Spotfire

CECCALDI Toussaint
Why was Spotfire almost toasted ?
A wide range of markets
• Initially Spotfire targeted a wide variety of companies with no specific
focus, which made it difficult to develop a comprehensive product for any
target customer, there was a lack of focus and a poor identification of
their target customers (page 2)
Problem with corporate identity
• Managing a start-up between Sweden and the United States is already a
big challenge, but on top of that the CEO wanted to take on another
challenge, which was related to giving the perception of a Swedish
company on the US market. (page 6)
Equity Dilution
• There were concerns about the equity distributed in the early funding
rounds and the impact on future fundraising and valuation (page 7-8)
What were the recommendations of the VC?
Why?
Focusing on a targeted market
• “Atlas urged Spotfire to adopt a “vertical” strategy, focusing on one specific
market where it could provide real solutions software by tailoring the
product's data visualization capabilities to specific user needs” (page 2), they
recommended a “vertical” strategy
• Too broad an approach spread Spotfire across many sectors, preventing it
from gaining an in-depth understanding of the specific needs of the market
and responding to them.
Adding Professional Management
• “Atlas felt that Spotfire had reached a stage where Chris needed to bring on a
professional manager.” (page 3)
• Spotfire's founders were technically excellent but lacked experience in
managing a growing international business.
What were the pivots made by Sportfire to
survive & grow ?
Reduce the market to pharmaceutical products
• Spotfire decided to focus specifically on the pharmaceutical industry,
identified as a sector where its product could have a significant impact.
• This decision was driven by Astra and Unilever.
Integrate professional management
• On the advice of Atlas, Spotfire has hired Rock Gnatovich as president of
the company.
What can be your learnings from the Spotfire
case ?
Focus is essential: It’s important to focus on a target market, as this
enables you to understand your market better and not to offer a broad
range of products and services to satisfy as many customers as possible.
Balancing vision and management: It's important to have a clear vision
of where you want to take your business, but you mustn't neglect the
importance of people in getting there. Without key partnerships and the
right people in the right jobs, it will be very complicated to get things
done.
Adaptability to the needs of the market: It is necessary to be able to
adapt to the needs of the market, a company will very rarely adapt to our
product. We must be able to adapt our offer to meet the specific needs
of our target customers. We also need to be able to react very quickly so
as not to leave room for the competition.