Official Blog of Center10 Consulting

The Art And Science Of Placing Little Bets: A Conversation With Peter Sims

on Saturday, June 14, 2014
Note: This article was published in The Economic Times on June 14, 2014

Image from PeterSims.com
This week, I spent some time shooting the breeze with PeterSims, Venture Capitalist and serious believer in “Little Bets”. In his recently published book “Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries”, Peter examined what Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, and other greats have in common. In essence, he posits that all of them have achieved remarkable results using a surprisingly similar approach: methodically taking small, experimental steps. Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan a whole project out in advance, trying to foresee the final outcome, they make a methodical series of little bets about what might be a good direction, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins that allow them to find unexpected avenues and arrive at extraordinary outcomes.

Retail As Storytelling

on Monday, June 9, 2014
Note: This ran in edited form in Quartz Magazine



When Fantasy Meets Retail Showrooms, Do Your Online Platforms Follow Suite?

The best retail firms have always been great at storytelling. I remember my first weekend in NYC, fifteen years ago, when I stopped dead in front of a Saks 5th Avenue display window and was enveloped by a fantasy woodland tale. Yes, they were selling the evening gown, shoes and clutch, but they were accessories to the story of luxury, confidence and power.

These days, that kind of retail story bleeds into more than a display window.

While less than 10% of US retail purchases are made online, given how many online shoppers use these sites for research and exploration, you can see why creating a compelling and cohesive experience can make financial sense.

There’s also a more porous customer experience emerging. In the increasingly ADHD world, the retail experience means being inspired around the dinner table, a quick inspired search on a mobile phone, deeper research late that evening on the website, and then possibly a visit to the store over the weekend to test it out…oh, and that may not be the end of the line. Sometimes, there’s the urge to research further and do some price comparisons, which takes the customer back online….it’s a dizzying world out there. How’s a retailer supposed to keep up?