Seth Goodin wrote an interesting blog post today on ‘when minimal viable products dont work’.

An interesting perspective, and I think an excellent example of what happens when concepts like MVP’s, Market Fit or any other contextual approach to problem solving become systemized and positioned as scientific management.

Articles such as this simple reinforce my view we are at the apex of the hype curve with Lean Startup thinking. As I love to say, too many enthusiasts. And enthusiasts are never objective.

There is no single approach to solving abstract problems such as those encountered by a start-up or corporate innovation team. However, kept in context, the thinking of Eric Ries, Stephen Blank and Geoffery Moore are incredibly valuable tools.

As I travelled around California and Arizona last month I was yet again reminded why I am such a strong advocate of the United States as an export market for New Zealand and Australian technology companies.

The United States is huge. It has in excess of 300 million people, a GDP of 14.7 Trillion dollars and is the worlds largest importer and consumer of global goods.

So often I encounter technology businesses reluctant to focus on and target the U.S marketplace. They cite cultural differences, distance, competitiveness and exchange rate fluctuations as reasons for deferring entry to or ignoring this market altogether.

In many cases I believe that these businesses are wasting both time and opportunity.

America has scale. It has a contiguous, willing market that will consume competitive products and services at a pace unrivalled anywhere in the developed world. It is English speaking, culturally aligned, technology literate and wealthy.

Regardless of where, most local technology companies need foreign markets to scale and grow. And irrespective of size or geography, the time, effort and risk of establishing that first export market is going to be relatively similar.

If you see your end goal as being the U.S, then I say that’s the first market you should focus on. As soon as you have validated the problem your product or solution solves you should be focusing on scaling and growing your business in your true target market.

Its fine to test a product idea or business model locally, but don’t fall into the trap of scaling that business locally if local is not your goal. All that time, money and energy spent building an unsustainable local market may well be better spent building relationships, learnings and customers elsewhere.

That’s harder and riskier you say? Well tough, business is hard and it is risky. It also requires us to think bigger, smarter and have loftier long term goals.

There has also never been a better time to enter the U.S market.

Sure, the exchange rate is unfavourable to exporters, but so what. If your business model is built from the get-go to be profitable at parity to the U.S dollar then anything more is a bonus. You are going to the U.S because of the size and scale of the market, not because of a favourable exchange rate, right?

Also, its never been cheaper to do business in America. With a weak dollar and high unemployment, the cost of establishing your business in the U.S is at an all time low. There is an over supply of experienced people and companies willing to work for very competitive rates and a stagnant economy means that new products and services that increase competitiveness or reduce costs are highly sought after.

I would encourage you to critically examine your companies business strategy to see if the U.S should replace your local market as your primary driver for growth; now and not some time in the future.

The sucess of discount buying sites like Groupon is premised on delivering value to buyers in the form of time bound discounts.

With Groupon and its clones everywhere it would seem they are serving a legitimate and compelling market need. However, I don’t believe that thier business model is a sustainable one.

Groupon has a two-sided business model that relies on willing retailers as well as willing buyers. Without the ongoing support of retailers there is no repeatable business model.

I for one can’t see retailers continuing to support a model that uses price as a differentiator and that is disconnected from the specific strategies of individual retail businesses, and retailers seem to agree. One recent survey indicates that less than half of those businesses that have issued a Groupon would do it again.

In my book this is simply value destruction, and unsustainable.

This evening our latest class of start up entrepreneurs will graduate after three months of intensive business incubation in the Massey University ecentre Sprint program. Each team will come away with a significantly better understanding of their market, business model and product requirements – better equipped to take their respective start up on to commercial success.

But more importantly, each participant has been introduced to new learning’s, methodologies and ways of thinking – unique skills to enable and vastly improve the incubation and success of new business models. Succeed or fail in their current ventures, each entrepreneur will go on to repeatedly apply and hone these new skills for years to come.

Unlike established businesses who primarily execute business models, start-ups are temporary organisations searching for a scalable and repeatable business model, they are not smaller versions of larger companies.

Every graduation class from our incubation program reinforces for us that hundreds of years of business experience taught through MBA programs are excellent for administering existing business models, but start-ups need entirely different tools, methodologies and processes to succeed and grow.

For existing businesses this is a valuable insight. Whether a start-up or corporate, business model innovation requires unique tools, methodologies, experience and thinking.

Is your business challenging established business models with established business model thinking?

I enjoy my regular visits for fresh bread at my local Bakers Delight franchise. Buying fresh bread is as much about the total sensory experience as it is about getting a loaf to feed my toaster, and eventually me. Knowing they have freshly made dough in the oven well before I wake, the warmth and aroma of baking as I enter the store, and the powerful perception of freshness that comes from seeing ‘my’ bread in cooling shelves in front of the oven, then sliced and bagged just for me to my chosen thickness.

Early yesterday I popped in as I usually do, and noted that the crew were different, I guess the original owners had moved on and a new set of early risers had taken over. At the counter I made my usual request, and a somewhat unengaged sales clark pointed towards a shelf on my side of the counter. It was laden with sliced, bagged bread.

‘No’, I responded. ‘I want one of those behind you. The ones that are fresh from the oven and not yet sliced’. The retailer looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and impatience, and explained in slow sentences that the bread on the shelf was exactly the same, and would save her having to cut and bag a loaf specifically for me. Clearly she felt I had some kind of mental impairment requiring her to take extra care over the delivery of her message.

‘No thanks, I want a fresh one please’, I replied.

Retailer now squinted at me through a grotesquely furrowed brow, and explained even more slowly that the bagged bread was every bit as fresh as the loaf I wanted behind her. Perhaps, I was told, I should be a little less demanding and more cooperative. After all, I should be used to selecting pre-bagged bread as this was common practice in a whole range of supermarkets and other retail outlets.

I smiled, no-doubt interpreted by retailer as a mentally ill spasm, and left. For good.

Bottom Line: The experience is the product. If you are neither aware of or true to your experience then your product is no different to every other commodity provider you compete for business with.