Stephanie Keller-Bottom, Director of Nokia Innovent, discusses how companies need to collaborate to bring their products to the market. She talks about the value that entrepreneurs bring to large companies as they understand the importance of collaboration in order to leverage resources.
According to Keller-Bottom, when you are in a big company and trying to do something that differs with the core business of the company, then you are going to face a lot of resistance early on. Innovent faced this when it differentiated itself from the core business of Nokia, she says.
Keller-Bottom shares some of the lessons learned while Innovent was growing. She says it was very important to work with competitors as collaborators as well as lead a very passionate team effectively during the development of the business.
Keller-Bottom advises entrepreneurs to find partners who share the same values and direction that you and your management team have. Also, she emphasizes how vital it is to have an exit strategy and aligned assets.
Keller-Bottom recommends entrepreneurs to stay focused and be flexible. Find partners who complement and will add value to your business, she says. She talks about the importance of doing a market validation study to determine the market and design a pricing strategy.
Keller-Bottom demonstrates how the trajectory of a new company appears. She says that a product has to iterate several times from the product development stage until it enters the market.
Keller-Bottom advises that while working with investors it is important to pay attention to the valuation methodology, as that will determine the amount of money an entrepreneur will make.
Keller-Bottom gives entrepreneurs some tips and asks them to learn from history and understand the market to help shape their businesses.