LEAP, Continuing Experimentation

Every company faces innovation challenges. As one market matures evidenced by the slowing of S-curve, how to “jump” onto a second S-curve?

As successful as Apple, it has its share of failed products. (e.g. Newton, hockey puck mouse, 3rd generation iPod Shuttle).

New products typically face several challenges: low success rate; unknown market; and difficulty in determining needs.

Strategy often involves a combination of machine guns approach at the beginning (to understand market and directions), and canon approach to capture the market.

Every company needs to understand its “line of death”. It must generates enough profit from its core business to sustain the necessary funding of continuous experimentation (especially the low success rate of a new product).

Case study: How Honda motorcycle captures US market in the face of heavy competitions?