Business X factors

Imagine this: You’re working on a jigsaw puzzle. It’s 1,000 pieces and you’re methodically going through them all, connecting what goes together, maybe categorizing the different types, colors, and patterns. And, while you’re doing this, all of a sudden that 1,000-piece puzzle becomes a 1,500-piece puzzle. And, oh yeah, the picture has changed. And this keeps happening over, and over, and over again. It would drive you crazy. But unfortunately, for business owners and business professionals, this story is one that’s all too familiar. 

In the legal profession the ever-expanding jigsaw puzzle is the hunt for evidence that can make or break a case.  But finding the smoking gun is like searching for a needle in a haystack and most of the time, you don’t even know what the needle looks like. 

AJ Shanker is the Founder and CEO of Everlaw, a legal tech company that is taking these impossible tasks out of the hands of lawyers and is spinning the haystacks into gold. How does it do that? Find out on Business X factors.  

Main Takeaways: 

• Side Hustles As Main Hustles: Conventional wisdom says we should not be sidetracked by shiny objects and that we should laser focus on a single goal. But side hustles or projects don’t need to be a distraction because some of the world’s most successful companies have started out as side projects. Twitter, Houzz, and Craigslist fall in this category. The jobs we take on to make some extra cash, pursue a passion or take because it was available, could be an inspiration for a whole new career. Your skills could be exactly what an industry far out of your comfort zone needs. Side projects could be an incredible source of inspiration and it could be a better idea than the one you have been pursuing. 
• Naivety as a Superpower: People are often labeled as naïve when they are inexperienced in a particular field or when they lack strict adherence to ideals or rules. But in the business world, naivety or cluelessness can sometimes be an asset because it gives you a perspective that others who are well-versed in the area often miss. Naivety should not be confused with stupidity or ignorance. Richard Branson has often been accused of making naïve or flaky decisions. Branson has tried many things for fun and worked like crazy to make them happen. The secret is to be intelligently naïve leaving room for curiosity, learning and experimentation, and observation that others closer to an industry may not see. 
• Partner with an Engineer: When people of the same discipline get together to solve problems, particularly when they are big problems, it could be useful to borrow from other industries and bring systems engineering that is well-known in the space industry into the process.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wayne Berger is the CEO of IWG North America and Latin America. IWG, short for International Workforce Group, boasts thousands of coworking spaces internationally.  And on this episode of the podcast, he explains how IWG blew past those big names in coworking spaces to build a business that can last. What did IWG do differently? What were the gaps in the market IWG spotted that others ignored? And how was data put to use to help IWG identify what no one else could see? All that and more on this episode of Business X factors.

Main Takeaways: 

• Don’t Jump on the Bandwagon: While there may be short-term benefits in following trends or the sexiness of the latest fad, this approach may not lead to significant growth. Seeking novelty can also kill off true innovation and could lead companies to develop products that are inconsistent with their culture and values. Great brands know how to distinguish the latest fad from powerful ideas that they have spotted on the horizon. Find ways of advancing ideas that resonate with core values. Find out with data where society is heading and explore ways in which your brand can align with that direction.
• Be a Differentiator: In the words of Theodore Levitt, a professor at Harvard Business School, “Differentiation is one of the most important strategic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage.” To communicate your company’s distinct capabilities means highlighting how both your unique selling proposition and the customer value proposition differ from competitors. To determine what your core differentiators are: Evaluate your competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses, analyze customer experience and focus on the characteristics that set you apart.
• Find the Gaps: In a competitive or changing market, it is important to determine whether there are gaps that you can exploit. To identify gaps, you need to play to your strengths as you need to have existing skills and knowledge. Step into the mind of the customer to identify where their attention is shifting to. Research market trends. Take a global view using technology not found in your area. Adapt a business current idea for a new market. Find an innovative solution to a problem. Stay on top of legislation changes that could open a new market. Communicate the gap that you found to take customers along on the journey.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Imagine this. You and one other suspect have been arrested for a crime. You are taken to separate interrogation rooms where the cops give you two options: you can either confess that you and your accomplice committed the crime or you can stay silent and not confess.

Here’s the catch:

If you confess, and your partner does not confess, you will go free.

If you do not confess, but your partner does, then you will be convicted of the maximum sentence.

If you both confess, you will both receive mild sentences.

If neither of you confess, you will both be free within hours. 

