Weekly Business Insights

Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines

Extractive summaries and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Since September 2017 | Week 350 | May 24-30, 2024 | Archive

Listen this week’s edition

Shaping Section | 1

Brazil, India and Mexico are taking on China’s exports

The Economist | May 23, 2024

3 key takeaways from the article

Extractive Summary of the Article

At last, it seemed time for a manufacturing take-off. Having struggled to compete with China’s industrial might, other emerging markets stood ready to benefit as their rival’s labour costs surged and rising tensions between it and the West pushed firms to look for new factory locations. Last year foreign direct investment into China fell to a 30-year low.

But China has started to fight back. To reverse an economic slowdown and cement its control over global supply chains, its leaders have launched an investment spree in high-tech goods, such as batteries, electric vehicles and other green devices. Weak domestic demand for traditional products, such as cars, chemicals and steel, mean they are also flooding global markets. The average price of Chinese manufactured exports fell by nearly 10% from 2022 to 2023. China’s export volumes have surged to near-record levels.  A few weeks later, on May 14th, the Biden administration unleashed a wave of tariffs covering everything from solar cells to syringes. Electric vehicles were hit with a 100% levy. China has other options for its exports, however—namely emerging markets that value friendly relations with it.

As a result, emerging-market policymakers are worried. Emerging economies are thus introducing import restrictions on Chinese goods, while accelerating a push for free trade elsewhere. Their success depends on the sustainability of China’s approach, as well as the deftness of their own.

Start with the free-trade side of things. Countries with manufacturing ambitions are desperate for access to big markets, where leaders are themselves keen to reduce reliance on China.  This emerging-market attempt to lower trade barriers with the West is happening at the same time as they are being raised with China. Officials see this as necessary to protect domestic manufacturers until China’s subsidy wave subsides.

Yet some Chinese goods are so cheap they have the lowest prices even with sky-high tariffs. Moreover, some products sneak past levies because they are packaged in third countries. That is why non-tariff barriers and import bans are also proliferating. 

Unfortunately for emerging markets, China is now at the technological frontier of manufacturing, providing another reason to avoid antagonising its leaders.  Even in India, where relations with China are frosty, plenty of officials recognise that Chinese investment is crucial for manufacturing.  A better alternative to flat-out protectionism may be to copy China’s strategy of coaxing firms to invest locally. 

Can this cocktail of strategies work? One factor is how long China’s export surge lasts.

Even if China were to reorient its economy, emerging markets would be wise not to place too much hope in manufacturing growth. Western countries may welcome more of their exports, but only up to a point. The West is in the midst of its own subsidy spree to revive domestic manufacturing. And American tariffs on Chinese goods are limited to just a few categories that count for $18bn in current imports; in other areas, Chinese competition will remain robust. The manufacturing take-off may have to wait a while longer.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. At last, it seemed time for a manufacturing take-off. Having struggled to compete with China’s industrial might, other emerging markets stood ready to benefit as their rival’s labour costs surged and rising tensions between it and the West pushed firms to look for new factory locations. Last year foreign direct investment into China fell to a 30-year low.
2. But China has started to fight back. To reverse an economic slowdown and cement its control over global supply chains, its leaders have launched an investment spree in high-tech goods, such as batteries, electric vehicles and other green devices.
3.  Emerging economies are thus introducing import restrictions on Chinese goods, while accelerating a push for free trade elsewhere. Their success depends on the sustainability of China’s approach, as well as the deftness of their own.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Global Economy, Tariffs, Technology, Emerging Economies, Manufacturing, Non-tariff barriers, Latin America, India, Brazil, Mexico, Competitiveness

Shaping Section | 2

Five ways criminals are using AI

By  Melissa Heikkilä | MIT Technology Review | May 21, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

Artificial intelligence has brought a big boost in productivity—to the criminal underworld.   Generative AI provides a new, powerful tool kit that allows malicious actors to work far more efficiently and internationally than ever before, says Vincenzo Ciancaglini, a senior threat researcher at the security company Trend Micro. 

Most criminals are “not living in some dark lair and plotting things,” says Ciancaglini. “Most of them are regular folks that carry on regular activities that require productivity as well.”

