Andrew Mason [Groupon's founder] had played in punk bands, and the company he started, originally called the Point, was intended to help people organize around social causes. Early on, though, its users realized they could band together to save money, so Mason reoriented the company around that purpose. Eventually he realized he could just go directly to other companies to ask for discount deals, then sell those to groups of users. “Before I knew it,” Judge recalled him saying, “I was selling coupons.” Judge sympathizes with members of the tech world, he explained, because they’re not like Wall Street guys — they actually build things people use. “They don’t seem to get into it for the purpose of pure greed and trying to make money,” he said. “They end up there.”
From NY Times profile of Mike Judge.
Why are business people more important than the ideas they have?
ReplyDeleteSome argue that great ideas are far more plentiful than great, persistent, energetic, and talented business people or entrepreneurs. Time and time again it has been proven that the initial idea is not what makes start-ups successful in the end. Wayne Huizenga, for example, beginning with a single garbage truck in 1968, Huizenga grew Waste Management, Inc. into an entity that would become a Fortune 500 Company. By 1983 Waste Management, Inc. was the largest waste disposal company in the United States.
Huizenga also created Blockbuster Video by acquiring a handful of store in 1987 and eventually became the country’s leading movie rental chain by 1994. Later he built and acquired existing auto dealerships that would become Autonation, the nation’s largest automotive dealer and a Fortune 500 company. Huizenga has been named “CEO of the Year” five times by Financial World magazine and was the Ernest & Young “2005 World Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Mr. Huizenga is only one glaring example of how the person behind the idea is who makes the business work and ultimately become very successful. Meg Whitman, for example, started eBay as a place where people could sell items to one another 24/7 worldwide. The idea, though a humble one, has become one of the most successful websites in history. The people behind the ideas are responsible for the ultimate success of those ideas through perseverance, persistence and the drive to be successful. The ideas alone are just that ideas with no mechanism to carry them to success without the special people to make them work.
https://hbr.org/2013/02/entrepreneurs-youre-more-impor
http://www.nabi.ca/Blog/TabId/1466/PostId/6/are-great-businesspeople-more-important-than-great-ideas.aspx
http://investors.autonation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=85803&p=irol-companyhistory&tab=0
I agree with the fact that ideas evolve into profit only if the people are clever and motivated. Groupon is a perfect example and it is everyone's favorite choice after many years now. Somehow, when consumers shop on Groupon they see that the Groupons they purchase are worth so much more than the retail value. This is certainly one of the main reason why customers continue to shop there. Additionally, Groupon is a win-win for all. This is mainly because the businesses who offer promotions, get a large recognition, Groupon makes profit and the customer get's the best deal possible. Overall the economy also gets affected by this positively because every single dollar consumers spend contribute towards Economic Growth.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn today’s fast growing technological world businesspeople are more important than the ideas they have as if the ideas were to sit by themselves they would not be counted. It needs the business leaders create these ideas along with new innovations into performance, valuation and growth. This will help their businesses to flourish as the new global business environment is very competitive as well as sensitive. Like the founder of Groupon Andrew Mason and its founders found the need to build upon their ideas not make more money but help people to get discounts of products they have to purchase. Manages are providers of jobs, goods and services, so they do play a very important role in the economy as well as creating small businesses and new entrepreneurs. We know that sometimes ideas do not go very far by the time it reaches the CEo’s desk, it can be thrown out as not everyone adopted to changes easily. As the writer states that “Because ideas evolve into profit if the people are clever and motivated”, but sometimes ideas do go out through the window. In this case, it definitely shows you who the transformational leaders are versus who the transactional leaders are.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s fast growing technological world businesspeople are more important than the ideas they have as if the ideas were to sit by themselves they would not be counted. It needs the business leaders create these ideas along with new innovations into performance, valuation and growth. This will help their businesses to flourish as the new global business environment is very competitive as well as sensitive. Like the founder of Groupon Andrew Mason and its founders found the need to build upon their ideas not make more money but help people to get discounts of products they have to purchase. Manages are providers of jobs, goods and services, so they do play a very important role in the economy as well as creating small businesses and new entrepreneurs. We know that sometimes ideas do not go very far by the time it reaches the CEo’s desk, it can be thrown out as not everyone adopted to changes easily. As the writer states that “Because ideas evolve into profit if the people are clever and motivated”, but sometimes ideas do go out through the window. In this case, it definitely shows you who the transformational leaders are versus who the transactional leaders are.
thank for the good topic,Thanks for your sharing.
ReplyDeleteดูหนัง