Business Model Innovation

Innovation isn’t just about new products. It’s about how you structure, deliver, and capture value—across your entire business model. In their book, "Ten Types of Innovation" (2013), Keeley et al. outline a powerful framework outlining no less then 10 types of innovation: Configuration 1. Profit Model – How you make money 2. Network – How you collaborate 3. Structure – How you organize 4. Process – How you operate Offering 5. Product Performance – What you offer 6. Product System – How offerings work together Experience 7. Service – How you support users 8. Channel – How you deliver value 9. Brand – How you're perceived 10. Customer Engagement – How you foster loyalty Most innovation efforts focus narrowly on the product. But real advantage comes from orchestrating multiple innovation types, often in combination. If you're looking for new strategic levers, this framework is a great place to start. Which of the ten are you already investing in?

Africa’s biggest creative exit began with one phone call. In 2017, legendary Nigerian music producer Don Jazzy had a successful record label. But he knew something was missing. While Afrobeats was exploding globally, African labels were still operating like it was 2005 - no data analytics, no proper structure, no international distribution deals. Then came an unexpected call from Kupanda Capital, not your regular investor but a business-building platform focused on emerging markets. 🎯 Kupanda told Don Jazzy: "We see Afrobeats going global. Let's rebuild Mavin Records from the ground up to capture that opportunity." What happened next became the blueprint for scaling African creative businesses internationally. The transformation was radical: Kupanda moved two senior executives to Lagos to work alongside Don Jazzy's team (poke Mavin COO Peter Tega Oghenejobo). Together, they didn't just add capital - they rebuilt everything: 🎤 An artist development academy: Training talent for the digital age 📊 Data-driven A&R: Using analytics to predict hits before they happen 🌍 A global distribution network: International contracts from day one 🏢 A proper corporate structure: a 70-person team with defined roles and responsibilities Only THEN did Kupanda bring in TPG to invest $10M+ in Mavin. Then came the proof of concept... 🚀 Rema's "Calm Down" (featuring Selena Gomez) became the first song by an African artist to hit 1 billion Spotify streams. The numbers tell the rest of the story: - 60x growth in overall revenue over 5 years  - 100x growth in digital revenue 🔥 In 2024, Universal Music Group acquired a majority stake in Mavin at a $150-200M valuation, in the largest deal in African Creative Industries history. When I said that Mavin’s success had become the blueprint for scaling creative ventures in Africa, this is why: 1️⃣ Partnership beats pure capital. Creative companies often need a lot more than just cash. Operational expertise + local creative knowledge = magic 2️⃣ Structure unlocks creativity. You can’t grow on shaky foundations. Proper systems amplify business AND artistic potential. 3️⃣ Bet on data not gut feelings. Creative companies are yet to fully adopt digital tools, and that’s stifling their growth. Mavin shows how analytics can enable global success. Few investors are ready to be as hands-on as Kupanda, and few founders can be as collaborative as Don Jazzy and his team. EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW IT WORKS. Think about that. Mavin Records is one of the 12 African companies profiled in my latest study for Proparco's CREA Fund. Read the full case study here: https://lnkd.in/diAwWrXe ------ Want more business insights on the African Creative and Sports space? Join the 9,500+ other professionals who subscribe to my monthly newsletter HUSTLE & FLOW: https://lnkd.in/drBY8jnz

