Building from a fantastic presentation the team @wearecourier.com shared at The Hospital Club this summer

1. What can Bigbusiness learn from Small.
10 lessons from Start Up behaviour

2. • 35% employee 20-30 U.S. have started business on the side.
• 67% identify career goal as start their own business (UK)
"Biggest societal shift since ind Rev"
Start up culture; a disruptive contagion that knows no borders.

3. ACCESS TO TECH
ACCESS TO INFO
ECONOMIC
perfect conditions for thriving start-up culture

4. “DISRUPTIVE
INNOVATION”
…….Too nebulous a request.
what do you want?Big companies often brief for………
What is it?

5. Start ups best placed to look at situations closely, at a molecular level.
and Small Cracks in norm change quite quickly
eg taxis,
jeans,
watches
job-hunting.

6. Changing business
behaviour
• Marketing & comms
• NPD
• Retail & supply chain – “Apple
Service” expectations
• Recruitment & engagement
MAGNET BRANDS,
THE NEW GODS
START UP CASSIOPEIA
HERCULEAN MISSION
ESTABLISHED
PLAYERS
MODERN BUSINESS

7. Skate to where the Puck is…
• Supra category - magnet brands are crashing through their
own business, reshaping consumer experience…
Still considered challenger all MarCap is more than Swiss GDP.
Could buy New Zealand
World’s finest Customer Experience Company
“Ruthlessly sweat the customer experience to
remove the ouch in the chain.”
They ARE your competitor even if they are NOT in your
sector.
Always on Shopping Experience
Dominate Logistics
Moving into Physical retail
Hugely Relevant
Capture as many relationships 91% of
developed market internet users have
accounts with 1 of their 3 products.
Moonshoot attitude.
Hugely influential, esp employee
behaviour/expectations.
Logistics company.
Not stopping @ People.
V. disruptive to Amazon etc,
Fulfilling the final mile
50% Mobile transfers made.
1 in 6 Americans get a
gift card @ Christmas
Next step dinner market.
1

8. Disrupt through innovation and consumer insight
Unafraid of fresh categories
Raise standard of customer experience

9. …..are authentic and build brands
people want to get behind
Their valuable commodity: Authenticity/passion is hard to replicate.
“The relationship between consumer and brand has changed from
one of prescription to one of collaboration and now to one of
symbiosis”
Painful strat decisions to become
themselves again. End to end
authenticity translate into premium cost
exp.
great exp.
LA- cold pressed juiced industry.
End to end finest experience
anywhere.
2

10. …… get close to consumers
needs
“Consumers don’t give a crap about your name if you give them the
service that they want.”
Close to genuine customers. Have no fear of real consumers. Listen to your
audience on the bus, in the food court.
Listen to what they are rejecting and praising.
3
Kinfolk reader suppers Monocle cafes

11. ….Fast, flexible, nimble and
persistent
4
Fast and
responsive
Email, IM and Dropbox
Tech dev started as a
game - disaster but pivoted
Sales of brand names
drinks, dropping in urban
CNTS.
Won't directly rival….
but death by a 1000 cuts from
each start up impacts on big biz.

12. ….They employ great not
average people
No room for average. Be brutal in who stays and who goes.
5
“50% mils would take pay cuts to find
work that matches their values.”
Brain drain - L2 source.
Scraping LinkedIn data shows consistent migration from the established to
more disruptive companies.
"Innovative people do not need to be told to do it,
they need to be allowed to do it"
Eric Schmidt

13. … focus on product - make
things
If you don't, product
becomes peripheral.
With awesome products
customers will wash up on
your door.
6
Monument valley - USTU. Agency New Biz tool

14. …not afraid to solve the difficult problems
Consumer’s expectations of all companies solving these ‘pains’ is getting higher and
higher.
7
“every time we save you
15mins of your time we
save years of time across
our network.”
Peer to peer FX service.
Traditionally High Value revenue
stream.
Banks susceptible.

15. …. don't have much
money- it's a good thing
Rely on lateral thinking.
Innovation places.
Cut your budget.
Leads you to a bigger place.
8

16. ….sweat the sweet spot.
9
‘range of genuine
customer problems we
can solve’
Vs
‘things that work for our biz-
financially, operationally,
brand.’

17. ….they are generous and open.
No Nda,
Talk to people
No big walls
Cannot protect.
Generosity and mutual learning, give them
something back.
10