Some people stick their noses up in the air at the idea that a company “suggestion box” can be a source of practical innovation.   Amazon would beg to differ.
For those not familiar with the Amazon Prime program, members pay a $79 annual fee to receive free 2-day shipping on most products stocked by Amazon.  According to a BusinessWeek article, Amazon Prime might be responsible for 20% of Amazon’s US sales, which were about $16 billion in the last 12 months.  That means Prime could be a $3 billion dollar program.
Guess …

In the early days of the Apple App Store, there were free apps and there were paid apps.  With the release last year of the iPhone 3.0 software, Apple began to support “in-app purchases”, and there were great expectations (and a little trepidation) that it would help developers make more money off of their apps by offering them for free, and then charging for various things like new levels, hints, or virtual goods within the apps.
Apparently this simple pricing innovation is indeed reaping big rewards.

How do you teach entrepreneurship to high school juniors?  In only one hour?
I had the privilege this summer of speaking for an hour to students at the Neighborhood Academy, a college prep school in Pittsburgh for low-income students, about being an entrepreneur.    “Being an entrepreneur” is certainly a broad topic, and you could choose to focus on a number of different areas.  I decided that I would have three goals: make it simple, make it inspiring, and make it practical.
So when I was considering what topics to cover, I stayed …

I’ve just co-founded a new consumer Internet company called BrainCredits (www.BrainCredits.com) that we think has huge potential.
Without getting into the details yet of the new business (we hope to release a beta version in a few months), one of the most important steps in the development of our business model was creating what I’ll call our “User Life Cycle” – how a user ultimately becomes engaged with our service.  

I just bought my new iPhone 4, but I really wanted to “go Droid”, probably with the Droid X from Verizon. Of course, at the pace that new handsets are being released there is always a better device right around the corner.  But at some point you have to stop waiting and take the plunge.
I certainly wasn’t lacking in reasons for ditching the Apple/AT&T “partnership” (I use that term loosely).  AT&T has been ripped from Day 1 for not being able to handle the bandwidth requirements of iPhone users.  They …

Two authors that I enjoy reading are talking today about Business Model innovation – a subject that I’m passionate about and often write about.   Idris Mootee wrote What Do You Know About Business Model Innovation?, and Stefan Lindegaard wrote about Business Model Innovation – Big Risk, Big Rewards.
Both articles note the confusion that people have when trying to define “business model” in the context of innovation and whether it is different from your “strategy”.  In my experience, if you disagree with someone’s definition of “business model”, the disagreement will typically …

In a recent post I wrote about how I had no intention of paying the high fees that media companies were charging for the online versions of their magazines and newspapers.  Don’t mistake that position for thinking that I believe all content should be free – far from it.  I am ready to embrace micropayments, when the model becomes widespread and standardized, as a means to purchase unique, valuable content a la carte.
But the idea that I would pay more for the online version of a magazine or newspaper, or …

When I was in high school I would drive down to the local bowling alley to play pinball and video games.   I was experiencing the pay-per-use business model for games – keep feeding quarters into the machine if you want to keep playing.  In the decades since, a number of new business models for the industry have emerged, with different impacts to the seller:

Buy new to own.  This has been the most prominent model since pay-per-use.  Buy new games to play on a console, or on your PC, or even …

At first it was (sometimes) amusing when the airlines started instituting their new fees.  They smelled of desperation, but at least a few made logical sense.  Premium pricing for exit row seats?  Okay, I get it.  Early checkin fee on Southwest?  Not a problem.
You see, every day consumers are faced with basic cost-value decisions.  I can buy a $20 pair of jeans, or a $120 pair – they will both keep my legs warm.  

There are more innovations occurring in healthcare than anyone can count or keep track of, but I was particularly interested in these four – three that I’ve experienced personally and one that I’ve read about.  They include a new product, a new pricing philosophy, new a business model, and a new distribution model.
Getting closer to the famous “tricorder”. GE’s new portable ultrasound puts an ultrasound machine in a doctor’s pocket – about the size of a smartphone.  According to an early-trial doctor, “Having Vscan at my disposal at all times …