Cybercriminals have mostly stopped developing their own AI models. Instead, they are opting for tricks with existing tools that work reliably.   That’s because criminals want an easy life and quick gains, Ciancaglini explains. For any new technology to be worth the unknown risks associated with adopting it—for example, a higher risk of getting caught—it has to be better and bring higher rewards than what they’re currently using.   Here are five ways criminals are using AI now. 

1. Phishing.  The  biggest use case for generative AI among criminals right now is phishing, which involves trying to trick people into revealing sensitive information that can be used for malicious purposes.  For instance, Thanks to better AI translation, different criminal groups around the world can also communicate better with each other. The risk is that they could coordinate large-scale operations that span beyond their nations and target victims in other countries.
2. Deepfake audio scams.  Generative AI has allowed deepfake development to take a big leap forward, with synthetic images, videos, and audio looking and sounding more realistic than ever. This has not gone unnoticed by the criminal underworld.
3. Bypassing identity checks.  Another way criminals are using deepfakes is to bypass “know your customer” verification systems. Banks and cryptocurrency exchanges use these systems to verify that their customers are real people. They require new users to take a photo of themselves holding a physical identification document in front of a camera. But criminals have started selling apps on platforms such as Telegram that allow people to get around the requirement.
4. Jailbreak-as-a-service.  If you ask most AI systems how to make a bomb, you won’t get a useful response.  That’s because AI companies have put in place various safeguards to prevent their models from spewing harmful or dangerous information. Instead of building their own AI models without these safeguards, which is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, cybercriminals have begun to embrace a new trend: jailbreak-as-a-service.  Most models come with rules around how they can be used. Jailbreaking allows users to manipulate the AI system to generate outputs that violate those policies—for example, to write code for ransomware or generate text that could be used in scam emails. 
5. Doxxing and surveillance.  AI language models are a perfect tool for not only phishing but for doxxing (revealing private, identifying information about someone online), says Balunović. This is because AI language models are trained on vast amounts of internet data, including personal data, and can deduce where, for example, someone might be located.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Artificial intelligence has brought a big boost in productivity—to the criminal underworld.   Generative AI provides a new, powerful tool kit that allows malicious actors to work far more efficiently and internationally than ever before.
2. Most criminals are not living in some dark lair and plotting things. Most of them are regular folks that carry on regular activities that require productivity as well.  Cybercriminals have mostly stopped developing their own AI models. Instead, they are opting for tricks with existing tools that work reliably. 
3. Five ways criminals are using AI now: phishing, deepfake audio scams, bypassing identity checks, jailbreak-as-a-service, and doxxing and surveillance.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Crimes, Phishing, Deepfake, Identity checks, Jailbreak-as-a-service, Doxxing, Surveillance

Shaping Section | 3

The Six Choke Points That Can Upend Global Trade

By Alaric Nightingale | Bloomberg Businessweek | May 23, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

Whether it’s shoes, TVs or steel bars, there are vast economies of scale to be reaped from concentrating production in one part of the world, as long as you can ship goods safely and cheaply to where they’ll be consumed. The pandemic stress-tested that proposition.

But now global maritime commerce is facing the biggest confluence of risks in generations: wars in Ukraine and Gaza, China’s tense standoff with its biggest trading partner, the US, and disruption to key waterways because of climate change.

Drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants on cargo ships traveling through the Red Sea—the shortest route between Europe and Asia—are a case in point. Most container ships are being rerouted around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, and shipping rates have soared as a result, complicating the task of central banks in Europe and the US that are in the difficult last mile of guiding inflation back to target. Fitch Ratings estimated in February that the trouble in the Red Sea was likely to increase prices of US imported goods by 3.5 percentage points by the end of 2024.

Bloomberg News has identified six “choke points,” essential shortcuts that handle a disproportionate share of maritime trade, along with the risks they face, using data from Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker.

