Many of us have seen the quote "If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” ... This presentation talks about the need for speed and myths that keep us from achieving our speed potential. There are also 2 cases at the end..

1. Over 200 independent consultants in 16 countries…
helping companies get from here to there
www.fast-bridge.com

2. Who am I to talk about Speed ?
 10 Start-ups, 6 countries, 8 wins, 1 loss, 1 I am trying to
figure out
 Professor new product marketing (KU Leuven) and
Entrepreneurship (Solvay)
 Fast Bridge: I didn't have a good business idea, so I
decided to help others
▫ A network of +/- 200 people that want to help start-ups
▫ I see lot's of business plans and hopeful entrepreneurs
▫ We work with about 1 in 40
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3. What you’d expect me to say about speed ..







Pick a direction
Be committed to your ideas
Get cash now
Get partners you can trust
Make sure you are first
Go as fast as you can
Do more and more
And success will follow…
3

4. “If things seem
under control, you’re
just not going fast
enough.”
—Mario Andretti

5. Wrong ....
5

6. These are comfortable,
logical
ideas
and what we have been taught….
But, they are not the whole story
6

7. 7

8. Myth:
Pick a direction and stick
to it.
Focus on needs, keep
your options open
8

9. Needs first, not ideas first !
Success
Rate*
Ideas
First
Needs
First
Develop a
solution
Find a need
Find a need
Develop a
solution
Find a market
Find a market
5-10%
70 %
* According to Strategyn research on outcome driven innovation…
9

10. A test... Who are these companies
personal
podcasting and
sharing audio
content
10

11. Answers…
Paypal
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter
personal
podcasting and
sharing audio
content
11

13. “If people are not
buying they are not
stupid… they might
not want what you’re
selling.”

14. Myth:
Be committed to your
ideas
Don’t drink the Koolaid
14

15. The biggest 2 mistakes of
Entrepreneurs/ Innovators
1. Investing in the wrong business
2. Staying too long in the wrong business.. (after you should
know it is time to change…)

16. • Lots of products only a mother could love
• Think in terms of base rates: 9 out of 10
products fail
• Be prepared to be wrong (more than once)
16

17. The big innovation Paradox
Whoever Makes the
Most Mistakes Wins
Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes
17

18. Costs per stage

19. Introduction
19

20. A checklist …
 Talk to 20 people (that are not your friends)
 If no one hates the idea, be scared
 Ask people “if this fails” why would it fail (you’ll
get a lot more information than asking what they
think of the idea !)
 Keep it simple … check do people really
understand

21. Myth:
Get cash now
Stay lean, until your
business model is
proven
21

22. You lose money

23. Lessons learned (the hard way)
• Way too much time spent
looking for cash
• Fail fast, fail cheap
• Go for cheap and easy on
the cash, prove your
business then cash will come
to you
Failure is easy !!!
Are you spending more time looking for
money than building your business model
23

24. Myth:
Get partners you can
trust
Learn to trust almost
everyone
24

25. The facts...
• Ideas are cheap
• Original ideas are rare
• Great ideas are built through friction
A question:
Is there any idea someone
hasn’t talked about on the Internet
(If they haven’t talked about yours be scared… )
25

26. The Power Laws of Innovation
As cities grow and contact
increases… innovation increases (25
X bigger = 2X more innovative)
Innovation = Size ^ power value
Power value
Cities
Companies
1.3
0.7
Why: contact increases …
As companies get bigger
and have more resources…
innovation falls (25 X bigger = 60%
less innovative )
Why: contact decreases
Innovation output
Size
1
5
25
100%
690%
4759%
100%
309%
952%
Innovation per person
Size
1
5
25
100%
138%
190%
100%
62%
38%
Source: Geoffrey West: The surprising math of cities
and corporations
26

27. Imagine this…
BMW has some of the best
designers in the world and sells
their designers by the day
below cost
Why: to build creativity…
27