What do you do?

What is described above is a famous Game Theory called The Prisoner’s Dilemma. Why bring this up? Because it illustrates an idea that Mark Papermaster, the CTO and EVP of AMD, laid out to describe how he thinks about getting ahead in the industry. Want to learn more? All the details are on this episode of Business X factors.

Main Takeaways:

• Hire People with Passion: It may be tempting to only recruit people for academic prowess and experience — they seem like less of a risk. But hiring for passion could open up a talent pool of people who live and breathe the business. People who are passionate and positive about the company and their job are more invested in improving the overall performance of the business. They work to encourage the company and each other to succeed and are prepared to go the extra mile in times of trouble, which makes them a wise investment. 
• Rules for Coopetition: A mix of competition and cooperation between companies can be a way to save cost and avoid duplication of effort. Sharing may mean putting your special sauce at risk, but the combination of ingredients can create value for both sides. To structure a coopetition agreement, make sure that scope and control is established. Work out who is in charge and how things are going to be unwound if the arrangement no longer makes sense. Cooperation and partnership agreements that are limited and don’t raise control issues are the simplest. In other cases, costs can be shared by parties, but not proprietary knowledge.  
• Transformational change = High Risk: Businesses that are forced to or want to transform are often required to take significant risks. These high-risk projects are often highly visible and have sweeping impacts inside and outside the organization. To manage risk, undertake risk analysis to identify threats and assess the likelihood of them being realized and once you’ve worked out what they are, you can start by looking at ways to manage them effectively. This could include avoidance, sharing the risk or accepting risk while carrying out steps to reduce its impact. This could be done by rolling out high-risk activity on a small scale in a controlled way.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

He was 16 hours in. His feet ached of blisters, cuts, and bruises. His whole body was exhausted, screaming at him to stop. He had swum 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles, and was now on his way to completing the final stage of his journey, a 26.2-mile run. Every step brought him closer to his goal, and every step forward meant ignoring the creeping self-doubt in his mind. 

16 hours, 46 minutes, and 9 seconds after he began his journey, the hard work and pain paid off… He heard his name announced over the speaker as he crossed the finish line… “Chris Nikic, you are an Ironman.” 

On November 7th, 2020, Chris Nikic completed his first Ironman. It’s an incredible feat for anyone to accomplish, but there’s something about Chris’s story that makes it that much more impressive — Chris was the first athlete with Down Syndrome ever to complete an Ironman.

It’s a powerful story that Mary Davis, the CEO of Special Olympics, tells to illustrate how the organization is trying to create an inclusion revolution. What does that mean? Find out on f Business X factors. 

Main Takeaways: 

• Inclusion Revolution: Being inclusive to people with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, it is also good for business. According to the Harvard Business Review, inclusion directly enhances the workplace, and teams with inclusive leaders are 17% more likely to report high performance. It has also been found to increase work attendance by almost one day a year per employee, which reduces the cost of absenteeism. The traits that distinguish inclusive leaders from others are humility, awareness of bias, curiosity about others, cultural intelligence, visible commitment to diversity, and effective collaboration. 
• Get Hyperlocal: It does not matter whether you are an organization that is trying to improve the world for disabled people, an awareness campaign about the environment or a business you are trying to grow, a bottoms-up instead of a top-down approach builds trust. Knowledge of local cultures can help to foster an understanding of an international agenda or an appetite for brands. It also means that big brands should change their offerings on a local level to adjust to the tastes of different cultures. Getting hyperlocal means understanding what truly matters to customers in any given location and adjusting marketing to locals tastes and preferences. 
• Become a Storydoer: Storytelling is a powerful tool for any organization or business. In the case of non-profit organizations, it is often not hard to find stories about the great work that is being done. What is more important is to not only share the outcome-oriented stories, but to share the action that produces those results. Storydoing should mobilize people to actively support and promote a cause, or, in the case of a business, to actively promote a brand. Customers should feel they are not only buying or supporting a product, but they are also getting a story that draws them in to move beyond a product. 
• How to Manage Public-Private Partnerships: Contracts between government and business or private organizations can be enormously complex, but they can accomplish what neither side can do alone, like expanding infrastructure where funds are limited or provide much-needed help for non-profit organizations. The process of structuring a PPP involving a large number of people often takes many years. To avoid failure, find a government champion, draw in people with expertise and take note of environmental and social considerations.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

