Idealog – July 26, 2019

The Transformation Issue | Idealog.co.nz

038

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CROSS: Understanding the enormous difference

between relatively small and simple markets like New

Zealand, where everything is very easy to understand and

there aren’t lots of layers, and the large, sophisticated and

highly differentiated markets in the US, Europe and Asia.

The US is not a market. Northern California and Southern

California are completely different, the market ecosystems

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how we

expanded

our

and distribution channels are highly complex and

variable, and it takes time to figure this out. The key

is focus, focus and focus.

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The more tightly defined you are in terms of target

customers and markets, the more successful you will be.

Trying to be all things to all people on the international

stage leads to failure. The other key message is you actually

have to be there, which means moving or spending a lot of

your life at 35,000 feet – and I mean a lot.

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It really comes down to doing the hard yards, being

prepared to re-learn everything you know, failing fast,

and staying focused, setting your milestones and the

assumptions they are based on, and then proving them

right or wrong as quickly as possible. Adapting on the fly

and in real-time is critical, as time is money and ultimately,

it’s the scarcity of both that beats us if we are not smart.

It’s pretty simple really: you just need to be there. That’s the

price of admission. Then it comes down to your ability to

network, learn and adapt.

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I don’t think New Zealand as a country has a particular

approach per se. I don’t buy into the number eight wire

mentality. At the end of the day, it comes down to your

ability to create a vision, build a team and a strategy and

then execute really, really well within a timeframe that is

relevant to the market opportunity.

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Learn to get over my mistakes faster. Accept that they are

part-and-parcel of the entrepreneur’s journey, and in fact,

they are critical to being really good at what you do.

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Don’t be afraid to dream big, but understand it takes

a huge amount of hard work and a lot longer than you

might expect to turn that into reality. Nothing of any

real significance is achieved in less than a decade. ■