Episode #381: Alex Osterwalder on Building an Invincible Company
Future Squared with Steve Glaveski
Release Date: 05/09/2020
Future Squared with Steve Glaveski
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info_outlineThis episode is brought to you by Collective Campus brand new online innovation courses. Whether you want to learn about business models and testing ideas with Alex Osterwalder, building a corporate startup with Dan Toma, or learn about topics such as design thinking, and agile fundamentals, head to www.collectivecampus.io/online
I’ll also be running a 2-hour webinar on remote work and productivity in early July, based on the popularity of my five levels of remote work article, which you can learn more about at bit.ly/fivelevelswebinar
And to today’s episode.
Dr. Alexander (Alex) Osterwalder is one of the world's most influential strategy and innovation experts, a leading author, entrepreneur, and in-demand speaker whose work has changed the way established companies do business and how new ventures get started.
Ranked No. 4 of the top 50 management thinkers worldwide, Osterwalder is known for simplifying the strategy development process and turning complex concepts into digestible visual models.
Together with Yves Pigneur, he invented the Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, and Business Portfolio Map - practical tools that are trusted by millions of business practitioners from leading global companies including Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, MasterCard, Sony, Fujitsu, 3M, Intel, Roche, Colgate-Palmolive, and many more.
He returned to the podcast to talk about what leaders can do to build truly invincible companies and weather storms that are a result of technological and social change, financial market shocks and of course, viruses.
We explored:
1 - what defines an invincible company
2 - how companies can balance a portfolio between exploration of new business models and exploitation of existing ones
3 - what companies like Amazon, IKEA and Logitech have done to play the long game and stay relevant
4 - and finally, how one such invincible company profiled in the book, Airbnb, might weather the storm of COVID-19
With that, I bring you the one and only, Alex Osterwalder.
Topics Discussed:
- Lockdown in Switzerland
- Alex’s new book
- What is an invincible company
- The wakeup call we needed?
- Cashflow runway and business model reinvention
- Case studies and success stories
- Tools for managing innovation
- Leading indicators v trailing indicators
- Hilti
- Bosch
- Culture lags systems
- The optimism bias and the narrative fallacy
- Transcending boundaries
- Explore v exploit portfolios
- When to kill a project
- Why entrepreneurs are more risk averse than the general public
- Why market validation isn’t a conclusive test, but an indicative one
- The ‘science vs art’ of innovation and entrepreneurship
- How to use patterns to shift from outdated business models
- Questions to ask when assessing business opportunities
- How to play the long game amidst ROI uncertainty
- Metered funding
- Innovation Project Scorecard
- Placing many bets, and how
- Testing business ideas
- The culture map
- Values alignement and intrinsic motivation
- Delegations of authority
- Airbnb in crisis mode and why they’ll come out of it
Show Notes:
Online courses: www.collectivecampus.io/online
Remote work webinar: http://bit.ly/fivelevelswebinar
Strategyzer: Strategyzer.com
The Invincible Company: https://amzn.to/2Lg2tEM
Testing Business Ideas: https://amzn.to/2YLSpLo
Twitter: @alexosterwalder
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Future Squared: www.futuresquared.xyz
Steve Glaveski: www.steveglaveski.com
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