Fred Wilson’s post on What Drives Consumer Adoption of New Technologies and the 300+ thought-provoking comments to the post provide some great insights on why iPhone, Facebook, Wii, Blogger, Twitter and others became the most popular consumer technologies in recent years. A neat framework is proposed that a technology needs to be sexy to get people to use, social to get them addicted and truly useful to keep them. One of the most repeated themes in the discussion: the technology must be extremely easy to use and focused on doing one thing really well. We couldn’t agree more - too many companies try to do too much and don’t pay enough attention to product usability.

Malcolm Gladwell

This New Yorker article by Malcom Gladwell (author of best sellers The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers - all highly recommended) points to a fascinating study of every war fought in the past 200 hundred years. In lopsided conflicts where the underdogs were at least 10 times smaller, they won a remarkable 28.5% of the time. When those underdogs acknowledged their weakness and chose an unconventional strategy, the winning percentage jumps to over 63. When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules, they usually win. Pretty encouraging for start-ups and small companies in industries dominated by a Goliath.

Many companies are going into survival mode these days so I found Intel’s approach inspiring.  Among all of the lay-off notices and gloomy news, Intel is taking a longer-view strategic approach. Rather than wasting energy battling competitors on current technology products, they are cutting production, slashing prices and laying off staff so that they can boldly invest in their next generation products and dramatically accelerate time to market. They will be way ahead of their competitors as the economy recovers.

During past downturns, I’ve seen even cash-strapped young ISVs find ways to sharpen their focus, deftly manage priorities and leverage partnerships to actually accelerate innovation during difficult times. It’s not easy but the rewards can be huge.