Globally Competitive Strategies and Practices for Startups © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Question? There is a difference between a successful local market strategy and a successful global market strategy. What constitutes a global market strategy?

© Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting The more unexpected the success of a venture, the smaller number of competitors and the more successful the entrepreneur… …the payoff of any human venture, is in general, inversely proportional to what it is expected to be. - The Black Swan Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. - Author Unknown

Prerequisites: Uniqueness and Vision © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Opportunity Recognition Trial and ErrorUnderstandingInvestment Success © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Preparation for Globalization  What is my Business? Radical Innovation– a new product in a new market © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Preparation for Globalization  What is my Business? Disruptive Innovation– a new product in an existing market that disrupts the market path. © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Preparation for Globalization  What is my Business? Sustaining Innovation – a better product for existing market – niche or low cost alternative. © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

 Ask the Hard Question: Should I be in the Local Market much less the Global Market? Having IP does not mean you have a product. “75% of all Product Development money results in products that do not commercially succeed.” – The Innovators Solution, Christensen, 2003  Quantify: Put a range to your success.  Do a Marketlook for your target market.  Don’t generalize about your market. Preparation for Globalization © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

So what do I do? If I don’t go global what are my choices?  Collaborations/Alliances  Licensing  Partnership/Joint Ventures  Traditional Market Approach Preparation for Globalization © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Going Global  Key Elements of Any Strategic Plan  The Team  The Money  The Market  The Product  The Competition © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

The Team What kind of Team are we? What is our Domain knowledge? What do we lack in knowledge? What is our personality type? Are we an offensive or defensive minded team? What is your management philosophy? All these things shape your strategy….. © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

The Team The most successful Small Multinational Enterprises (SME’s) have a competitive advantage primarily due to flexibility. – Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the Global Economy This begs the question how flexible are you? And your team? How do you augment that flexibility? © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

The Money  Capital Management Skills – a smaller firm or even a fairly established firm must have high levels of capital management skills in order to achieve resource acquisition and to manage that resource to make a global strategy possible.  - To assure raising the funds  - To prevent inadvertent disclosure of competitive advantages  - To prevent cultural or political naivete  - To guard against ‘shortcuts’ or other cultural missteps © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

The Market  It is critical to understand your market in order to determine if your business should consider globalization. Examples of Key Questions: 1. Have you thoroughly researched the target market? 2. Is the market Interested in my product? 3. Have you QUANTIFIED the size of the market targeted? 4. Will the foreign government permit importation of my product? 5. Is the target infrastructure capable of handling my product? 6. Does the foreign government encourage or discourage importation of my product? 7. Can you maintain control of your product? 8. Have the regulatory or licensing processes been investigated/researched? © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

A Close Look at Partnerships/Collaborations/Alliances  Small firms follow one of two alliance strategies. When the firms are small relative to their rivals and to their market, they tend to use alliances to gain economies of scale and scope. When they are large in relative terms, they avoid alliances..– Alliance Strategies of Small Firms - Alliance friendly markets – Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Semiconductor, Software - Markets not as alliance dependent – niche markets The Market

The Product © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting  The Product must be reviewed for exporting constraints and advantages. 1. Regulations – trade related, tax regulations, government controls of industry and standards. 2. Licensing – may include regulatory, but primarily what is the licensing atmosphere for the industry? 3. Also look at co-production – is your product similar to a product that is being sold in Portugal by your target market country? This is a good model or possibly a counter model for your product.

The Competition  This is really a subset of the Market, but some important points: 1. Host government trade barriers are to be assessed like competition. 2. Competitors should also be assessed for strengths or weaknesses based on the status with the market and its government. 3. Use competition as a model or counter model for market tactics if they are also an non-domestic company. © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

CONCLUSION

Sources 1. Intelligent Business Alliances – Segil, 1996, Three Rivers Press 2. The Innovator’s Solution – Christensen/Raynor, 2003, Harvard Univ. Press 3. The Four Steps to the Epiphany – Blank, 2006, Cafepress.com 4. The World is flat, Friedman, 2007, Picador 5. The Entrepreneurial Venture Second Edition, Sahlman, Harvard Univ. Press 6. Innovation Overseas - Christensen, Anthony and Roth, 2009, Harvard Univ. Press. 7. Small and Medium Size Enterprises in the Global Economy – Zoltan/Young, 1999, Univ. of Michigan Press 8. Alliance Strategies of Small Firms – Casseres, Small Business Economics, 1997, Spinger 9. Multisourcing – Moving Beyond Outsourcing to Achieve Growth and Agility – Cohen, Young, 2005, Gartner Inc 10. The Black Swan – Taleb, 2007, Random House © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting

Contact Information  If you would like to discuss your company and potential strategies for globalization or if you want to review your chart analysis please contact me. © Tom Gardner – BellaVentures Consulting