28. Myth:
Make sure you are first
Fast seconds are also a
viable option
28

29. The glory of fast seconds …
• A fast second lets other companies innovate and
experiment to create new market.
• Entry just as the dominant design is about to emerge,
helps create dominant design, and uses its [size] position
to capture the market
• Famous fast seconds
– Desktop printers (HP)
– Disposable diapers (Pampers)
– Discount shopping (Walmart)
– Search (Google)…
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30. Myth:
Go as fast as you can
Build in pauses and
time to reflect
30

31. 6
Operational speed vs. strategic speed
• A study by Economist intelligence unit 312
companies
▫ Go, go, go
▫ Companies that paused at strategic moments
▫ 40% higher sales, 52% higher profits
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33. Build in tripwires to stop and think
• Set up times for decisions
• Define how you will be decision before the time
comes... (1000 sales might be great, but not if you
predicted 25,000)
33

34. A detailed contract for companies setting up the installations
Buried deep “M&Ms, but no brown ones”
If they found a brown M&M they wouldn’t play

35. Myth:
Do more and more
Do less to do more
(write a do not do list)

36. The productivity Paradox
• Even good people, spend most their time doing
the wrong things or things wrong
Right thing
Right thing
Done wrong
Done Right
Wrong thing
Wrong thing
Done wrong
Done Right
36

37. “With so many things to do and so many
great ideas… what we decide not to do
is infinitely more important than what
we decide to do”
– Steve Jobs

38. Research on innovation
211 companies
Worst
Avg
Best
Top vs.
bottom
% of revenues from new products
17%
28%
47%
2.76
% of profits from new products
11%
25%
44%
4.17
% of products that meet profit targets
43%
48%
66%
1.53
Go / Kill criteria set up front
26%
57%
85%
3.28
Decisions are objective / fast based
15%
42%
57%
3.85
Decisions are made in review meetings
26%
51%
60%
2.32
Cooper, Robert G. "Perspective: The Stage‐Gate® Idea‐to‐Launch Process
Update, What's New, and NexGen Systems*." Journal of Product Innovation
Management 25.3 (2008): 213-232.

39. Summary
Pick a direction
Be committed to your ideas
Get cash now
Get partners you can trust
Make sure you are first
Go as fast as you can
Do more and more
Focus on needs, keep your options open
Don't drink the koolaid
Stay lean, until your business model is proven
Learn to trust almost everyone
Fast Seconds are a not bad
Take some time to think
Do less to do more (write a do not do list)
And success will follow...
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40. Case:
Sophie’s Shopping Club vs.
Consodata
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41. 41

42. Data
Acquisition
Data
Management
Data
Providing/ Use

44. The Belgian Context
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Stop, please stop thinking about Belgium as a market
Find some one you can fight
Stop thinking about doing it alone
Get out of the office, belly to belly with10 people per week
44

45. Discussion:
A live case, Nomadesk
45

46. Nomadesk is a leading provider of file sharing, storage and
synchronization software that enables users to access, share, synchronize
and safeguard files from any location, whether online or offline.
There were the first and might still be
the best

47. Not even identified as an alternative !
On 9 of 10 sites

49. Interview with CEO
Mobile user and nomadic professional
Work with / without 100% internet access
Better file security

50. Not cloud
But seen
As cloud

51. Discussion
• What would you do if you were Nomadesk now ?
My thoughts
Guidelines
Your thoughts
Focus on needs, keep
your options open
Don't drink the koolaid
Is all about unlimited and security
Stay lean, until your
business model is
proven trust almost
Learn to
everyone
Fast Seconds are a not
bad
Take some time to think
Develop and test alternative
business models...
Do less to do more (write
a do not do list)
Cut away from 80% of work
being done now (eg no
consumer)
Say we're like XXX, but better in
the following ways
Work with 4-5 of the smaller
companies in the same space
Change the dialogue, make
dropboxes strengths weakness
Set up tripwire and real market
tests
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52. Key take aways…
• Don't go for speed before you have a business
model
• Don't grow so fast you can't follow
• Don't grow just to grow
• Don't worry too much about being second
• Stop thinking about “Belgium” as a market unless
it is really the market..
But when you have it right, go, go , go ...
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53. Thank you
Bryan Cassady
bryan@fast-bridge.com
+32-475-860-757
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