Lesson #5: Build Platforms, Not Tools. Create a Platform Advantage One of the most strategic things that a tech company can do is build a platform advantage. This creates a durable moat for a business. It also creates a built-in incentive for the market to keep coming back to you. So let’s study the concept of a Platform Advantage. A platform can bring several benefits to a business. 1. Foundation On Which Others Build Value: A platform is a foundation on top of which other players in the ecosystem build value. An example of this is application developers building apps for the iOS or Mac or Windows platform. 2. Platform Takes a Minority of the Available Economic Advantage: Typically, a great platform is built in a way that the ecosystem enjoys a large part of the economic opportunity availed by the platform. Going back to IOS or Windows, the revenue captured by all the app developers building on iOS is far greater than what Apple makes on iOS devices or what Microsoft makes on Windows. 3. Decrease in Incremental Effort: A platform advantage is defined as something where value can be realized with far less incremental effort for every subsequent addition for the user/customer. A great example of this is our Meraki platform. It started as a switching platform, but then the management plane was able to also manage cameras in the environment and people just decided to add them because the simplicity of managing everything is that much easier. 4. Sum is Greater than the Parts: The value of a good platform is always greater than the sum of the piece parts. In the security business at Cisco, we used to operate much more as a holding company. Several different products. Several different ways to use and manage the products. Each run by a General Manager. This created a disjointed experience for customers and incongruent objectives between the teams and the customer. And it didn’t take advantage of the breadth of the offering. As we built out the Cisco Security Cloud, all of this started to come together. There is a common design language, a common policy engine, a common set of policy objects, cohesion and predictability in how each component of the platform behaves, etc. Adding a new product to your environment has very low marginal effort. All the piece parts are well integrated. 5. Ecosystem Advantage: A platform delivers an ecosystem advantage. If you think of the Google ecosystem vs the Apple ecosystem, people aren’t making purchase decisions based on every small feature that gets added. When the iPhone 15 is released, only decision I make is whether to upgrade from my iPhone 14 to the newer version. What I’m not doing is evaluating the camera on the Google Pixel. That’s because I also use the Apple Watch, and the iPad and the Mac and the AppleTV and the VisionPro and iTunes and Apple News and they all work in perfect harmony with each other. The platform advantage leverages the power of the ecosystem. Net net, build platforms.

✈️ Airline Cost Structure: The Ultimate Professional Reference Every network decision is shaped by cost. This guide breaks it down clearly, precisely, and strategically. It’s your essential reference for evaluating route economics, understanding cost drivers, and aligning financial insight with network strategy. Keep this guide at hand for planning sessions, budget reviews, and strategic discussions. It’s your shortcut to clarity when analyzing route economics, cost allocation, and financial performance. The complete airline cost framework unfolds like this: 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 (𝗗𝗢𝗖): Costs directly tied to flight operations, split into: • 𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗢𝗖: Costs that remain constant regardless of flight activity, aircraft ownership (lease or depreciation), maintenance infrastructure, crew salaries, and insurance. • 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗢𝗖: Costs that scale with flight activity, driven by four key dimensions:   - 𝘾𝙮𝙘𝙡𝙚-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙: Costs per flight cycle, such as landing fees and outsourced handling charges   - 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙: Costs that increase with flight length, such as fuel burn and en-route charges     - 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙: Costs tied to passenger count, such as catering and GDS cost      - 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙: Costs linked to ticket sales, such as credit card fees and commissions 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 (𝗜𝗢𝗖): Support functions that enable airline operations, such as sales, marketing, administration, and overhead. These are essential for sustaining commercial performance and organizational alignment. Understanding the hierarchy and drivers of cost is key to forecasting, route evaluation, and strategic decision-making. This guide helps decode that structure with clarity. This quick reference guide below connects every critical cost component with precise definitions, airline-standard classifications, and strategic relevance for network planning and financial modeling. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲: • Clear hierarchical structure of airline cost categories • Industry-standard definitions and classifications • Strategic insights for route evaluation and cost optimization 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁: 💾 Save this post for quick reference 🔄 Share with your network and spread the knowledge Which cost driver was the biggest surprise in your last network review?  Share your experience below 👇 and join the conversation with industry peers. #Air52Insights #Aviation #Airlines #AviationStrategy #NetworkPlanning

Almost 5 years ago, a US defense startup acquired a gaming studio. The question is: Why would a defense contractor buy a gaming studio? 🤷 Andruil (started by Oculus founder Palmer Lucky) has raised $2bn to date (last valued at ~$14bn). The company builds & sells defense technology (UAVs, surveillance tech, command towers etc). In 2019, Andruil bought Carbon Games (terms undisclosed) — a gaming studio which was founded in 2011. OG gamers might remember their title AirMech (a real time strategy game)… The answer to the question is (quite) simple ⤵️ (1) Carbon Games had built its own game engine to render maps, worlds, interactions etc. Most modern studios rely on 3rd party game engines e.g Unreal, Unity etc. (2) Game engines can be used to create *any* scenario & simulate each possible future outcome of the scenario (think of the simulation as NPC v/s NPC with you — the gamer / user — watching as a spectator) (3) Most of Andruil’s defense tech is fairly “novel” (i.e. they aren’t building standard tanks, submarines etc). Therefore, Defense buyers (e.g. Dept of Defense, a general etc) would have many Qs regarding how the equipment would be deployed & how it would interface with existing Tech. (4) This is where Carbon Games comes in — the game engine can be used to simulate battle scenarios involving Andruil’s equipment. It is always better to show (”simulate”) versus tell. (5) Even from an R&D and product development standpoint, the ability to simulate scenarios to train AI systems is invaluable — Andruil’s Tech is all linked up to its Lattice platform (think of this as the AI brain which directs all the autonomous defense Tech). 🧠Sometimes, the reason for M&A is “Technology acquisition” versus consultant BS explanation of “synergy” (😆). Tech M&A is quite common: Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012 for ~$12.5bn to get access to its patents (it later sold the manufacturing part of the biz for ~$2.9bn). ➡️The beauty of building an IP-first business is that the residual value (even when the company isn’t a commercial business) can be incredibly high! #startups

