I hope you’re doing well today/tonight.

I’d love to share a model I developed some time ago with Startup Picnic Academy. Over the years, we’ve successfully trained companies, product managers, students, educators, and entrepreneurs using this approach.

The IDM is a simple, fast, and comprehensive framework for navigating innovation. It brings together the EBC Business Model, which I created over a decade ago, and the principles of Design Innovation to deliver impactful results.

It provides clear foresight on how to approach, create, and launch innovative products.
Includes real-world examples from Zara, Pep Paxi, M-Pesa, Tesla, and SpaceX.
Empowers you to design innovative products, features, and processes.
Highlights why now is truly “The Easiest, Cheapest, and Quickest Time in History to Be an Innovator.”

We also offer extensive training on the model, supported by additional details and frameworks.

Download the illustration of the model here: https://rb.gy/89g9n5

For more information or to book a training session, please contact my office at info@tiisetsomaloma.co.za or admin@startuppicnicacademy.co.za.

We’d be thrilled to explore how this model can benefit you!

ILLUSTRATION OF THE INNOVATION DESIGN MODEL (IDM)

The IDM simplifies the journey of innovation and entrepreneurial product-creation through these:

Innovation Design
EBC Business Model
Advanced Training Opportunities and Resources

1. Innovation Design

How to Innovate

Definition: Innovation is combining two or more elements to create something useful, better, novel, or agile.
- Example: Banking + Internet = Internet Banking.
Practical Steps:
- Imagine: Think of a new product, feature, or process. For existing businesses, reimagine improvements.
  - Visualize: Picture a smartphone app that helps users recycle waste more efficiently.
- Ask Consumers: Identify pain points and reverse-engineer solutions.
Illustration: A café asks customers about delivery issues and creates feature to sooth the pain point.
- Research: Identify required components and skills. Answer: What? Where? How?

Tip: This is the easiest, quickest, and most affordable time in history to innovate!

Outcomes of Innovation Design

By following these steps, you can achieve:

Process Innovation (Enterprising)
1. Definition: Creating new products or optimizing existing processes or products to gain a competitive advantage.
1. Example: Pep Stores introduced over-the-counter courier services leveraging its extensive retail network.
Proprietary-to-Novel Innovation
1. Proprietary Innovation: Creating products significantly better than competitors.
  1. Example: Vodafone launched M-PESA in 2007 as the first-of-its-kind mobile phone-based money transfer service in Kenya
1. Novel Innovation: Creating something entirely new.
  1. Examples: Penicillin (the first antibiotic), Tesla’s electric vehicles, SpaceX’s reusable rockets.
Vertically Integrated Innovation
1. Definition: A business controls production and distribution, spotting opportunities to innovate without relying on third parties.
1. Examples: Zara’s rapid fashion supply chain, Tesla’s in-house battery manufacturing, SpaceX’s rocket production.

2. EBC Business Model

The EBC Formula:

Product (Innovation) × Marketing × Distribution = Cash Flow

Key Components

Product (Innovation): Create or refine products using the Innovation Design process above.
Marketing:
1. Who: Identify your audience (e.g., teens, lawyers, foreigners).
  1. Illustration: A language app targets non-English speakers in urban areas.
1. What: Address their 4Fs: Fears, Frustrations, Failures, Fascinations (known and unknown).
  1. Example: A personal finance app helps users reduce debt stress.
1. Where: Meet them at specific places and platforms (e.g., Sandton, Soweto, Instagram).
1. When: Engage at the right times (e.g., morning commutes, month-end).
1. How: Experiment with different messages (e.g., customer testimonials).
Distribution:
Deliver products conveniently, whether online, via courier, or through physical stores.
1. Example: An online bakery offers free delivery within 5 km of its location.
Cash Flow:
Costs across the above components: Product, Marketing, and Distribution.
Pro Tip: If cash flow isn’t sufficient, revisit the model and adjust.

3. Advanced Training Opportunities

We offer workshops and tailored training sessions to deepen your understanding of Innovation Design and entrepreneurship.

Key Topics and Tools

Adjacent Possible Theory: Explore enabling factors for product success.
Human Greed Pyramid: Understand how products mirror biology.
Convenience Metrics: Understanding product dynamics, e.g. those with recurring use.
90-Day Launch Challenge: Take your idea to market in just three months.
Minimum Viability Essentials.

Some topics

Why and how it is the cheapest, quickest, and easiest time in history to be an entrepreneur and innovator.
How to understand innovation.
Distribution is now easy.
AI will allow Africans to make products cheaper.
How products mirror biology.
Money is biological.
Ubuntu Stoicism.