1. Bab el-Mandeb.  Share of global seaborne trade volume 8.7%.  Container, Cars, Oil product, and Crude Oil are the major trade categories.  Share of global seaborne trade volume through choke point is around $2 trillion.  Nowadays, navigating the 18-mile-wide waterway, the most important transit point to and from the Suez Canal and which handles more than 15% of all seaborne trade by value, is a perilous undertaking for different reasons. Since mid-November, the Iran-backed Houthis, who control northwestern Yemen, have launched a string of attacks on shipping that have included firing drones and missiles. As a result, most container lines have chosen to sail around Africa instead, adding almost 6,000 miles to the journey, or a fortnight of travel time. 
2. Strait of Malacca.  Share of global seaborne trade volume is 23.7% – Crude oil, Propane, Cars, and Dry Bulk are the major trade categories and trade in value is $2.8 trillion in value.  About 94,000 ships a year come through, many of them stopping at Singapore either to deliver cargo or to refuel. That turns the island state’s waters—and the approaches to them—into a vast parking lot, with huge tankers crossing paths with fishing vessels, raising the risk of collisions. Ships often need to slow down through the strait, which makes it easier for pirates to board them. What’s more, Indonesia and other nearby locations are known for volcanic activity, raising the prospect that at some point an eruption could force ships to divert course.
3. Strait of Hormuz.  Share of global seaborne trade volume 11.1% – Crude oil, Propane, Oil products, and natural gas are the major trade categories and trade in value is $1 trillion in value.  Take the price of oil, and double it. That’s probably a conservative short-term assessment of any scenario in which Tehran follows through on threats made down the years—including in 2005, in 2008, in 2011 and in 2019—to close the Strait of Hormuz. 
4. Danish Straits.  Share of global seaborne trade volume 3.9% – Crude oil, Oil products, and dry bulk are the major trade categories and trade in value is $600 billion.  About 45% of Russia’s seaborne oil exports must pass near the coastline of Denmark on their way to international markets. The waters here are relatively shallow and can be treacherous in bad weather.
5. Turkish Straits.  Share of global seaborne trade volume is 3.1% – Oil products, Crude oil, Chemicals and Dry bulk are the major trade categories and trade in value is $300 billion.  Russia is also a major user of Turkey’s narrow Bosporus and Dardanelles shipping lanes to move its oil and other commodities from ports in the Black Sea.  Fog-ridden and sometimes beset by strong currents, the Bosporus and Dardanelles are prone to shipping mishaps. Wildfires also forced the government to close the straits for two days in 2023 to allow emergency services to reach affected areas.
6. Panama Canal.  Share of global seaborne trade volume is 3.0% – Propane, Containers, and Cars are the major trade categories and trade in value is $600 million.  The Panama Canal is fed by a vast artificial lake—Lake Gatún—that allows the locks below to fill so ships can cut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Climate change has lowered Gatún’s water levels to the point where the authority that oversees transits has had to curb how many vessels can pass. 

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Whether it’s shoes, TVs or steel bars, there are vast economies of scale to be reaped from concentrating production in one part of the world, as long as you can ship goods safely and cheaply to where they’ll be consumed. The pandemic stress-tested that proposition.
2. But now global maritime commerce is facing the biggest confluence of risks in generations: wars in Ukraine and Gaza, China’s tense standoff with its biggest trading partner, the US, and disruption to key waterways because of climate change.
3. Bloomberg News has identified six “choke points,” essential shortcuts that handle a disproportionate share of maritime trade, along with the risks they face.  These choke points are: Bab el-Mandeb, Strait of Malacca, Strait of Hormuz, Danish Straits,  Turkish Straits, and Panama Canal.  Each faces a unique set of overlapping problems that could quickly turn an unforeseen incident into a more serious crisis.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Global Trade, Shipping, Trade Routes, Risk

Strategy & Business Model Section | 1

All Business Strategies Fall into 4 Categories

By Jerome Barthelemy | Harvard Business Review | May 23, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

The problem with strategy frameworks is that although they can help you determine whether a given opportunity is attractive or whether a particular strategy is likely to work, they generally don’t help you in the task of identifying the opportunity or crafting the strategy in the first place. As the legendary strategy expert Gary Hamel put it: “The dirty little secret of the strategy industry is that it doesn’t have any theory of strategy creation.”

To help fill the gap, this article introduces a categorization of potential strategies, based on an in-depth analysis of the strategy/creativity literature. In essence, all strategies fall into four groups, ordered here from the least to the most creative.

