Ask Me Anything with Alex Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur - The Invincible Company

Innovation and Exploration

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  Oftentimes, exploration and exploitation are measured separately in corporate environments, but they need to coexist for successful innovation.
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  The exploration phase of business, characterized by testing ideas and adapting them until a great value proposition and business model is found, requires a lot of experimentation.
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  When exploring new ideas, it's important to embrace uncertainty and take small, iterative steps through experiments to reduce risk and uncertainty.
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  Amazon Web Services is an example of a project that started as a horizon one internal project but evolved into a horizon three breakthrough opportunity.
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  The process of searching and testing for business improvement is applicable to both startups and larger companies, highlighting the importance of continuous innovation regardless of company size.
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  Different worlds of exploit and explore exist in organizations, each with their own set of key performance indicators and culture, highlighting the need for both in order to thrive.
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  The key to creating successful business models is to have a portfolio of many projects and invest in experimentation, similar to the venture capital approach.
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  Companies that invest in innovation during a crisis come out stronger, as it helps them cut unnecessary slack and secure the core without killing the exploration engine.

Business Model Design and Adaptation

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  The collaboration between Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur has spanned over 20 years and has resulted in the creation of the business model canvas and five books.
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  The real value of a product or service often comes from a great value proposition and serving an underserved market, rather than relying solely on new technology or patents.
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  The process of business design involves ideating and prototyping business models and value propositions, separate from product prototypes.
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  "Business models expire like yogurt in your fridge." - Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur emphasize the importance of regularly reviewing and updating business models to avoid obsolescence.
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  Contrary to common belief, it is actually easier to innovate in smaller organizations, particularly in family-owned companies, due to their longer time horizon and the focus on value creation for customers and businesses rather than expensive R&D.