Cerent aimed high enough with its big and bold product idea defined by Ajaib Bhadare, Paul Elliott, and Mike Hatfield, even though Vinod Khosla sought an even bigger and bolder conception. The startup’s Cerent 454 had superior product-market fit, a trait Carl Russo insisted upon. Without it, the dogs won’t eat the dog food. The Cerent 454 also had to align with the realities and practicalities of the telephone companies’ network deployment plans.
In response to Drucker’s challenge that ideas need to aim high enough, Cerent’s initial product achieved the following:
1. It created new utility for customers,
2. It established a “price to value” for customers; not a price based on the cost to produce,
3. The Cerent 454 addressed customers’ unmet needs and solved their problems associated with bandwidth bottlenecks,
4. Cerent’s optical transport offering delivered attributes that customers valued more so than just a product, and
5. It achieved a market leadership positioning quickly and redefined the SONET ADM space
In response to another Drucker criteria – to have a product that aligns with the realities of the market – Cerent’s first product delivered the following:
1. Enabled a reasonable speed to market,
2. Satisfied a single need in an elegant SONET-based solution that was focused on optical transport and simple to use,
3. The product was not too far ahead of the market it was targeting, and
4. It offered a solution that was consistent with the strengths of Cerent’s organization.
Great ideas that deliver a bold product aligned with market needs ensure the dogs come back for the dog food.
In response to Drucker’s challenge that ideas need to aim high enough, Cerent’s initial product achieved the following:
1. It created new utility for customers,
2. It established a “price to value” for customers; not a price based on the cost to produce,
3. The Cerent 454 addressed customers’ unmet needs and solved their problems associated with bandwidth bottlenecks,
4. Cerent’s optical transport offering delivered attributes that customers valued more so than just a product, and
5. It achieved a market leadership positioning quickly and redefined the SONET ADM space
In response to another Drucker criteria – to have a product that aligns with the realities of the market – Cerent’s first product delivered the following:
1. Enabled a reasonable speed to market,
2. Satisfied a single need in an elegant SONET-based solution that was focused on optical transport and simple to use,
3. The product was not too far ahead of the market it was targeting, and
4. It offered a solution that was consistent with the strengths of Cerent’s organization.
Great ideas that deliver a bold product aligned with market needs ensure the dogs come back for the dog food.