The lead story in this Wall Street Journal article makes me sick. I sincerely wish Ms. Johnston best of luck in her next price negotiation with a “proven enterprise technology company.” And I sure as hell hope they call her bluff.
This is an open post to all those corporate types out there who pretend to be interested in “innovative and disruptive” enterprise technologies: please stop wasting our time.
I mean it. If you have no intention of rocking the boat and working with a smaller company, please do not invite us in to “check out what’s new” or use us as column fodder to pressure your big enterprise incumbent. That may make you look smart, but it’s a real drain on us.
You see, we want to work with companies that have the guts and vision to try something new. Not those who are only interested in what CB Insights calls corporate innovation theater.
You may not realize it, but when you waste our time with your feigned interest, you are killing innovation. That’s because we have to move fast, our time is precious and we cannot afford to endure long and expensive pursuits that lead to nothing. We’re running a business too.
So, please, be genuine. If your culture or policies will not allow for partnerships with smaller enterprise tech companies, tell us right away and I promise we will move on.
In the article, Ms. Johnston explained her behavior by asking “What if they go out of business?” It is precisely the actions of pretenders like her that put companies out of business.
The post Corporate Pretenders: Stop Faking It, You’re Killing Innovation appeared first on Directworks.