laura baldwin - pivots are overrated: how small changes can unlock markets
DESCRIPTION
Startupfest 2014 - In business, the grass is always greener elsewhere. It’s tempting to pivot, rather than leveraging your strengths and carefully tweaking the business model. In this talk, Laura Baldwin draws on her experience at Chronicle Books, O’Reilly Media, and elsewhere to show how even the tiniest shift in how a company operates can have far-reaching impacts and reveal entirely new products and markets.TRANSCRIPT
Pivots are Overrated
How Small Changes Can Unlock Markets
I Confess
if this doesn’t work…we can always “pivot”
And your time is taken looking toward failure
If William Gibbons is right…
“The future is here it’s just not evenly distributed yet”
then this is your time to
Pay Attention
It’s 1994…
and I am the CFO/EVP at Chronicle Books
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Amazon was just coming on the scene – July ‘94
Print was starting to decline a bit in stores
Authors were demanding more options
Legal/copyright issues were requiring more legal work within publishing companies
Publishing was starting to feel the effects of the upcoming digital revolution
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One of the first publishers to focus on communities Food communities within SF
We were developing a children’s line
And expanding our Art/Coffee Table books by hiring talent
Caroline Herter of S&S came on board
For Chronicle Books we still were growing…
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Investing significantly in legal talent to mange all of our copyright and permission issues
Cost of publishing higher end Art and Photography books was escalating as technologies advanced
Profits were eroding slightly and digital was in its infancy but our titles were not digital friendly at the time…and there was no iPad
But things were changing…
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10
The publishing model was in transition
Market conditions made us question our future
Digital (the future) was not a competency
In today’s language….
TIME TO PIVOT
So what to do….
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Or Not
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What was our core competency?
What are our greatest owned assets?
How were our human and material assets deployed?
How could we capitalize on them?
Time to Pay Attention
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Some of our bestselling titles were from highly talented and well respected folks in the Art and Design communities
Richard Deibenkorn Debra Schenck
Let’s Capitalize on Assets
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And went back to our talent pool with the idea of using their pre-secured permissions to develop new products
We used our core competency of editorial creativity to develop a series of notecards, giftcards and other products that capitalized on the permissions we already owned
So we got creative….
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And Launched a New Division
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..all based on derivative works
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Independent bookstores felt we were “bastardizing” publishing
Large chain stores had no shelving mechanisms for products without BISAC * codes * Book Industry Standards and Communications
But we didn’t give up….
But the markets were not so accepting
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We hired a specialty rep group that soldproducts into gift stores like Hallmark
Which led to the first Chronicle Books books carried in gourmet stores like Williams Sonoma…who then went on to produce their own book line
Once we had some sales we went back to our own markets (namely Borders) who finally agreed to take a chance
If we couldn’t get traction in our markets we’d go to other markets
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And the new division started working
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So we paid attention…and now a large portion (debated between 30-50%) of what’s sold in traditional bookstores is non-book ancillary product…
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So that was then…this is now
Don’t be a futurist: be a now-ist.
Joi Ito – MIT Media Lab
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Mission, Vision and Values Mission: Changing the World by Spreading the Knowledge of InnovatorsVision:We…Work on Stuff that MattersWe…Create more value than we captureWe…Create a context in which other people can thinkWe achieve our mission by espousing and acting upon our core values OpennessHonestyIntegrityNeutralityAnd ultimately…Doing The Right Thing – for our customers, the market and our employees
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Long Term Objective
To build a thriving, next generation media company that survives its founders through a diversified international business strategy that goes beyond books and conferences and accelerates the rate of positive global change.
Old Growth Model – Structured as a Product Organization
Books
Con
fere
nce
s
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But How…by Paying Attention
The same lessons from Chronicle would apply here as well…
What were our core competencies?Editorial insights, event production,
research
What were our greatest owned assets?Brand, employee talent, community based on-line platform (oreilly.com)
How could we capitalize on them?Restructure to focus on audience not
products
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Practice Area Framework
MAKE:DIY
MAKE:DIY
Bra
nd /
Identi
tyCODE:
DevelopersCODE:
Developers
Practice Area
Audience
Segments
Product Line
Audience
Developm
ent
Velocity:Web OpsVelocity:Web Ops
TOC:Publishing
TOC:Publishing
Health 2.0:Health IT
Health 2.0:Health IT
Missing Manuals:Consumer
Missing Manuals:Consumer
Strata:Data
Strata:Data
Respond more effectively to key trends shaping the global landscape
Deliver integrated year round content and services to audience
Ability to offer higher value sponsorship packages that are year round, rather than single point in time
Increase transaction sizes through bundling: customer purchases book, training, conference, membership package, etc.
Exponentially grow the business by adopting new areas as opportunities arise
Practice Areas
So We Flipped the Structure
Editorial / Content Production
as a Capability
Event Production as a Capability
And we created a platform for growth we call …The Extensibility Model
Programming
Data
Web Ops& Performance
So what was marketing became product
And engagement became year-long
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Stay true to your core values
Pay attention to your human and material assets today
Remember small changes can grow new markets and new opportunities
Stop thinking about the Pivot…think about capitalizing now
Be a Now-ist…Lessons Learned
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And next time you’re in a bookstore…
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