Welcome to the Innovative Venture Research Class

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Welcome to the Innovative Venture Research Class!

• In this class you will
• Understand and describe a new technology
• Work in a team to perform a Lead User study.
• Based on your Lead user study, identify TWO
  product concepts which have real market potential
  and can be made using our new innovative
  technology.
• The following slides are to introduce you to the
  study of innovation and Lead user studies..

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The study of innovation starts with Everett
Rogers, 1962

• Rogers asked When a new innovative product is
  introduced, what makes people adopt it early
  versus later?
• He categorized people based on the time it took
  for them to adopt a new innovative product, and
• He identified characteristics about the
  innovation that affect its speed of adoption.

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The study of innovation starts with Everett
Rogers, 1962
MORE ON THESE CHARACTERISTICS IN A LATER CLASS
PERIOD!

• Rogers asked When a new innovative product is
  introduced, what makes people adopt them early
  versus later?
• He categorized people based on the time it took
  for them to adopt a new innovative product, and
• He identified characteristics about the
  innovation that affect its speed of adoption.

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Adopter Categoriesas estimated by Rogers
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Next comes Dr. Frank Bass, 1969 who said

• The innovators are the first persons to find out
  about and adopt/buy a new innovative product.
• Everyone else is an imitator ---- they adopt
  what the innovator has already found out about
  after they see him benefiting from it.
• If there are a lot of innovators then the
  adoption process takes place more quickly

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Dr. Frank Bass said

• If there are many innovators the adoption curve
  looks like

If few innovators, then adoptions reach a peak
more slowly
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Next comes Dr. Eric von Hippel

• Dr. von Hippel said that Since imitators imitate
  innovators If we find out what needs innovators
  have now, well know what the imitators will want
  later.
• He called the innovators Lead Users because
  they lead the market.

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von Hippel said

• To find Lead Users, we look for people who
• Face the needs that will be general in the
  market, but well before the general marketplace
  realizes the needs. So we find people who are
  at the leading edge of trends and so are very
  knowledgeable about state of the art solutions.
• Will benefit significantly by obtaining a
  solution to those needs, and will spend resources
  trying to solve those needs because its more
  important to them than the average person.

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Primary vs. Secondary Research

• Secondary Research using existing (already
  gathered) information to identify trends and find
  names of people who may be Lead users that we
  can talk to.
• A Lead user study/interview is a form of Primary
  Research building new information. Other
  examples of Primary Research include Surveys,
  Focus groups and empirical/experimental
  observations.

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Lead User Primary Research

• We can ask Lead Users to tell us about
• Competing solutions ways the problem is being
  solved now
• Weaknesses of the current solutions - may
  represent needs that your technology can fill
  better
• Level of Market interest ( innovators) size and
  share the seller can hope to obtain
• Possible business models our plan to target a
  market and make it easy for them to adopt our
  product so commercialization takes place.

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Lead User Primary Research
MORE ON BUSINESS MODELS and MARKET SIZE IN LATER
CLASS PERIODS!

• Contacting Lead Users will tell us about
• Competing solutions ways the problem is being
  solved now
• Weaknesses of the current solutions - may
  represent needs that your technology can fill
  better
• Market interest ( innovators) size and share
• Possible business models our plan to target a
  market and make it easy for them to adopt our
  product so commercialization takes place.

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Its time to watch the (2) von Hippel Lead user
videos