1. Adaptations of successful strategies from your industry.  A standout example of this approach is Shein, a Chinese company that has pushed the fast fashion concept to its limit. While traditional fast fashion companies such as Zara and H&M launch about 500 new items every week, Shein introduces 1,000 new items every day. Shein’s items are also 30–50% cheaper than the ones offered by its competitors.  The formula has been extremely successful: between 2020 and 2022, Shein’s share of the U.S. fast fashion market went from 18% to 40%.
2. Importing strategies from other industries.  Executives and entrepreneurs rarely look beyond the confines of their industry. This is a pity because a strategy that has helped exploit an opportunity or neutralize a threat in another industry can often be a source of inspiration. Analogies are easy to make when there are strong similarities between two industries.  Analogies are more difficult to make when two industries are very different. 
3. Combining strategies from multiple different industries.  In many cases, new strategies can also be created by grafting additional features drawn from other strategies onto the existing strategy. A good example is Spotify. Launched in 2008, it has grown to number over 500 million users in 2023, outperforming Apple Music by a factor of five. In addition to providing on-demand music, the Swedish streaming company enables users to connect with other users and artists. They can view the music their friends are listening to. They can share playlists and follow artists. In other words, Spotify has simply combined conventional music streaming and social networking in a single service. While it is first and foremost a music streaming service, the social network dimension fosters a sense of community that keeps users engaged beyond simply listening to music.  In other instances, entrepreneurs select features from two or more existing strategies, while dropping other features, to create something new. 
4. Strategies created from scratch.  It consists of novel strategies developed from first principles. As Elon Musk said, “boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there as opposed to reasoning by analogy.”  This involves a three-step process: (1) challenging conventional thinking, (2) breaking problems into their fundamental principles (i.e., their most basic elements or truths) and (3) creating new solutions from scratch. 

2 key takeaways from the article

1. The problem with strategy frameworks is that although they can help you determine whether a given opportunity is attractive or whether a particular strategy is likely to work, they generally don’t help you in the task of identifying the opportunity or crafting the strategy in the first place. As the legendary strategy expert Gary Hamel put it: “The dirty little secret of the strategy industry is that it doesn’t have any theory of strategy creation.”
2. In essence, all strategies fall into four groups, ordered here from the least to the most creative:  adaptations of successful strategies from your industry, importing strategies from other industries, combining strategies from multiple different industries, and strategies created from scratch.  Last strategy involves a three-step process: (1) challenging conventional thinking, (2) breaking problems into their fundamental principles (i.e., their most basic elements or truths) and (3) creating new solutions from scratch. 

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Strategy, Business Model, Decision-making, Creativity, Analogy, Thinking

Strategy & Business Model Section | 2

Moving past gen AI’s honeymoon phase: Seven hard truths for CIOs to get from pilot to scale

By Aamer Baig et al., | McKinsey & Company | May 13, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

The honeymoon phase of generative AI (gen AI) is over. As most organizations are learning, it is relatively easy to build gee-whiz gen AI pilots, but turning them into at-scale capabilities is another story. The difficulty in making that leap goes a long way to explaining why just 11 percent of companies have adopted gen AI at scale.  This maturing phase is a welcome development because it gives CIOs an opportunity to turn gen AI’s promise into business value. Yet while most CIOs know that pilots don’t reflect real-world scenarios—that’s not really the point of a pilot, after all—they often underestimate the amount of work that needs to be done to get gen AI production ready. Ultimately, getting the full value from gen AI requires companies to rewire how they work, and putting in place a scalable technology foundation is a key part of that process.

Seven things that Shapers need to know and do – an approach in which companies develop a competitive advantage by connecting large language models (LLMs) to internal applications and data sources:

1. Eliminate the noise, and focus on the signal. Be honest about what pilots have worked. Cut down on experiments. Direct your efforts toward solving important business problems.
2. It’s about how the pieces fit together, not the pieces themselves. Too much time is spent assessing individual components of a gen AI engine. Much more consequential is figuring out how they work together securely.
3. Get a handle on costs before they sink you. Models account for only about 15 percent of the overall cost of gen AI applications. Understand where the costs lurk, and apply the right tools and capabilities to rein them in.
4. Tame the proliferation of tools and tech. The proliferation of infrastructures, LLMs, and tools has made scaled rollouts unfeasible. Narrow down to those capabilities that best serve the business, and take advantage of available cloud services (while preserving your flexibility).
5. Create teams that can build value, not just models. Getting to scale requires a team with a broad cross-section of skills to not only build gen AI applications but also make sure they generate the value they’re supposed to, safely and securely.
6. Go for the right data, not the perfect data. Targeting which data matters most and investing in its management over time has a big impact on how quickly you can scale.
7. Reuse it or lose it. Reusable code can increase the development speed of generative AI use cases by 30 to 50 percent.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. The honeymoon phase of generative AI (gen AI) is over. As most organizations are learning, it is relatively easy to build gee-whiz gen AI pilots, but turning them into at-scale capabilities is another story. 
2. Getting the full value from gen AI requires companies to rewire how they work, and putting in place a scalable technology foundation is a key part of that process.
3. Seven things that Shapers need to know and do – an approach in which companies develop a competitive advantage by connecting large language models (LLMs) to internal applications and data sources:  eliminate the noise, and focus on the signal; it’s about how the pieces fit together, not the pieces themselves; get a handle on costs before they sink you; tame the proliferation of tools and tech; create teams that can build value, not just models; go for the right data, not the perfect data; and reuse it or lose it.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Productivity, Chief Technology Officers

