Category: Innovation

Book Review: The Lean Startup

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date August 24, 2017
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The Lean Startup has become much more than just a book and a methodology. The author (Eric Ries) refers to it as a movement. And it truly is. The ideas put forward in the book have changed how most of the (tech) world approaches starting new companies, but also how many large corporations approach innovation.

Inspired by the broader lean movement, made famous by Toyota, Eric has applied the same basics to innovation, such as small rather than big batches. While the original ideas were all about production, Eric felt that they could help him with an issue he had when starting a new business.

Innovation Product management

Having a designer at the table day one?

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date April 17, 2016
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There is an ongoing debate in the industry around the value of getting a designer involved early in product development. The importance of products being “beautiful” with a “gorgeous” user interface seems to have become an accepted norm. But should a designer have a seat at the table from day one? Should they be involved in the early product discussions?

Innovation Product management

Care about your competition?

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date February 18, 2016
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Care about your competiton? - Original Image @ https://flic.kr/p/9o4kJg

I’m currently reading REWORK, an already kind of classic business book. One of the ideas in the book that really resonate with me is about competition.

Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson argue that in product development, you should pretty much ignore competition. Looking at others, trying to follow or even copy their product/solution, is not the way to success.

Books Innovation

Book Review: Business Model Generation

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date December 15, 2015
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Business Model Generation covering the business model canvas

Business Model Generation is not definitely not new (published 2010), so you may ask your self why review it end of 2015? 5 years after it was published?

Even though many have read it, and even more have heard about it, it is worth mentioning again and again. In a fairly short amount of time it has become a true classic, a must-read, for everyone working with innovation.

Innovation Product management

Outsourcing parts of the product development process

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date November 26, 2015
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While outsourcing may no longer be as hip and trendy as it once was, the idea of using external resources for small (or large) chunks of the product development process has matured. Today “everybody does it”.

Using Ideo for innovation consulting, Tech Mahindra for million dollar telco projects or 99designs for your $100 web design outsourcing are obviously different beasts. But there are still a bunch of challenges common to all kinds of outsourcing.

Innovation

9 Great Business Model Innovations

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date October 15, 2015
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As a product manager working for a product company I tend to mostly think of innovation as product related. But there are obviously other areas of innovation, one being business models. While product innovation is what solves customer problems and gives you that edge over competition, business model innovation ensures that your business is profitable and growing.

Innovation

Innovating at Intersections

Post author By Alexander Sandstrom
Post date September 6, 2015
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Innovating is hard, innovating takes time, and innovating takes energy. It doesn’t come out of thin air, it comes about from a focused effort to shift gear and it comes about from a focused effort to leap-frog competition. There are obviously many ways to approach innovation, but one that has been proven to work many times over is what I call innovating at intersections.