As today marks the beginning of the Pope's visit to the Holy Land, I think it is appropriate to focus on why building great technology is not enough for a business to succeed. Just building the technology or solution is just a prayer (no matter what religion you are), it does not constitute a strategy.
Lots of Israeli companies are born because someone has the brilliant idea to create a solution. The only issue is that the problem does not even exist (or at the least, the public is unaware of the problem.)
A company needs to develop solutions to real business problems, especially in light of the economic reality that we live in today. Before staring out with huge capital investments, do some market research. This can be done informally, by speaking to friends and relatives about the proposed solution and whether they would be likely to make an investment in this type of solution (or switch from their current vendor to move to a new solution).
Do not underestimate the cost associated with switching an existing vendor. Although your proposed pricing may be 20% lower than others in the market, the buyer needs to consider the removal of the existing solution, the installation of your solution and the education needs so the staff can use the new solution properly. All of this may exceed the savings in the purchase of the solution, so you may not get many orders.
It is also important to remember that the best technology does not win (see this article which outlines what Sony thought was the better technology in the 70s during the Beta-VHS battle.) Partnerships are key to winning the key battles in market share. Adoption needs to be gained and maintained.
These are just a few of the reasons why good technology just fails to succeed. Feel free to comment with some more or look for them in future entries.
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