May 22, 2005
“extreme business modelling”
One of my favorite gapingvoid posts was something I wrote last July, to do with preferring my own business models, over other people’s:
The thing I like about gapingvoid is it has allowed me to do my thing (for fun and yes, profit) without having to marry myself to somebody else’s business model. Especially somebody else’s LOUSY business model, which traditional publishing basically is.
The older I get, the less I like other people’s business models. I prefer my own business models, thank you very much.
This is what the internet is really about– this is what causes the excitement. It’s all about giving more people control over their own business models, not relying on third parties to supply them. This is true in publishing, retail, advertising, the law, you name it.
And I had similar thoughts in “How To Be Creative”:
11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There’s no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.
So it looks like Sig’s been doing some similar thinking with what I think is a very compelling idea, “Extreme Business Modelling”:
A few important aspects of extreme programming, eh, extreme business-modelling:
Write a user story. Explore the value for the customer!
[Extreme business-planning specific: Acid test your pricing and margins. If you could easily deliver at half the price of the competition, you may be good. If you’re pretty sure you can deliver at 1/10th you’ll have the leeway to play really loose]
The customer (even the potential one) is always available. Involve the customer, use him, make him a part of the process.
Pair programming and collective code ownership. Involve the customer again, let him have ownership to your product!
Make frequent small releases. Test one thing at a time, don’t get stuck with a half-baked and untested complete plan.
Iterate and integrate often. Test and try, go back make better, test and try again, go back.
Leave optimisation till last. When it gels, shape the last parts, refine when the basics are right!
He is talking about his software company, of course, but the idea extends far beyond software.
Nothing wrong with extreme business modelling. Look at Wal Mart. Look at Dell. Look at the future that awaits most of us.
[Disclaimer: Sig and I are doing some work together.]
This is a very smart post which I agree with 100%.
In my new blog Blog Core Values I’m mixing blogology, web usability analysis, decontruction, yoga mind science, direct marketing principles, micro-content composition technique, and orginal abstract digital art…
…with no other business models or path forgers to follow. No example of this mix being successful or viable. So what?
So many dumb ass CEOs and business idiots are waiting around for someone to explain blogs and to show them real world examples of successful business blogging.
They are mediocre losers.
Winners, innovators, pioneers seek theory, not examples. They are their own examples.
Buzzword overload
I’ve said before (although not online) that there are very few new ideas. As a technical matter, a new idea is a synthesis of what you already know and have experienced. So, how do we get so many bloggers,…
ladies and gentlemen, what’s your business model? Part #4
More on ‘Extreme Business Modelling’ — following #1, #2 and #3 and Hugh’s here: Investors, VCs — they’d really like a neat five year plan showing nice profits etc. so they can calculate a value today without too much hassle.
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ExtremeProgramming
That’s pretty much the number one place for Extreme Programming ideas, in case anyone reading the void isn’t familiar with it.
A lot of XP methodology can be soul-crushing, sweatshop-of-the-mind stuff… or it can be very liberating, depending on the who and how and why. Productivity almost always goes up, creativity very often goes down.
The Cult of the Test has many strengths, but I do think that if everyone joined then innovation would slow a lot.
To me the most potent, useful, cross-applicable and intellectually sound part of the XP mantra is Refactor Mercilessly.
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RefactorMercilessly
Don’t think of it so much as a methodology, rather as a broad concept for dealing with ideas. You can translate that easily enough to business plans, to marketing plans, to writing, to your shopping list…
Very interesting post, thanks.