Personal Development, Leading & Management Section | 1

To Navigate Conflict, Prioritize Dignity

By Merrick Hoben | MIT Sloan Management Review | May 20, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

Conflicts between businesses pursuing commercial objectives and communities defending their interests arise regularly and often inevitably, especially when companies don’t prioritize engagement with their neighbors. 

Leaders inclined to think strategically and competitively may believe that stakeholder management in these cases is a matter of outmaneuvering the other party through gamesmanship, but that is shortsighted. When corporate interests conflict with the needs and values of communities, we need to build better interactions among people, especially those intensely at odds with one another who also need to collaborate.

This is where augmenting dignity can help. By dignity, we mean our inherent sense of value, self-worth, and need to contribute and shape what matters most to us. Emphasizing dignity in conflict resolution doesn’t displace the tactics and strategies of classical interest-based negotiation, either; rather, it precedes them, prioritizing what drives human behavior.

Four interrelated practices that distill what’s needed most to sustain such dignity, thereby helping people navigate effective problem-solving and healthier collaboration. These four practices are:

1. Deepening acknowledgment can set organizations on a better path to problem-solving. As Donna Hicks writes in Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict (Yale University Press, 2021), acknowledgment happens when you grant people “your full attention by listening, hearing, validating, and responding to their concerns, feelings, and experiences,” creating a gateway to deeper engagement. Acknowledgment in this sense is not platitudinous empathy. Rather, it’s about naming tensions and core issues with an appropriate emotional tenor.
2. Strengthening agency helps parties understand and explore their own opportunities for shaping outcomes. As a facilitator in the Niger Delta, the author has seen deep tensions between communities and energy companies take a constructive turn once community members understand their real influence over both process and outcomes.
3. Building reciprocity keeps momentum alive through practices that encourage constructive, give-and-take behavior. These practices include the demonstration of genuine curiosity, skillful active listening, and conscientiousness with respect to what’s needed to understand the other side’s perspective better.
4. Ensuring clarity of path means stating next steps clearly and addressing understandable anticipation from participants.

3 key takeaways from the article

1. Conflicts between businesses pursuing commercial objectives and communities defending their interests arise regularly and often inevitably, especially when companies don’t prioritize engagement with their neighbors. 
2. Leaders inclined to think strategically and competitively may believe that stakeholder management in these cases is a matter of outmaneuvering the other party through gamesmanship, but that is shortsighted. When corporate interests conflict with the needs and values of communities, we need to build better interactions among people, especially those intensely at odds with one another who also need to collaborate.  This is where augmenting dignity can help. By dignity, we mean our inherent sense of value, self-worth, and need to contribute and shape what matters most to us.
3. Four interrelated practices that distill what’s needed most to sustain such dignity, thereby helping people navigate effective problem-solving and healthier collaboration. These four practices are deepening acknowledgment, strengthening agency, building reciprocity, and ensuring clarity of path.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Strategy, Stakeholders Management, Conflict Resolution, Energy, Mining Companies, Decision-making, Dignity, Empathy

Personal Development, Leading & Management Section | 2

9 Leadership Challenges In A Presidential Election Year

By Eli Amdur | Forbes Magazine | May 28, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

According to the author his 15 years of teaching leadership and communication courses in the MBA and MAS programs at Fairleigh Dickinson University spanned four presidential cycles plus the early run-up to a fifth. His students and he became keen observers, and – interestingly – identified nine leadership challenges that, for the most part, remain constant no matter how the players or times change.  And what it really comes down to is not just the issues, but how the candidates communicate them.

