Business Model

A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. In general, there are four main areas of business: customers, offers, infrastructure, and financial viability.

 Business Model Structure

Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, authors of "Business Model Generation", described business model components very well into nine building blocks:
  1. Customer Segments
    - For whom are we creating value?
    - Who are our most important customers?
    - Mass, niche, segmented, diversified, or multi-sided markets?
  2. Value Propositions
    - What value do we deliver to the customer?
    - Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve?
    - What bundles of products and services are we offering to each segment?
  3. Channels
    - Through which channels do our customers want to be reached?
    - How are we reaching them now?
    - How are we integrating them with consumer decision journey?
  4. Customer Relationships
    - What type of relationship does each of our customer expect us to establish and maintain with them?
    - How costly are they?

Mastering Interpersonal Skills

This post is basically a summary of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (1936). I think we should read this book at least once in a lifetime.

Dale Breckenridge Carnegie (1888-1955)

To handle people..


Principle #1 - Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive. Instead of condemning people, let's try to understand them. Let's try to figure out why they do what they do. That's a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. To know all is to forgive all. As Dr. Johnson said: "God himself, sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of his days." Why should you and I?

Principle #2 - Give honest and sincere appreciation.
Emerson said: "Every man I meet is my superior in some way, In that, I learn of him." If that was true of Emerson, isn't it likely to be a thousand times more true of you and me? Let's cease thinking of our accomplishments, our wants. Let's try to figure out the other person's good points. Then forget flattery. Give honest, sincere appreciation. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise," and people will cherish your words and treasure them and repeat them over a lifetime. The only way you can get people to do anything is by giving them what they want.

Principle #3 - Arouse in the other person an eager want.
The only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it. Remember: "First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way."