Como uma startup (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.

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O que acontece a uma empresa com muito dinheiro que resolve investir numa nova geografia, numa nova cultura:

"consider what happened to Kellogg when it first attempted to enter the Indian market in the early 1990s.The logic behind its decision appeared to be unassailable. With $3.8 billion in revenue and a whopping 40% share of the U.S. ready-to-eat cereal market, Kellogg was the market leader in its home base. And with sales in nearly 150 countries, it already had a formidable international presence. India was home to 950 million possible new consumers. If Indian consumers would eat as much cereal, on average, as Americans, then just 2% of the population would generate more revenue than the entire U.S. market. Surely, Kellogg could capture 2% of this vast group with a little bit of innovation.
Buoyed by this optimism, Kellogg invested $65 million in establishing an operational and marketing presence to launch Corn Flakes, Wheat Flakes, and its "innovation" — Basmati Rice Flakes — throughout the country. "Our only rivals," declared the managing director of Kellogg India, "are traditional Indian foods like idlis and vadas."

20 anos depois...

"But by 2010, Kellogg had managed to capture considerably less than 1% of the population, generating revenues of only $70 million.
How is it possible that Kellogg could envision building a $3 billion business in India, invest $65 million in the first year alone, and end up, 16 years later, with only $70 million in annual revenues? And how can other business leaders avoid making similar mistakes?"

A explicação para o fracasso encontra-se no artigo "Are You Targeting a Phantom Market?". Contudo, o ponto que aqui queria realçar é este:
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E se a Kellog fosse uma PME sem uma almofada de dinheiro para gastar, como poderia entrar num mercado desconhecido?
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Como uma startup em busca de um modelo de negócio escalável.
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Primeiro: existe mercado? O principal erro é pensar que se sabe o que é que o mercado precisa! Daí o grito "Get out of the building!!!"

"1. What jobs were people trying to accomplish when they either bought the current offerings in the breakfast food market or made breakfast from scratch at home?
2. How (and how well) did those products actually accomplish those jobs?
3. What offering could Kellogg profitably devise that could fulfill those jobs better?"

O conselho de Steve Blank...
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"The customer discovery process searches for problem/solution fit: "have we found a problem lots of people want us to solve (or a need they want us to fill)" and "does our solution solve the problem in a compelling way?"
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A história da Zappos é um bom exemplo de como a falta de dinheiro só faz bem a uma startup que ainda não descobriu um modelo de negócio escalável.
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BTW, quando somos todos tão críticos das capacidades de gestão dos empresários portugueses, e quanto mais longe do fenómeno mais críticos, seria bom recordar estes exemplos perpetrados por gente com todas as formações e MBAs que nos possamos lembrar.