1. Vision.  The foremost leadership issue in any election year is the candidates’ ability to articulate a compelling vision for the nation’s future. That’s no different from any other time; it just comes to the forefront now.
2. Communication.  After vision, communication is the biggest leadership issue. Effective communication skills are essential for any leader, not just presidential candidates, but in this realm it’s magnified.
3. Policy.  What are the overarching stances that will support that vision? This is where vision becomes concrete and tangible.
4. Trust and Integrity.  Trust in any leadership is crucial, yet in the political arena it’s often fragile. Even more so in an election, when dialog becomes attack. Candidates must demonstrate integrity, honesty, and transparency in their actions and communications. Candidates’ histories matter, but so does the vulnerability of reality in an A.I. world.
5. Crisis Management.  Today’s world is one great big ball of crises – and they’re all intertwined. The ability to effectively navigate crises is a defining leadership aspect.
6. Diplomacy.  Presidential candidates must demonstrate the ability to engage with diverse audiences, both domestically and internationally, and negotiate complex issues with tact and judicious demeanor.
7. Inclusivity and Representation.  Leaders in a diverse society must commit to inclusivity and representation. Voters scrutinize candidates’ records on issues such as racial justice, gender equality, and immigration – and on how well candidates articulate these issues.
8. Judgment and Decision-Making.  Sound judgment and the ability to make tough decisions under pressure are fundamental aspects of effective leadership, but this is something that cannot be discussed. It can only be demonstrated. 
9. Collaboration and Bipartisanship.  With political polarization at the worst level that any of us have ever seen, it’s easy to resign ourselves to more of the same. Common ground is harder to find, as is compromise. But we’ve seen this before. We just have to look harder for it. Communicating this may be the toughest challenge.

2 key takeaways from the article

1. The author in his 15 years of teaching leadership and communication courses spanned four presidential cycles plus the early run-up to a fifth. His students and he became keen observers, and – interestingly – identified nine leadership challenges that, for the most part, remain constant no matter how the players or times change.  
2. And what it really comes down to is not just the issues, but how the candidates communicate them.  9 leadership challenges are:  ability to articulate a compelling vision for the nation’s future,  effective communication, what are the policies that will support that vision, trust and Integrity, ability to effectively navigate crises, ability to engage with diverse audiences, commitment to inclusivity and representation, sound judgment and the ability to make tough decisions under pressure, and collaboration & bipartisanship.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Leadership, Decision-making, Collaboration, Inclusivity, Diversity, Negotiation, Bipartisanship, Vision, Policies, Implementation, Trust, Integrity, Crisis Management, Diplomatic

Entrepreneurship Section | 1

5 Ways to Make Your Tech Startup to Stand Out

By Martin Roesch | Inc Magazine | May 27, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

The author has spent the bulk of his career in the tech startup world. In the late 1990s he developed the security software Snort and then launched the security software Sourcefire, which was later acquired by Cisco. Currently, he is the CEO of another security startup called Netography. He also serve as a board member of several other cybersecurity tech startups. 

Over the years, he has been repeatedly in a position of thinking about what it takes for startups to stand out amid market noise, category confusion, and louder voices from companies with more resources. Five suggestions that have helped tech startups find their niche and differentiate themselves. 

1. Make sure your idea is innovative.  As soon as a new technology starts to capture attention, the market gets flooded with companies trying to capitalize on it. But I have found that the seed for innovation often comes from examining why things are the way that they are, not chasing trends. 
2. Prioritize the customer.  Don’t fall into the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. Innovation alone isn’t sufficient; it needs to be proven, with actual users. Before you invest heavily in building the solution, validate your idea with your target audience.   Run your idea by potential customers, ask for feedback, and truly listen. If possible, get your solution in their hands so you can learn from actual user experiences. It’s better to know upfront if you are really onto something, or if you need to pivot before you sink time and money into execution to the exclusion of a better idea. 
3. Tell a compelling story.  You have multiple audiences you need to “sell” your solution to, including customers, investors, employees, and partners. You need a compelling overarching story that includes the current state of the market, the challenge, the opportunity, and how your company addresses the challenge in a new and more effective way.   Simplify the technical and, when you can, relate your approach to something these audiences are likely to be familiar with so that the story will resonate.
4. Seek out mentors.  Mentors on the industry side have a deep understanding of the technology area you are focused on, an informed perspective on how the industry has evolved and where it is going, brutal honesty when they foresee potential challenges on the horizon and creativity to help you think about how to approach and solve problems.  Mentors on the business side serve as great examples of how to be an effective manager and leader, which includes recognizing the talent you have in the organization and staying focused on the mission–building a great company. The experience they bring having worked successfully with investors, lawyers, and strategic partners can help you avoid costly mistakes.
5. Hire the best talent you can.  Recognize where you lack experience and surround yourself with people who complement your strengths and who you can watch and learn from. When times are tough, as they were during the dot-com bust and are today amidst current macroeconomic conditions, the flip side is that many great talents become available. Your company may be in a position to benefit. Scrutinize your needs and see if there’s an opportunity to bring in the right people to fill the gaps you have.