In an era where #sustainability is often discussed as merely a reporting and disclosure requirement but seldom truly implemented, it's crucial to talk about the role of (transformative) innovation in today's resource-constrained world. At it’s core this means transitioning from the traditional 'take-make-waste' business model to one that is #regenerative and #circular. Innovating for sustainability means continuously adapting and reimagining business models to create value without compromising the planet. Our new book The Circular Business Revolution outlines five circular business model archetypes, providing a comprehensive and practical guide for leaders aiming to drive sustainable innovation. For a preliminary insight, our whitepaper offers a great starting point: https://lnkd.in/eEJJsKrG Interested in taking the lead in this critical transition? IMD’s 'Creating Value in the Circular Economy' program equips leaders with a step-by-step approach to developing successful circular business models, aligning business and environmental value for sustainable success. Explore our new program here -https://lnkd.in/eD4a57aV Is your organization already embarking on its circularity journey? I would love to hear about your experiences on this transformative path!

Your MVP: Your Most Vulnerable Prototype! Ah, the MVP. No, it’s not your company’s Most Valuable Player. It’s the Minimum Viable Product, that scrappy little thing you send out into the world, hoping it survives, learns, & evolves into something people want to use. Think of it as your product’s awkward middle school phase—braces, bad haircuts, & all. & if you’re too proud of it? Reid Hoffman says it best: “If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your #product, you've launched too late.” Let’s clarify: Your MVP isn’t meant to win beauty contests or sit on a pedestal. It’s not meant to be perfect. It’s meant to hit the ground running, trip a few times, & figure out how to get better. SU research shows that companies obsessed with over-polishing their #products before launch often face higher failure rates. Why? Because they waste time-solving problems customers don’t care about while missing the chance to solve the ones they do. Imagine your MVP as a bicycle made of duct tape & hope. It might wobble, but it moves forward. Here’s what it doesn’t need to be: • A luxury car: No bells, no whistles, & no heated seats. • A spaceship: It’s not launching to Mars. It’s just crossing the street. Instead, it should do one thing well—not five things poorly, not ten things “meh.” Just one thing that solves a real problem for real people. Think about it: Instagram started as a check-in app called Burbn. Twitter was a podcast platform. Airbnb’s early website photos looked like a Craigslist ad gone wrong. But they all launched early, iterated fast, & learned from real users. That’s the point of an MVP—it’s not a finished product; it’s a feedback machine. According to a CB Insights study, 42% of startups fail because they don’t meet market needs. Launching an MVP helps you avoid this fate by putting your product in front of users who will tell you—sometimes brutally—what works & what doesn’t. 1. Focus on function: If your MVP is a chair, it must hold someone’s weight. Don’t worry about mahogany finishes or gold-plated legs. 2. Start ugly. Your first version will likely look like a potato with buttons. That’s okay; potatoes are versatile. 3. Gather feedback fast: Get your product to users who aren’t your mom. They’ll tell you what’s broken, confusing, or just plain bad. 4. Iterate ruthlessly: Treat feedback as gold, not glitter. Use it to improve, evolve, & adapt. Your MVP is a test, not a trophy. It’s the baby bird you push out of the nest to see if it can fly—or at least glide without face-planting. The goal isn’t to impress; it’s to learn, adapt, & grow. So, embrace the awkwardness, the embarrassment, & even the failures. They’re not just part of the process—they are the process. When someone asks why your product looks like it was made in someone’s garage, you can smile & say, “Because it was. But wait—this is only the beginning.” Now, go launch that potato with buttons! #startups #leanstartups #entrepreneurship

