Paranoids Survive!

Vivek Pandey
2010058
Meaning:
Paranoia (par-a-noi-a) n. 1. an abnormal tendency to
suspect and mistrust others.
- Oxford American Dictionary

Relevance:
"When it comes to business, I believe in the value of
paranoia. I believe that the prime responsibility of a
manager is to guard constantly against other people's
attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the
people under his or her management."
- Andy Grove, Founder, Intel
Why Paranoia is necessary?

Potential
Entrants
Government
Ideology & Threat of Lobby
New Entrants
Policy Groups
Redefining industries Changing ground
and markets rules and values

Threats to
Suppliers Corporate Buyers
Bargaining Power Bargaining Power
of Suppliers survival of Buyers

Increasing rate
Loss of Support
or degree of change

Threat of
Fashion & Substitutes Complementors
Fickleness
Substitutes
Things to be Paranoid about
 Paranoia 1. - Fund raising
• The struggle between detailing your company Vision and
giving away your trade secrets, “selling your soul” for funding
and exposing your know-how and source of competitive edge
to the vultures.

 Paranoia 2.- Competition

How you create attraction to offering without giving out
secrets.
Paranoia 3. Market change
 Market/ direction may change by the time you launch (e.g.,
Optics), or other players with more attractive products may
arise

Paranoia 4. IP
 Patented or not, exposing or surprising with IP for the benefit
of your company only vs. open technology
 E.g., competitive edge vs. standardization and
interoperability.

Paranoia 5. Sales
 How to sell to Fortune 100 Companies?
Paranoia 6. Product Launch
• You launch when you decide to launch
– weighing market access and first mover advantage against
risk of recalls, bugs and negative reputation.

Examples :
1. Apple iPod/iTunes
2. Tata Nano
3. Pumpkins grown in Japan