A key takeaway from the article

Standing out in a crowded tech environment will always be challenging, particularly for startups with limited resources. To find your niche, start with a truly innovative idea, validate it with customers, tell a story that resonates, and surround yourself with the right people to help you build a great company. 

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Startups, Technology, Marketing, Customers, Innovation, Mentor, Niche, Storytelling

Entrepreneurship Section | 2

5 Steps to Preparing an Engaging Industry Presentation

By Cyrus Claffey | Edited by Chelsea Brown | Entrepreneur Magazine |May 28, 2024

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read and/or Listen

Industry events are a chance to network with your colleagues and impress distributors — but to really make the most of your time at a conference, you need to learn how to prepare a presentation that engages, informs and leaves an impact.  The author has presented at some of the most important real estate and property technology events in USA as the founder of ButterflyMX. Here are a few tricks he shared as a way to wow any audience.

1. Getting comfortable with the stage.  Take a walk around the stage before your presentation. By familiarizing yourself with your environment, you can prepare yourself better.  And while you’re on stage, a relaxed, comfortable presence goes a long way in keeping your audience engaged. Whether you want to play your presentation casually or more formally, audiences can sense discomfort, which prevents them from fully connecting with your message.  To project your sense of comfortability, focus on your body language. You can project confidence by speaking slowly and clearly and by walking across the stage to keep the audience’s attention.
2. Familiarity with industry statistics.  An audience that doesn’t know the presenter might be wondering why they should be taking his or her advice.  If you can back up your claims with hard data, your presentation will ring true with listeners. You can cite industry-wide statistics or establish your own bona fides by citing stats that buttress your own credibility by establishing your company’s success.
3. Knowing your audience.  Depending on who your audience is, you’ll have to adjust your game plan and prepare for different things.  Nevertheless, at conferences where the audiences are different — a presentation that wows one crowd might have no information that’s applicable to another.  Depending on your audience, you need to strike the right balance between talking about various aspects you think the various segments among the audience would be interested.
4. Designing your slides carefully.  Slides are a good opportunity to share the aesthetics, tone and values of your company — but you’ve got to make sure you use them effectively.  A slide with too much text looks busy, and it’ll distract your audience and draw focus away from you. Instead, consider putting that information into your notes and speaking it aloud. Slides should focus on one or two visual elements, like bullet points, charts and graphs.  As for the actual design of your slides, you should ensure that you adhere to your company’s brand guidelines.
5. Asking for audience participation.  Asking for audience participation is the ultimate way to ensure everybody is locked in and paying attention — but it’s also a double-edged sword. You also need to be prepared in case asking the audience to participate doesn’t necessarily go your way.  For example, you might generally ask if an audience has any questions at the end of your presentation. But you run the risk of running into a hostile, bad-faith question — or you might even be met with silence.  That’s why one of the recommendation is give the audience questions and tasks that have a little more structure. You could do things like asking for a show of hands, asking for specific anecdotes or taking a poll.

2 key takeaways from the article

1. Industry events are a chance to network with your colleagues and impress distributors — but to really make the most of your time at a conference, you need to learn how to prepare a presentation that engages, informs and leaves an impact.  
2. Five tricks as a way to wow any audience are:  getting comfortable with the stage, familiarity with industry statistics, knowing your audience, designing your slides carefully, and asking for audience participation.

Full Article

(Copyright lies with the publisher)

Topics:  Marketing, Communication, Presentation