A startup's strategy: doing good sets the stage for doing well

摘要

Maor Zlotzever, a 32-year-old Israeli entrepreneur, enjoys recalling a youthful dream of his when he is asked what inspired him to devote himself to his startup, Axios. Maor, who likes to use his first name in business, remembers, "I dreamt as a child of establishing an organization whose goal was to do good in the world." Veteran managers who have battled with rivals for competitive advantage in established markets are likely to discount this adolescent ambition as hopelessly naive. But compare it with this quote from author Steve Denning, a modern apostle of strategist Peter Drucker's customer-first approach. "Instead of a goal of maximizing financial metrics, the goal of the organization is to add value for and delight the customer. The implicit assumption is that financial success follows continuous innovation to provide unique value to customers." Maor's youthful dream of doing good easily translates to giving customers genuine value that will improve lives. When this goal is aimed at providing humanitarian engineering solutions to under-served markets or areas of the world where resources are scarce it can become a potent mission.