05:58
Faizan
Business people know that you have to choose carefully what you do first. If you don't have or cannot access the talent you need, results will always be poor. For that reason, many successful firms are founded by top performers with a new business model concept that their former employer showed no interest in pursuing. How does that lesson carry over into business model innovation?
Having arrived at the largest future pond of opportunity, there's still a question of where you start your water lilies. If you put them all the water lilies together in one almost land-locked corner, you won't do as well as if you plant them where they will have enough room to spread in all directions. The fewer water lilies you have to start with, the more important it is to put them in the right places for maximum healthy growth. For water lilies, a place near the middle of the pond which is protected from adverse weather and pollution will be optimal.
Business Objects realized this lesson when the company was founded in Paris by Mr. Bernard Liautaud, the company's chief executive officer. The company's initial purpose was to make it easier for business people to use Oracle's databases to get answers to their questions.
Initially, Business Objects did that by organizing the information to use common business terms that would make sense to business users. Having worked at Oracle in Paris prior to founding the company, Mr. Liautaud knew that software companies have to be able to operate worldwide and to function on any software platform.
As a result, he knew that the company would have to be transnationally based as much as possible. His requirement was to take the best that was available in different countries, and combine people and knowledge from these bases in ways that could produce the best results.
For example, he arranged to finance the company like a Silicon Valley start-up would have done. To take advantage of being based in Paris, he arranged venture capital from a variety of international sources including French, American, and Dutch firms.
He wanted Business Objects to have access to the contacts and advice from these firms, not just their money. This was a sharp break from what new French firms usually did, with the goal often being to help the founder keep 100 percent ownership. Business Objects was the first start-up French company to offer stock options to employees.
This enabled Business Objects to attract top high tech talent from all around the globe -- executives, managers, sales people, and developers who had worked at many leading technology companies.
Having arrived at the largest future pond of opportunity, there's still a question of where you start your water lilies. If you put them all the water lilies together in one almost land-locked corner, you won't do as well as if you plant them where they will have enough room to spread in all directions. The fewer water lilies you have to start with, the more important it is to put them in the right places for maximum healthy growth. For water lilies, a place near the middle of the pond which is protected from adverse weather and pollution will be optimal.
Business Objects realized this lesson when the company was founded in Paris by Mr. Bernard Liautaud, the company's chief executive officer. The company's initial purpose was to make it easier for business people to use Oracle's databases to get answers to their questions.
Initially, Business Objects did that by organizing the information to use common business terms that would make sense to business users. Having worked at Oracle in Paris prior to founding the company, Mr. Liautaud knew that software companies have to be able to operate worldwide and to function on any software platform.
As a result, he knew that the company would have to be transnationally based as much as possible. His requirement was to take the best that was available in different countries, and combine people and knowledge from these bases in ways that could produce the best results.
For example, he arranged to finance the company like a Silicon Valley start-up would have done. To take advantage of being based in Paris, he arranged venture capital from a variety of international sources including French, American, and Dutch firms.
He wanted Business Objects to have access to the contacts and advice from these firms, not just their money. This was a sharp break from what new French firms usually did, with the goal often being to help the founder keep 100 percent ownership. Business Objects was the first start-up French company to offer stock options to employees.
This enabled Business Objects to attract top high tech talent from all around the globe -- executives, managers, sales people, and developers who had worked at many leading technology companies.
Posted in: business
