STRATEGY INNOVATION TAKES IMAGINATION

Robert B. Tucker DEJECTED LEADERS OF BANKRUPT DOT-COM FIRMS ARE OFTEN quoted as saying, "we just couldn't seem to get our business model worked out, and we finally ran out of cash." Not surprising. Even the best-known dot-coms must be considered business model experiments, since their "path to profitabil­ ity" is still before them. Yet while dot-com firms are under extreme pressure to prove the efficacy of their business models, existing firms face a challenge that is no less daunting: how to sustain the efficacy of their business models in the face of unrelenting change and competition. The fact is, no matter how bulletproof your firm's current business model, it will be challenged by new business mod­ els. Over time, it will also be imitated, and thereby diluted and commoditized. Upstarts may or may not have staying power, yet collectively they can render today's method of cre­ ating value for customers passe, or worse. The new reality is that business models have shelf lives, like loaves of bread at the supermarket. You must constantly attempt to discover new business models if your company hopes to survive and grow. Hatching new business models can conjure images of well-financed whiz kids inside business incubators hover­ ing around whiteboards, excitedly brainstorming billiondollar breakthroughs. Yet if the dot-com crash has lessons, those lessons may be that native genius is less than what is called for and piles of venture capital can't insure market acceptance.