I found this article very helpful for the development of our business venture and the strategy for the commercialization of our idea. It gives a very useful overview over different approaches and their individual strengths and weaknesses. The article, for example, points out that entrepreneurs sometimes just go with the first strategy they see practical. This might to some extent be consistent with the lean start-up approach and, furthermore, has famous supporters such as Richard Branson, who has famously claimed, “In the end you [have] to say, ‘Screw it, just do it’ and get on and try it.”

However, as the article also points out, this approach might have some disadvantages. First, such an experiment, even when requiring just few resources, might leave a business vulnerable to competition. Second, investors might be more confident and more easily convinced when the entrepreneur can (theoretically) prove an idea’s potential in various different strategies to its commercialization. Thus, the article suggests a rather cautious approach, compared to, for example, the lean start-up concept.

To help find the balance between cautiousness and bringing the idea to market as soon as possible in a practical way to gain valuable feedback, the article presents an “Entrepreneurial Strategy Compass,” outlining four different approaches:

The Intellectual Property Strategy: Focus lays on collaboration with incumbents and idea generation and development and avoids direct customer contact as much as possible.

The Disruption Strategy: Focus lays on confrontation with incumbents, rapid market share, and quick commercialization of the idea.

The Value Chain Strategy: Focus lays on commercialization and day-to-day competitive strength, success stems primarily from competence rather than aggressive competition.

The Architectural Strategy: Most difficult approach, focus lays on designing an entirely new value chain and then control the key bottlenecks in it, examples: Google and Facebook.