Presented at the Flowroute Customer Event in Seattle on 28-29 October.

4. $260B

7. Brown-
Nosed
Middle
Manager!

8. Market chatter is
monopolized by weak-
minded marketing people

9. NFV
SDN
Digital
Tripe
Internet
Of Things
Mobile
Everything,
WebRTC

10. SERVICES

11. No. We tried a
similar service in our
market and it failed,
and we’re never ever
going to try again
What do you think of this service idea?

12. No. It will not work in
our market. Because
I’m a 50 year old guy
who understands all
my customers better
than they know
themselves.
What do you think of this service idea?

13. No. A feature of your
service overlaps with
an existing service.
What do you think of this service idea?

14. No. We have a similar
service launched, and are
not going to experiment
in trying to make it better
or address other
customer segments.
What do you think of this service idea?

15. No. Our network can
not support such as
service, even though
such services are
going over the top
today.
What do you think of this service idea?

16. No. It looks a bit like
RCS, which we’re not
sure about, but because it
looks a bit like something
we may do in the future
we’re not going to do it.
What do you think of this service idea?

17. No. It must work
across all devices,
even though most
devices will never use
it.
What do you think of this service idea?

18. No. We need
additional (random)
features included
before we could
consider it.
What do you think of this service idea?

19. No. It must work on
IMS (even though it
doesn’t need to).
What do you think of this service idea?

20. No. It must work
across all our
customers from day
one, even though
most will never use it.
What do you think of this service idea?

21. No. It must conform to
our process and design
norms. But we’re not
going to tell you what
they are, and you’ll have
to build them in on your
dime.
What do you think of this service idea?

22. No. It must integrate
with all our existing
platforms, even
though it can work
fine in the current
configuration.
What do you think of this service idea?

23. No. It must be
delivered through our
preferred SI or NEP,
who will copy / kill
the service
immediately.
What do you think of this service idea?

24. No. You must work
through our app
store / portal, which
we’re in the process of
closing.
What do you think of this service idea?

25. No. We can only focus on
4 service launches per
year. We only back major
successes like Video
Telephony, Mobile TV,
Push To Talk, See What I
See…
What do you think of this service idea?

26. No. We just don’t
have the bandwidth,
to do our job.
What do you think of this service idea?

27. No. We have a
network lock-down as
we launch 4/5G so
cannot do anything
for the next 9 month.
What do you think of this service idea?

28. No. Bob has left the
business and we’re
waiting on his
replacement, who
never comes.
What do you think of this service idea?

29. No. We’re waiting on
annual budgets to be
confirmed, sometime
in the next 6-12
months.
What do you think of this service idea?

30. No. We’re re-
organizing again this
year.
What do you think of this service idea?

31. No. Someone in the
organization doesn’t
like such services.
What do you think of this service idea?

32. No. That cannot be
implemented without
changing our IN /
product catalog /
CRM / billing /
network.
What do you think of this service idea?

33. No. We cannot bill /
sell services under $5
per month.
What do you think of this service idea?

34. No. We have a
backlog of 24 months
on billing updates,
even though the
service doesn’t need
to be in that pipeline.
What do you think of this service idea?

35. No. You must work
through our digital
innovation group who
we all hate and ignore
as they’re parasites on
our business.
What do you think of this service idea?

36. No. You must talk with
Bob who will then pass
you to Bill, who will then
pass you to Mary, who
will then pass you to
Paul, who will then pass
you back to Bob.
What do you think of this service idea?

37. OTT VoIP to cost telcos $479b to 2020.
— Ovum

74. • Find a problem or need that is poorly served in your life
that you think can be solved / served much better
• Hack a good enough solution to the core of that
problem / need using pervasive technology
• Focus on your customers and refine the solution given
their usage (first) and feedback (second)
• Build a company to dominate your region and enjoy
making people happy

77. • Not just programmers, product and design people as well.
– Team diversity is important for winning
• Students: showcase talent to innovative companies
• Businesses: copy Uber before someone else does and starts
disrupting your business
• Developers: create new services in hours, its the best and
most fun 2 days of training you’ll get this year
• $60k in prizes. So you have fun, free food, meet cool people,
hack, and a good chance at winning some cash

78. Building a $150B Ecosystem