Which markets do Isolde and Emanuel target respectively? How do their respective business/revenue models align with their markets?
Isolde, head of Siiquent, targeted hospitals and big diagnostic labs, while Emanuel, head of Teomik, targeted research labs and universities. They both sold similar instruments and supplies for gene-based needs. However, the former made money on the “blades” of the razor-blade model, which made sense because they identified that hospitals and diagnostic labs were limited by their budgets. Thus, they could “seek sustainable profit” from consumables, rather than test instruments. The latter, on the other hand, made money on the “razor” of the razor-blade. Its target market was publishing genomic scientists, who were willing to purchase patent-protected devices using their large research funds.
What are the pros and perils of “imposing the structure of a single revenue model” vs. “letting [the company] continue on its flexible way”?
Peter’s concern with “letting [the company] continue on its flexible way” without a single revenue model was that it would lead to lack of segmentation, competitiveness, and differentiation in the existing market. As such, “imposing the structure of a single revenue model” would allow for user and competitor understanding to be much clearer. However, a peril of the single revenue model is that it may actually inhibit the team from being “nimble, flexible, and ingenious” when the market the team is trying to tackle is constantly evolving. This flexibility is thus a potential pro for the flexible model in a nascent market or in order to constantly adapt to what customers need and want.
Pretend that the CEO has decided the department heads must merge their divisions together. As a star PM assigned to mediate this interaction between department heads, how would you scaffold the discussion to ensure a fair merging process?
To ensure a fair merging process, some initial and critical steps would be to understand each division. What are their origin stories? What are their values? What has been going well for them and what has not? What are their post-merge goals? What are their expectations? In making sure that we understand the values and goals of utmost importance for both teams, and that each team understands the values and goals of the other team, we can then prioritize the conversation based on these values and goals. In this conversation, it also important to evaluate multiple options to success.
