Business & Product Series
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
Here are my musings on business and product development. I’ve organized some of them into categories such as “Business Advice from a Dog,” “CROP” (Concept, Runway, Operations, Profit or Pivot) and “What I’m Reading (Or Have Read)” but here’s the main page for all the business & product articles.
The picture above is from the Financial District in London at sunset. It struck me as everyone was leaving their busy financial lives for the day that the sun has been setting on human commercial interests for longer than we really know, and we cannot begin imagine all the business that it has seen. We take ourselves and the days’ business so seriously, but perhaps we should step back and consider what the sun has seen coming and going, and keep in mind that the planet knows a thing or two about humans and business. And perhaps we should give mother nature a little more thought, and gratitude, at the end of the work day.
John Dutton: Bunkhouse Leadership (Take some morals, leave some ethics)
Spoiler alerts: I've been waiting *months* to make sure all of my favorite Duttons survived. The anticipation was real. I might be a little too invested in the life and/or death of a not-real family but I'm gonna forgive myself for that; I have my reasons and my...
Servant Leadership
I am definitely in charge of my two dogs. Aren't I? I mean I'm the one with thumbs here. So how is it that these thumbs are somehow compelled to do things like open doors, dispense treats, food, and water, and scratch behind ears on command and on schedule...and I...
Perspective
One of the five P's in the Profit (or Pivot) optimization phase of CROP is perspective. Do we have the right perspective on the situation? Our perspective is our view on a situation, and it gives us a framework for interpretation and decision-making. It transfers bias...
Feedback
Puppies are exhausting. They need so much love and training and constant attention, and yet I love them. I can't foster any more puppies because I just fall in love with them and I have a hard time giving them over to someone else...and there's only so many dogs I'm...
A Modern (Agile) Marketing Mix
The Marketing Mix is rooted in a time when the sale of physical retail goods dominated the markets. In fact they were the markets because the Internet didn't exist when the Marketing Mix was conceived. So that's the paradigm it was framed in. As such, four "P's" were...
Hypothetically This Will Work
I did not like my Chemistry class in High School. In hindsight, it should have been fun. As an adult, I think I would love it. But for me, at the time, it was too much about theory and memorizing formulas and not enough blowing stuff up. I think education has evolved...
5 P’s to Profit…or Pivot
The final area of focus in the CROP model is Profit...or Pivot. How I came across 5 P's for this area is a bit of a long story involving a layover in New York, watching a random hotel TV interview, and a lot of subsequent experience so I'll cut to the chase: in order...
Now is now
My dogs have an amazing ability to be still most of the day. Mostly they nap beside me or at my feet while I work. We go outside a few times a day and they run around, wrestle, and chase sticks; sometimes they chew their toys or chase a ball, and after work we go to...
The 5 S’s of Operations
My first "grown up job" was in Operations, so I have a particular nostalgia for this area of business. In the 6 years I worked preparing for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games I was fortunate to work with some amazing professionals. I was fortunate to work in the...
Paving the Runway
After you've refined your concept, it's time to get ready to launch. I'll call this stage The Runway--because that's what it's called. This is where you get funding and get your product to market. The length of your runway is determined by the resources you have to...
Good to Great
Jim Collins published Good to Great in 2001. Two decades later, I still refer back to it regularly because it's built on solid principles that still apply. The whole book is great (get it?) but there are three things that influence my thinking nearly every day because...
The Lean Canvas & the CROP Model
Also called a 1-page business plan, the Lean Canvas is a concise way to organize and communicate key concepts regarding your venture. (See Running Lean and Scaling Lean by Ash Maurya) The Lean Canvas is more like an executive summary than a total business plan. Mark...
Subscribe to Business & Product
I write stuff when it comes to me, usually about once a week or so. If you’d like to be notified when there’s new business & product content, feel free to add your email address below. (I won’t share your information.)