 In the movie World War Z, there was a Mossad agent trying to explain to Brad Pitt’s character why Israel was far more prepared for a zombie outbreak than the rest of the world. The reason was the 10th Man Rule. The agent explained that Israel’s security council had 10 advisors who looked into big picture issues. If the first 9 advisors dismissed an issue or potential danger to the country, then the 10th man was forced to overrule them on principle and look into the issue no matter how far-fetched the scenario. There’s a lesson in there that I think applies to exactly how Ed McQuiston, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer for Hyland, says the company tends to operate. In this episode of Business X factors McQuiston sets out how the company has adopted a process of contrarian thinking that has ensured its survival for decades.  

Main Takeaways:

• How Not to Become a Boiled Frog: When managers realise that a business is running into a problem, it is critical not to become the metaphorical frog who doesn’t notice that the water is warming up until it’s too late. Leaders need to pivot and refocus the strategy, which includes doing a critical review of the business plan, coming up with a new route, and then getting the buy-in and resources necessary to make it work.  
• Bring in a Truth Teller: As managers advance to the executive level, feedback often becomes more infrequent and more unreliable, which means that executives could plateau in their leadership and interpersonal skills. Third party coaches or consultants are particularly effective in times of change and can help executives come up with new ways to tackle old problems. When managed correctly, they can reduce exposure to operational risk.  
• A Devil’s Advocate on Your Team: When one member comes up with an alternative perspective, it encourages other members to consider other angles to a problem, think more deeply about their own views, and perhaps stimulate solutions that they would not have considered before. To be an effective devil’s advocate, the Harvard Graduate School of Education suggests that ideas should be challenged, not the participants who put them forward — don’t hurt feelings and maintain focus on the group. 

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As a young woman, Jane Goodall traveled from her home country of England to Tanzania to do research on chimpanzees. Others had studied the animals in the past, but Jane’s method was different. She immersed herself in the chimpanzees’ world. She lived among them, observed them and folded herself into their way of life. And it was through that experience that the eyes of the world were opened to what was really happening with these animals, what their challenges were, how they worked, and what their lives actually looked like. It was only through being fully embedded that true understanding was possible. That’s the same idea that GE Digital puts into practice to fuel the digital revolution of the biggest companies operating around the world.

Pat Byrne, the CEO of GE Digital knows that the best way to help someone is to get to know them and the best way to find a solution is to first thoroughly understand the problem.  Find out how he and GE Digital does that to power business solutions on this episode of Business X factors.  

Main takeaways:  

• Love the Problem and Then the Solution: To develop solutions that create impact, it is important to understand what clients have to deal with on a daily basis, the problems they are trying to solve, and the challenges they face. Figure out what customers are trying to accomplish. What is important to them? Why? Fall in love with the customer’s problem before you fall in love with the solution.
• Go to Gemba: Gemba translates as the ‘real place,’ and in business, it refers to the real place where value is created.  To find it, you have to fully immerse yourself with companies from the c-suite to the shop floor. You have to learn and understand what is happening across every level of a business to optimize the value stream and find the point of maximum impact to avoid solving the wrong problems.
• Avoid the "Innovate in Isolation" Trap: Developers and designers need to be mindful that they are designing with their users in mind and not just creating insular products. They too often approach a challenge with a specific end product in mind that is meant for expert users when in reality it might not solve the problems of the majority of users. Get to know the users of a solution before you jump in and institute a co-design process in order to ease the adoption of solutions and technology.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you’ve ever watched one of the hundreds of crime dramas on TV or tuned into a true-crime podcast, you’re probably familiar with the ideas of genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling. More often than not, fingerprints and DNA are used to crack a case and lead to the right culprit. But the science behind DNA fingerprinting? It didn’t even exist until 1984. In fact, the inventor of the method didn’t think it was even possible. 

Time and time again, mainstream society and experts in their own fields have proven to be notoriously bad at predicting which risks will pay off and what is in the realm of possibility. As another example, look at Alexander Graham Bell who, strapped for cash, offered to sell his telephone patent to Western Union for just $100,000. Western Union turned it down, stating that “The idea is idiotic on the face of it."

What seems impossible or idiotic today can become commonplace tomorrow. It just takes a little bit of grit and self-confidence. Ivonne Kinser, the Head of Marketing for Avocados from Mexico, and both she and the company have a knack for taking risks and betting on the seemingly impossible. What do those bets look like, and how have they paid off so far? Find out on this episode of Business X factors.   

