"… quite outstanding… you have helped us to crystallise our own thoughts, and added some great ideas yourselves. "
Managing a technology business is one of the hardest challenges around. Whether running a stand alone firm, or operating a business unit within a larger entity, executives and boards have onerous demands placed upon them.
As a senior executive or board member, you and your colleagues will need to know your field, your market, your technology and your competition intimately.
You’ll need to select and keep good people, and yes, get rid of the duds.
You’ll need to know your IP inside-out and know the difference between ace attorneys and ambulance-chasers. And you’ll need to understand that there are other ways of carving out a market niche.
You need to keep an eye on your finances, your cash flow (if you’re lucky enough to have one), or your burn rate.
You need to have the strength of character to invest in the “star” projects, and kill the “dogs”… quickly.
And finally, if things go wrong, the buck stops with you. That’s the price of leadership.
Sometimes you may feel that you need to be an expert at everything. Thankfully, much expertise can be outsourced. But how do you pick an expert? In fact, what is an expert?
Economist Robin Hanson makes a nice distinction between an expert at and an expert on:
"A prosperous and successful plumber is an expert at plumbing. Someone who is a good source for accurate information on plumbing is an expert on plumbing."1
So do you need help with the practical or the theory? In reality, the best advice probably comes from a combination of the two.
And that’s where we can help. We are accomplished in both business and science, and with a grip on both theory and practice, you’ll get a valuable partner, not a glossy report.
1University of Oxford, Future of Humanity Institute
-- typically short, smart and targeted. If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t like where you end up.
-- what’s the business plan for? - to inform the way forward? - to attract investment capital? - for a grant application? One size does not fit all.
-- usually deriving from strategic or business plans, tailored to existing management strengths
-- a shotgun approach to raising finance is exhausting and dispiriting. There are other ways.
-- for new technologies these are absolutely crucial
-- can be slightly tedious for entrepreneurial minds but will forewarn and forearm management.
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-- unique to each assignment.
-- from desk-based to primary research, usually a combination.
-- invariably underpinned by market data (both supply and demand).
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-- an integrated task usually drawing upon market, technical and capability assessments.
-- technical expertise needs to be overlaid with market intelligence.
-- the flipside of Needs Analysis, stimulates self awareness and discovery across an organisation.
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Through a unique combination of acumen and rigour, we provide a customised approach, on time and on budget.