THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

ACTION

"Positive Attitude, Faith, Vision, Desire, Goals, all this is extremely important, but nothing happens without ACTION" - Joseph Arazashvili

TOPIC OF THE DAY

The Five Stages of Strategic Grief

Silicon Valley's been cracking with activity in the last few years — along with Melbourne, Australia and Santiago, Chile. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, there's been a sharp uptick in in entrepreneurship around the planet, with the number of hungry entrepreneurs now topping 400 million across more than 50 countries.

This is good news for the global economy, potentially bad news for you. Or at least the kind of news that should give you strategic pause.

One or more of those 400 million may be targeting your less satisfied customers, with a plan to build a business around their specific needs. This is the "focused entry" strategy, a well-worn path in the history of successful startups (see Southwest Airlines). A focused entrant sees an opening in companies that are trying to serve everyone, but making no one truly happy.

Consider Dartitup's response to Pinterest's high-profile success in the social marketing space. Pinterest built a great model for the ladies, who largely drive its activity and content. Men are being dragged along, but they've revealed a comparative lack of engagement. Enter Dartitup with plans for a decidedly manly offering: think dartboards instead of pinboards.

If you're the Pinterest in this story, how do you respond? In our experience, the story typically plays out in stages that mirror the famous Five Stages of Grief:

Stage 1: Denial
Stage 2: Anger
Stage 3: Rationalization
Stage 4: Despair
Stage 5: Acceptance

Read on

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