Main Takeaways:  

• Be a (Calculated) Risk-Taker: People are often encouraged to start before they think they’re ready and to not let any opportunity go to waste. While sometimes this is a good strategy, it is almost always better to make a calculated bet and be sure you know what your ability level is and what you hope to achieve with any project. With that knowledge at the very least, you can come up with a plan that might be bold, but has a better chance of working out than if you jumped in blind. 
• Separate the Signal From the Noise: Companies have to evolve constantly to stay innovative and competitive, but still too many find a model that they repeat over and over even though the industry has begun to outpace them. But it’s not enough to just keep pace, you have to constantly try to stay ahead of the trends so that you can be riding the highs of a movement while others are trying to get started. To do this, keep an eye on the trends and separate the noise from the signal. Take advantage of trends to cushion the business, but build your foundation on the forces at work, such as the technology that will be sticking around for years to come.    
• The Long Game: In today’s world, businesses are often focused on short-term goals, this month’s P&Ls, and what the stock price is doing. Applying long-term thinking is probably the better strategy, though, because it allows you to prepare for whatever will come your way. By coming up with very long-term goals, and then focusing on collecting the data and implementing the technology to keep yourself informed on as much as possible, you future-proof yourself and your business.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Do you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Here’s a quick refresher: a tortoise and a hare were having a race, which, you assume, would be pretty lopsided in favor of the hare. But the hare was so focused on showing off that he lost sight of the ultimate goal: winning the race. 

Why do I bring that up? Well, because it reminds me of a phrase you may have heard in the business world, that “marketing is meant to be remarkable.” You may have also heard that companies are always aiming to “surprise and delight.” The crux of what both of these phrases are talking about is really that companies are focused on creating experiences for consumers that they will remember forever. According to Simon Harrison, CMO of Avaya, that’s also the completely wrong way to be operating your business.

Avaya is a software solutions company that many people may not have on their radar, but it is steadily bringing software solutions to 90% of Fortune 500 companies, has a presence in 190 countries, and it is effortlessly improving customer experiences. How is Avaya succeeding? Simon tells us on this episode of Business X factors.

Main Takeaways: 

• Effortless Trumps Delight: Customers may be delighted to be offered a freebie like chocolates on their pillows at a hotel, but loyalty or repeat business does not come from these ‘feel good’ moments. Customers have a preference for organizations who make life easy for them, solve their problems and create an effortless experience and will return to them over and over before they go back to a company that did one nice thing for them one time.   
• Everybody Loves a Story: A powerful way of persuading people is to unite an idea with an emotion and the best way to do that is by telling a story. People connect with stories and it builds familiarity. Ditch the PowerPoint slides and the charts and tell stories that engage and are remembered.   
• Design/ Reach for Utopia:  Joseph Pine and James Gilmore coined the phrase ‘Experience Economy’ way back in 1998 and they have since made an even stronger case for experiences as the critical link between a company and its customers. To design solutions to create the ultimate customer experience in a booming customer experience economy, imagine a utopia, a moment or experience when there is a perfect match between what a customer wants and what a business offers. And then empower staff to come up with transformational customer experiences. 

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A little girl hides behind the leg of her mother, afraid and unsure as her eyes scan the mass of people around them. She and her family have just fled their home in Ethiopia amid a rising tide of violence and disruption. They are now staying at a camp for displaced persons along with thousands of others who, like them, can no longer go back to the home they once knew. There is overcrowding, disease, and little food or water to go around. 

It’s a heartbreaking scene, and sadly not an unusual story. This little girl’s struggles are a drop in the bucket when you take in the larger picture. The world is full of hard problems to solve. Hunger, homelessness, disease, natural disasters, education inequality. The list goes on and on and there isn’t a single corner of the world that is immune to all of these challenges. The need is overwhelming, but it can’t be ignored. As humans, we are all accountable to each other. But as humans, we are also limited in our capacity to help on a large scale. It’s not impossible, though, and certain organizations have found a way to have massive impacts, including UNICEF. The question is... how? 

UNICEF is a global organization that faces massive challenges head-on every day. On this episode of Business X factors, Michel Nyenhuis, the CEO of UNICEF USA, tells us how.

