In nature, ecosystems are defined as being a physical environment in which organisms interact with each other. In business, the overall concept of the term “ecosystem” is more or less the same as in nature. In business, creating an ecosystem with which employees, partners, and customers alike all interact in a productive fashion can be a form of go-to-community strategy and can be very conducive to the success of a company. An ecosystem in the business sense of the word has many moving parts. There are the investors who, besides the entrepreneurs themselves, will be the first ones to see the vision of the company and help with funding and acquiring resources. There are mentors who will come in and help by sharing their wisdom and experience to make the company and the community in which it exists more efficient and successful. Having strong corporate partners will also be very significant for the synergy within the ecosystem. There will be the need for ecosystem builders and what is referred to as “cheerleaders.” “An ecosystem builder is a champion for others… Whether they’re referred to as cheerleaders or champions, many of the unsung heroes we interviewed believe that singing the praises of others and amplifying the voices of others in the system is central to being an ecosystem builder” (link to source). There will also be ecosystem support organizations, venture capital firms, angel networks and funds, first employees, advisors, and professional service providers. To summarize, a business ecosystem requires a multitude

In my previous post, (link to post on go-to-community strategy) I talked about the exciting new business technique that is allowing us to rethink how we do business called go-to-community strategy. There are some key companies that have taken the initiative to help other companies develop their go-to-community strategies. They do this through community growth softwares that allow the user to learn and implement elements of communities that they previously could not have.   “Community software refers to any software that allows users to interact and share data” (link to source). Essentially, community software helps the user learn things about their environment that previous outdated modes of information gathering simply could not, whether it be because of the sheer size, magnitude, or mode of data. There are several qualities that make community software unique. Some of the most notable include instant messaging, knowledge base, self-service portals, discussion forums, and collaborative real-time editors.   An interesting subsection to this new business technique and the software that accompany this idea is what is known as “enterprise community software.” This type of software is all about connectivity. It facilitates a joint network between employees, partners, and customers with the ultimate goal of streamlining efficiency and communication in and surrounding a company.    Right now, one of the largest promoters and developers of go-to-community software is a company called Orbit. Orbit is built around their concept of the Orbit model (see previous post). Orbit’s community growth softwares allows the user to do a multitude

If you ask any business if they have a go-to-market strategy, the answer will definitely be a resounding yes. However, there is a new form of strategy in business that is rapidly rising that may be just as important: go-to-community strategy.    What exactly is a go-to-community strategy? Let’s compare and contrast it with a go-to-market strategy.    A go-to-market strategy is a linear process of pushing people towards a binary endpoint of buying a product or service.  You can think about the classic sales funnel and the steps in that funnel as the essence of a go-to-market strategy from advertising to store/website to purchase.   Go-to-market strategy is all about value capturing and the inputs for this process reflect this overarching goal.  The output of go-to-market strategy is likely measured by more tangible figures such as sales, profits, or contracts signed.    Let’s contrast this with a go-to-community strategy.  First, It is important to note that go-to-community strategy is not simply another way of saying marketing.  Go-to-community strategy would reflect more of a value creation methodology for the members themselves. The output for go-to-community strategy is measured by the growth of the community, the strength of the connections, the actions and activities of the community members, and retention of the community members.  Members of a community may be current or future customers but not necessarily.  In the world of software developers, there are community members that contribute to the betterment of open source projects with the need to be compensated