Innovation isn’t about making what you sell better; it’s about selling something better. Most often when people think of the objectives of digital transformation, they focus on production optimization or cost reduction. But I would argue the real value comes from transforming the way you provide and capture value to customers. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬: 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 Manufacturers have traditionally sold physical products; however, with the increasing popularity of digital services such as software or cloud-based solutions, many manufacturers are now offering digital services as well. These digital services can be anything from providing access to a web portal for customers to tracking performance data for their equipment. By selling digital services, manufacturers can not only increase their profits but also gain a better understanding of customer needs which they can use to refine their products and services accordingly. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐀𝐬-𝐀-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 The subscription business model has become increasingly popular among manufacturers as it allows them to offer customers more flexibility when purchasing their products or services. Instead of customers buying a one-time product or service, they can subscribe on an ongoing basis instead which means they get access to the latest updates and features without having to purchase a new product each time. 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 This type of contract typically involves setting an agreed upon outcome that both parties agree on before signing any agreements. For example, if a manufacturer agrees to provide hardware maintenance for its customers for a certain number of years then it will receive payment once those conditions have been met instead of upfront payments like in traditional contracts. In such arrangements, manufacturers assume more responsibility for delivering results; thus increasing their risk but also allowing them to capture more value from customers if successful. ******************************************* • Visit www.jeffwinterinsights.com for access to all my content and to stay current on Industry 4.0 and other cool tech trends • Ring the 🔔 for notifications!

Running LLM-powered applications shouldn't drain your budget. While you're excited about building your next GenAI project, knowing how to optimize LLM costs is essential for long-term success. LLM cost optimization involves multiple complementary strategies to reduce inference expenses while maintaining performance. Input optimization focuses on efficient prompt engineering and context pruning to minimize token usage, ensuring only essential information is processed. Model selection involves choosing right-sized models for specific tasks, preventing resource waste from oversized models while maintaining accuracy. Model optimization techniques like quantization and pruning reduce model size and computational requirements without significantly impacting performance. Distributed processing leverages distributed inference and load balancing to optimize resource utilization across multiple machines, improving throughput and cost efficiency. Caching strategies implement response and embedding caches to avoid redundant computations, storing frequently requested responses and pre-computed embeddings for quick retrieval. Output management implements token limits and stream processing to control response lengths and optimize data flow. System architecture considerations include batch processing to maximize throughput and request optimization to reduce unnecessary API calls. Together, these strategies form a comprehensive approach to LLM cost optimization, balancing performance requirements with resource efficiency. The key is implementing these strategies in combination, as each addresses different aspects of LLM deployment costs. Success requires continuous monitoring and adjustment of these strategies based on usage patterns, performance requirements, and cost metrics. Know more about such LLM cost optimization strategies and techniques in this blog: https://lnkd.in/gMvbg6Se Subscribe to my YouTube channel to know & understand more in-depth concepts on Generative AI: https://lnkd.in/gmAKSxKJ

Thrilled to share our new research, co-authored with Annabeth Aagaard and Oliver Gassmann, on how industrial digital platforms are transforming value creation in B2B ecosystems. In many manufacturing settings, platform governance has long been framed as a one-way street: the platform orchestrates, complementors adapt. Our study shows a very different reality. Across five platform providers and five leading manufacturers, we uncover dual orchestration — a dynamic, iterative form of co-governance where both sides continuously adapt roles as digital business models evolve. The paper offers: • A Platform DBM Process Model explaining how value is co-created and co-captured across initiation, proposition design, digital transformation, and revenue sharing. • A Dual Orchestration Governance Framework detailing how transparency, reciprocity, commitment, proximity, and coopetition enable stable collaboration in highly interdependent industrial settings. • Rich case evidence from global platform providers and industrial firms navigating interoperability, data rights, servitization, and emerging AI-driven business models. If you are working on digital transformation, industrial platforms, ecosystem strategy, or B2B business model innovation, I hope you will find the insights useful. Read the open-access article here: Dancing titans: Dual orchestration and governance in industrial digital platforms for B2B value co-creation (Technovation, 2026): https://lnkd.in/dK4_UZpz Happy to discuss the findings or explore collaboration around this line of research. #DigitalPlatforms #IndustrialPlatforms #DualOrchestration #PlatformGovernance #B2BInnovation #EcosystemStrategy #DigitalBusinessModels #Servitization #ValueCoCreation #ValueCoCapture #ManufacturingInnovation #DigitalTransformation #IIoT #PlatformEconomy #EcosystemGovernance #CollaborationDynamics #OpenInnovation #DataDrivenInnovation #Technovation #ResearchPublication