Main takeaways:  

• Global Influence, Local Implementation: “Think global, act local,” may sound like a bit of a cliché for companies entering new overseas markets, but many businesses are still guilty of having a one-size-fits-all mindset. They focus on large-scale economic, political or technological barriers without taking the local culture or those that have to implement a business model on the ground into account. To make a lasting impact wherever you work, give autonomy to local people who are better acquainted with cultural differences that could influence consumer attitudes and behaviors.   
• Partners to Solve Big Problems: While smaller businesses or non-profit organizations can be nimble and flexible and can try things that governments aren’t able to do,  to scale, these organizations often need bigger partners. Buy-in from multiple partners can help not only ease the challenge of expansion but also minimize the risk for individual actors.  
• Communication Paralysis: A lack of communication is often seen as the root of the problem in many businesses. The reality is that there could be too much communication happening, which causes channels to become oversaturated with business leaders acting as information traffic wardens instead of making decisions. Communications should be treated like data, there is plenty of it, but it needs to be channeled and sifted to add value. Don’t communicate for the sake of communicating, make sure there is value in it and that it does not lead to indecision.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The world of business is full of empty promises masquerading as the next “big thing.” From pitch comps in high schools to stakeholder meetings for the Fortune 100, you hear the same claim; that this service, or that product will be a total game-changer. 

As proof, all we have to do is take a little look into the past. Back in 1957, Ford dove in headfirst into “the next best thing,” also known as the Ford Edsel. But consumer preferences were evolving quickly, and no one wanted a big, bulky gas-guzzling car anymore. After a few years, and $400 million dollars down the drain, it was quickly taken off the market. Or what about when Coors tried to sell its “rocky mountain spring water” to its customers? Another flop. Turns out beer drinkers only want one thing from their favorite beer brand. Or let’s think back to when everyone thought they had to offer phones to their customers. Amazon, Facebook, and ESPN all took a swing at the opportunity only to realize they overpromised and underdelivered.

It’s hard, almost impossible, to create something that truly has a long-lasting impact on the world and on consumer behavior. The internet was one of those things, and companies like Google, Tesla, and Apple were a few leaders that transcended the world of fad and actually entered the zeitgeist in real ways. But they are the exceptions, not the rule. And they also weren't the first movers in their industries. Google wasn't first in the search market. Tesla wasn’t first in electric vehicles, and there were computers and phones far before Macs and iPhones became ubiquitous. So where does that leave an innovative new drone company, which is angling to be another one of those unicorns, but is paving a completely new path to get there? 

American Robotics became the first company authorized by the FAA to conduct automated drone operations without humans on site. Reese Mozer, the co-founder of American Robotics calls it an inflection point and he’s aware that the whole industry could soon be riding in his slipstream. But Mozer has learned a couple of valuable lessons as he was pushing for approval and found nuggets under the golden ticket that he unleashed for the industry. On this episode of Business X factors, find out the valuable lessons Mozer learned in being the first-mover and how he plans to sustain the lead and not go the way of the Ford Edsel… 

Main  takeaways:  

• Push Where Others Don’t Dare To Go: By their definition, entrepreneurs question the status quo and start-ups that come up with new ideas and inventions often find that they are overburdened by regulations. Innovators should be aware of what regulations are in place, and where the boundaries are to figure out what’s possible. Then they should push those boundaries in order to create new opportunities before others strike up the nerve to challenge the regulators.
• The Edge Is In The Data: In developing a product, many entrepreneurs focus on pushing out new offerings and constant development of products to stay ahead. What often gets lost in the rush to focus on the product is the value that lies underneath what you build. Gold often lives in the data that companies gather and if they analyze and optimize that data, they can outlive any product that might be hot today but not tomorrow. The hardware or products often only serve as the enabler for data-centric transformational business value.   
• Insane Perseverance: Steve Jobs said he was convinced that what separated the successful entrepreneurs from non-successful ones was pure perseverance. Many people will fold when they experience pushback, especially from peers or investors. Those that carry on anyway are often the ones that end up changing the world.

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Business X factors is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by Hyland. 

For over a decade, Hyland has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms, leading the way to help people get the information they need when and where they need it. More than half of 2019 Fortune 100 companies rely on Hyland to help them create more meaningful connections with the people they serve. When your focus is on the people you serve, Hyland stands behind you. Hyland is your X factor for better performance. Go to Hyland.com/insights to learn more.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.