I think a lot about “injection points” across supply chains of various spaces and problems. How does a company with a novel solution “inject itself” into the mold of an ecosystem such that they can develop their wedge and expand vertically? In my mind, this is one of the most important questions a company can answer when thinking about how to strategically develop and scale.
I am seeing an interesting trend I want to dissect further…basically take the example of personalized telecare: medical assistance at the click of a button.
I think it is fairly widely agreed upon that personalized telecare will be a component of healthcare’s future. Most people would agree that this is a good outcome for the future.
But how do we get there? Where do companies inject themselves?
You see some companies launch the all-in-one app doctor? Have a question, ask your AI…have a problem, click a button and get help.
You would think that would work. But I do not think it will. Too much customer education needed and not enough practicality.
Here is the approach I like…you see it with a company called Ro…as they launch very very specific niche healthcare products that introduce customers into their ecosystem. They started by trying to tackle ED and smoking cessation and they are quickly expanding both horizontally and vertically. They launch niche products as a marketing medium to bring people into their ecosystem.
This works.
“Intelligent assistants” like Fin and Invisible are facing a similar problem. They are the general assistant that can do anything but no one knows what they need.
They need lots of small niche products that converge into one ecosystem.
Starting with a specific-use case (or many) is a very interesting strategy.