Wish your competitors well...
By Tom Foremski - December 8, 2006
I get to speak with a lot of companies, IBM, HP, Cisco, Intel, Sun, etc. And many much smaller companies. The presentations are good when delivered in such formats, when they are off the record they often change quite a bit, large and small.
During those times I get to hear about what a company's competitors are up to and I often learn more about their competitors than about them.
Sometimes I remind people that they are talking about their competitors more than they are about themselves. This rarely stops them, which is interesting.
My advice is simple: wish your competitors well and concentrate on what is on your plate right now.
Focus on what is important in your business right now. The market will take care of you and your competitors, no need to worry about that...
By Tom Foremski - December 8, 2006 | Permalink | Comment
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Comments (2)
I think this is pretty ironic, considering that your next piece is on the "New Mini Wall Street Journal." What do you care what the WSJ does or who it charges for what? Why don't you "concentrate on what's on your plate right now"? You care because the competitive landscape matters -- not because one wishes ill on one's customers, but because it's important to differentiate one's offering and philosophy. This isn't an excuse to simply dwell on a competitor's failings -- but it's fantasy to think that you can "focus on what is important in your business" without addressing what your competitors are doing, and how your approach differs.
Posted: December 8, 2006 3:31 PM
Bryan, thank you for seeing my work as competing with the Wall Street Journal.
I had been avoiding giving out that advice for a long time because I quite like the fact that they lock away their best content and limit their distribution.
This not an example of someone being critical of a competitor. It is the holiday season and I am offering a gift of advice, one that is valuable and not in my self-interest.
It is better for me if WSJ, FT, and many other excellent news organizations, continue their present practices of restricted content distribution.
Posted: December 8, 2006 5:05 PM