aamir virani

Positioning a Business

Lance Weatherby had a post on positioning last week that summarized some ideas from Crossing the Chasm. Consider the following template when thinking about positioning your company:

For [target customer], [your company] is a [your category] that [need filled]. Unlike [competitor], we [describe difference].

If you can clearly describe your company using this template, it’s a major positive.

For scientists and engineers, NI is a hardware and software vendor that provides measurement and automation tools. Unlike HP, we focus from the beginning on the software (like LabVIEW), so that scientists and engineers can interact with the hardware in a standard way.

Of course, NI is huge and incredibly successful – they defined their market over the past 30 years. PR and X are new, and both are creating new markets.

For e-commerce merchants and shoppers, PR is a web software company that provides a free review display and mining engine for merchants and a product research website for shoppers. Unlike other shopping websites, the focus is on product research and comparison so that the shopper can find the right product for him/her. The PR review engine is better than competitors because it’s free, in line with merchant interests, and self-hosted.

That is confusing and doesn’t feel tight – the reason is because there are two objectives, and the two aren’t always in sync (the buyer and seller are adversaries). This actually explains a lot about why things weren’t smooth when it came to product timelines and development.

On to X:

For emailers/corporate emailers/power emailers/Outlook users/???, X is a software company that analyzes your inbox to liberate the meaning and data contained within it. Unlike other competitors, the focus is not on better filing or organization of your mail but instead on the people and relationships within it.

Really, all of the blanks are questionable. The company emphasis and vision aren’t clear yet. The great things about both PR and X, though, are clear by doing this exercise – the value added is not just one or two features. If executed correctly, both are establishing new ways of doing things in e-commerce and communication.

When analyzing ideas and future companies/employers, this exercise will definitely be part of the toolkit. If it’s hard to come up with the blanks or if they sound crazy/fluffy, that may be a sign of weakness. If the blanks fill perfectly, though, keep going.

Thinking about a Job Hop

I recently switched companies, moving from PowerReviews to Xobni. At some point, I’ll detail my thought process, but I think this article by Jack and Suzy Welch in BusinessWeek covers the high-level questions to consider very well.

In their November 12 column (Should You Stay or Should You Go?), the pair outline four questions to help you decide whether it’s time to leave:

• Do you dread going into work?
• Do you like working with your team?
• Do you feel like you are moving towards personal goals?
• Do you see yourself at the company in one year?

While there is a lot more to think about than just these questions, the way you answer them serves as a really good set of red flags. Not every workday will be perfect, and you’ll have projects that drag for weeks and make you feel bored, unfulfilled, and uncertain about direction. If there are no rays of sunshine or interactions with colleagues that reassure you, though, it is definitely a sign.

It’s often clear whether you’re being placed on a certain track for advancement. This is true at big and small companies, and your personal drive will dictate how fast you move up the ladder. If you just don’t feel it, though, it doesn’t really matter. The same is true if you’re being pointed at a ladder you don’t care about.