transformation.

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The Internet of Things Needs Design, Not Just Technology

Harvard Business Review

” will be difficult for many companies to achieve — not for lack of technological expertise but because they’ll fail to recognize the value of design in connected product development. applications pushed technology to address B2B market requirements. This evolution to “Internet of Things (IoT) 2.0”

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Users Are the New Growth Engine

Harvard Business Review

Today it's rare to find a CEO who won't acknowledge the impact digital technology is having on their business. The purchasing habits and attitudes of today's teenagers and twenty-somethings are completely different from those exhibited by today's mass market. This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Growing the Top Line.

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How Do Consumers Choose in a World of Automated Ordering?

Harvard Business Review

The term “frictionless commerce” is widely used to describe how digital technologies are blending product purchases seamlessly into consumers’ daily lives. As the mass marketing age fades, create brand friction via increased use of membership models and event-driven marketing. Image Source/Getty Images.

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How Volvo Reinvented Itself Through Hiring

Harvard Business Review

Its cars didn’t match up well with those of top luxury brands like Mercedes, BMW, and Audi, yet the company lacked the capacity to compete with mass-market leaders like Toyota and GM. “Once, you needed mechanical engineers. Between 2011 and 2015, the company added 3,000 new people in engineering and development.