Strategy as a Flashlight

Let’s be honest: long-term planning is hard for startups and scale-ups. Some B2B tech founders might even argue it isn't desirable in such a fast-moving environment. But strategy isn’t a dusty, 100-page book; it’s a flashlight used to look for opportunities.

At its core, strategy is about filling the gaps between your goals, yourself, and your product, and the external environment, the market, your potential customers, and your competitors. Even the most basic “strategy tool”, the SWOT analysis, is simply a way to identify how to address external Threats and Opportunities that the external environment throws at you, and to respond to these with your internal Strengths and Weaknesses.

Build, Borrow, or Buy?

To fill these gaps, you have three traditional options: Build, Borrow, or Buy. For a startup, "buying" (acquisition) is often off the table. Since you are already a "builder" by nature, the most critical question becomes: What resources do you need to borrow?

Partners and ecosystems are not just networking opportunities; they are a means to an end to fill a specific resource gap. Consider where you might need to "borrow" expertise:

• HR Partners: This could be a headhunter to find a sales rep in a new geography or a real HR partner to help align your company culture with your growth goals.

• Marketing Partners: A firm that helps you define your "Launch Pad" and identify the perfect timing for market amplification. See the previous edition of this newsletter: “The Launch Pad: when the Stars align for Scale”.

• Business Development Partners: Not a random contractor, but a firm with a network of expert "matchmakers" to help you scale.

Partnerships vs. Ecosystems

In a recent panel at the ChangeNow summit, INSEAD Professor Andrew Shipilov made a brilliant distinction between a partnership and an ecosystem.

Partnerships are typically bilateral or trilateral. They are relationships where you can count the number of partners on one hand. An ecosystem is a much broader collection of organizations united around a common value proposition.

Shipilov notes that while many organizations fantasize about being the "orchestrator" of an ecosystem (like an Apple or a Microsoft), there is no shame in being part of an ecosystem that someone else has built.

The key is to know exactly what complementary assets you bring to that collective and what role you play in it. Whether you are a for-profit or a social entrepreneur, you must solve the problem of resource acquisition and monetization.

The Startup Advantage: Foresight over Forecast

You have a unique competitive advantage over big corporations: they must focus on forecasts to please their shareholders. You, however, have the luxury of focusing on foresight first and forecast soon after.

Foresight involves stress-testing your strategic options against demanding scenarios. This allows you to build necessary buffers to protect against future crises:

1. Financial buffers e.g., funding before the crisis hits

2. Human buffers e.g., bringing in diverse and different skills

3. Operational buffers, digital and physical.

Which gaps should you fill first? To decide which ideas or gaps deserve your immediate attention, try using the IFD framework:

• Intensity: How severe is the problem?

• Frequency: How often does it occur?

• Density: How many people experience it?

A reflective question: Who do you need to partner with today to borrow the missing resources that will bridge the gap between your "Tech Genius" and the market's reality?

Thank you.

Philippe

P.S.1: You may take the ‘From Tech To Growth^IP ’ self-assessment scorecard. It is free, takes only two minutes, and offers reflective questions to help you see if your strategic stars are truly aligned.

P.S.2: Whenever you are ready, you can make a short, complementary appointment with me to discuss your specific strategy and resource gaps. Go to the Recognition Call.