At Nobody Studios, we dare to think about company creation on a large scale. We are convinced that there are not one or two, but hundreds of opportunities which go unrealized in the current market.
There are many reasons for this inertia. Entrepreneurs must become managers and fundraisers when they should be innovating. Funding, even in the technology space, comes too late and too cautiously to enable radical experimentation. Hiring and developing a company takes up too much time which could be spent in the marketplace.
So, one of our most significant challenges is building a process that scales radically, is repeatable and effective, but still inventive. The Studio needs to become a generative engine of new companies.
But we have to start somewhere. Where will these new concepts come from? Here’s where our unique approach comes in, leveraging research hypotheses to identify opportunities.
We sometimes talk about this process as a journey – but in truth its numerous journeys which intersect and branch and accelerate in quite different ways. Sketch it out and it looks more like a transit map than a simple timeline.
Vertical, Horizontal and Social Trends
In the background of all our work, research is continuous.
We need to map out vertical markets that command our attention. Some verticals may be sectors where we already have presence or interest: we have been working on Health and Wellness, for example, from day one. Others might be new, untapped markets that have piqued our interest: we have looked at areas from Agritech to Fintech to Travel and Hospitality.
Our advisory boards play a crucial role in these decisions, offering insights from their expansive knowledge and experience.
Horizontals are mostly technology developments that we have to keep in touch with and explore. You will not be surprised that Generative AI has been a focus recently and we have already spun up experiments and even a new company – Cat-GPT! – building on that. But there are many other horizontal points of interest: blockchain, augmented reality, edge computing, and so on.
Social trends are also enormously important, because society is not only changed by technology, but also holds the secret of future directions, pivots and emerging ideas. The global COVID pandemic has changed numerous social trends, including our ways of working, shopping and entertaining ourselves.
Hypotheses and Niches
Think back to my analogy of the transit map. These trends are like train lines all intersecting at a critical station. This is where hypotheses are formed.
We seek to predict where new ideas may flourish at these intersections, identifying hotspots of growth and technological advancement. These hypotheses are not wild guesses or assumptions. They are informed predictions, firmly rooted in our collective, crowd-infused, expertise and understanding of emerging economic, technical, and social trends.
Each hypothesis serves as a lens, allowing us to view the intersecting lines of research from unique vantage points. These differing perspectives help us to identify focus areas which are, each one, defined clearly enough to help us identify new company opportunities. We call these niches …
In identifying niches, we place a particular emphasis on areas that align with our principles of crowd-infused and Frugressive (frugal yet aggressive) innovation. We look for niches where the power of the crowd can be harnessed, and where Frugressive approaches can lead to substantial impact.
The objective is not merely to find a niche, but to discover areas where our innovative drive can deliver meaningful change and yield valuable applications. In this way, our niches become the start of a new journey …
Blocks and Prototypes
Our focus right now is on building block companies – those that can assist us in constructing new companies (NewCos) more rapidly and efficiently. The strategic inclusion of such companies into our portfolio can drastically accelerate our progress. For instance, the incorporation of a low-code/no-code company, ThoughtForma, has been instrumental in facilitating the swift development of Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) for yet more companies.
Our belief in an idea is tested through rapid prototyping. If a business idea has potential, we design an experiment around it and set our network of innovators, growth hackers and market thinkers to work. Our goal is to develop a prototype as quickly as possible, allowing us to assess its feasibility and resonance with the target audience.
The Journey Onward
From this point the innovation is on a new journey, in the hands of a new team, specifically brought together to build and test and bring it to market if possible.
In Research, we will still keep an eye on it, like sending a kid off to college. And yes, we probably still have to bail it out with new ideas now and then. But our focus turns to the next round of verticals, horizontals, socials and hypotheses. It’s a never ending, productive cycle of originating, organizing and evolving ideas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donald Farmer
VP of Research and Innovation, Nobody Studios
Donald is globally recognized as a visionary product leader. He is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, coach, and mentor, as well as a former Microsoft and Qlik executive, and the principal at Tree Hive Strategy.
