Winning Opportunities

This book finally gives innovators an alternative to the painful writing of business plans. Not only an alternative but also a more effective, faster and easier way to convince investors and decision-makers: the Opportunity Case is a more user-friendly way of analyzing and presenting a project, which has been quickly adopted by many multinational corporations, public sector organizations as well as start-ups. It also addresses a central problem in existing businesses: many people have good ideas but very few of these innovations are actually implemented. The content of this book proposes the first practical process that has been demonstrated to boost innovation by up to 56%. "Winning Opportunities" presents the IpOp Model that outlines in a very concrete and down-to-earth way, the core process of innovation that successful entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs use, even unconsciously. The model acts as a simple hands-on guide for innovators who want to increase their chances of success. This structured and user-friendly roadmap helps innovators turn an idea into a tangible opportunity, outline measurable deliverables, learn how to address all the key issues critical to the success of their project, and identify early in the process whether an opportunity is worth pursuing. To illustrate its concepts, a large number of real-life examples are included as inspiration to the reader. Nespresso's strategy is used throughout the book to demonstrate each key step of the IpOp Model. It is the first time in print one can read about the strategy that shaped the fascinating success story of Nespresso, a $3 billion business with double-digit annual growth. Both Nespresso and the IpOp Model were developed in Switzerland, which was recently ranked No. 1 in innovation worldwide. Besides helping start-up initiators, the IpOp Model, as best practice for innovation, improves and complements the existing selection of innovation processes used by large organizations (staged gate, six sigma, etc.). Since learning is easier when emotions are included in the process, each chapter is preceded by a joke illustrating its serious content. The author, Prof. Raphael H Cohen took advantage of his 30+ years' experience as serial entrepreneur, active CEO and business angel to write this book to encapsulate some of the key messages he has been teaching in top business schools and corporate environments since 2001. He is a keynote speaker and an expert in both professional agility and "weapons of mass innovation." Besides his responsibility as academic director of MBA programs, he provides executive education, mentoring, consulting and management services for senior executives, bankers, directors and entrepreneurs. He serves on the board of directors of several companies, including a Swiss bank, and is a regular contributor to several business publications. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics in 1982