Isolde’s company is Siiquent, which sells everything that hospitals and big diagnostic labs need for gene based diagnosis. Siiquent’s business model is selling two kinds of things: machines and stuff the machines use, and they primarily makes money on the “stuff”. Meanwhile, Emanuel’s company is Teomik, which provides everything that research labs and universities need for gene-based studies. They primarily make money off the machines they sell, since Max Planck Institutes and other big funders of genetic research didn’t balk at the prices. Customers loved that Teomik was flexible and adaptable with their pricing.
There are pros and cons of “imposing the structure of a single revenue model” vs. “letting the company continue on its flexible way.” First, imposing the structure could help streamline operations and cut costs for the company, allowing for greater margins. However, doing so could harm relationships with existing customers who prefer the current pricing models.
As a star PM assigned to mediate this interaction between department heads, I would scaffold the discussion to ensure a fair merging process by sitting down with the two heads and talk about areas that could be compromised and areas that they think could not be comprised. I would want to see the similarities and differences between the two pricing models, so we can make a fair data-driven decision.
