Table of Contents
Do NOT Invent Buggy Whips …EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK
© copyright 2012 by Kenneth J. Thurber
Technology Disruption
Rationale … pg 4
In my opinion, the question of product development only becomes interesting when we try to create products that have a potential to exhibit rapid growth. Rapid growth properly managed provides the way to wealth.
Trade-off Issues
Reinvention … pg 11
The strategy that I wish to use is simple and is used by numerous people: reinvention. Reinvention is the process of taking as a basis a concept and then modifying the concept based upon insertion of new technology or processes. The probability of coming up with a truly useful and astounding radically new idea is small. Thus, I tend to want to conceptualize the design process as one of reinvention.
Technology Innovation
Innovation … pg 29
Innovation – innovation is something that has not been done before. In this case a product may be considered to be innovative if we combine elements that have not been combined in a particular form before. But, how innovative is that process? Therefore, we are trying not only to rethink a product but really extend a product concept and measure how the product fits into the product space.
Product Definition
Product … pg 29
Product – a product is an item that we can sell. We are trying to develop a product that not only can we sell but a product that has several advantages over products that might be considered somewhat similar. This provides us with a measure of how the product is positioned in the market and how purchasers may view our product.
Creative Disruption
Definition … pg 31
Creative Disruption
the act or process of upsetting the status quo by creating a new product, company or industry
Reinvention Disruption
A Process … pg 44
View the process as a continuous process where you always have work to do. I want to think about the actual process like peeling an onion. Every time I take off a layer there is another possible layer to peel away.
Technology Positioning
Range of customers … pg 49
If we have developed a product that has a wider range of uses or potential customers we can begin to look for customers in a broad spectrum of areas. This is the aspect of a product that has a wide customer base so we can begin prospecting for customers on a wider base. The question now is can we make the product so it has appeal and potential to grow into a consumer product.
How-To
A key set of questions … pg 55
… we need to consider three questions: What If? Who Cares? Market Size?
Pebbles
What if? … pg 69
There are tons of problems in reinventing products, but the big problem is that of inertia. You can get bogged down in minutia. And, you have no way to get the process moving forward with a degree of expediency.
Product position
Who cares? … pg 83
One thing we need as we go on our journey is the ability to limit the choices we make; otherwise, we will have created a problem bigger than the issue of trying to crawl over pebbles. Our solutions will swamp us.
Disrupting Markets
Market size … pg 89
We are now where the rubber meets the road. If we cannot find a potential set of customers for each product idea we have generated, the game is over. We must identify a customer and only then can we build an estimate of possible market size.