Friday, November 21, 2003
Destroy my Business Model -- What, me Worry?
The Wall Street Journal's front page story on VoIP last month quoted me saying that VoIP, "destroys the incumbent telephone-company business model."
Want to guess how many worried telco execs called to find out why I said that? Zero.
Maybe they're not calling because they already know and they're evolving as fast as they can.
Maybe they're not calling because I'm obviously wrong, or obviously uninsightful.
But instead, I think telco execs just don't talk about business models. It has something to do with corporate culture. I am not sure about the cultural mechanics, but I have two guesses:
Guess #1: Maybe telco execs don't talk about business models for the same reason that fish don't talk about water. They were handed an established business model at the beginning of their career. It was, literally, a given. Analyzing the business model is "not my job".
Guess #2: Maybe it is like talking about death -- just not a polite thing to do, not culturally acceptable, in certain circles. Or maybe 'talking about sex' is the better analogy, in that people talk about it in private, with anxiety-releasing humor and myth in lieu of fact.
Establishing a successful business is incredibly difficult even when the business model is proven. Evidence: 90% of restaurants fail in their first year.
But there's something more -- something deeply unsettling -- about discussing a business model that's about to fail. However, telco execs who can learn new job skills (Guess #1) or overcome cultural shibboleths (Guess #2) -- who can muster whatever it takes to examine their business model squarely -- are more likely to survive. Those who don't won't.
Want to guess how many worried telco execs called to find out why I said that? Zero.
Maybe they're not calling because they already know and they're evolving as fast as they can.
Maybe they're not calling because I'm obviously wrong, or obviously uninsightful.
But instead, I think telco execs just don't talk about business models. It has something to do with corporate culture. I am not sure about the cultural mechanics, but I have two guesses:
Guess #1: Maybe telco execs don't talk about business models for the same reason that fish don't talk about water. They were handed an established business model at the beginning of their career. It was, literally, a given. Analyzing the business model is "not my job".
Guess #2: Maybe it is like talking about death -- just not a polite thing to do, not culturally acceptable, in certain circles. Or maybe 'talking about sex' is the better analogy, in that people talk about it in private, with anxiety-releasing humor and myth in lieu of fact.
Establishing a successful business is incredibly difficult even when the business model is proven. Evidence: 90% of restaurants fail in their first year.
But there's something more -- something deeply unsettling -- about discussing a business model that's about to fail. However, telco execs who can learn new job skills (Guess #1) or overcome cultural shibboleths (Guess #2) -- who can muster whatever it takes to examine their business model squarely -- are more likely to survive. Those who don't won't.
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