A statement by ticket sales giant Ticketmaster in the February 2007 issue of Fast Company caught our attention this week. In an article about the behind-the-scenes success of Musictoday, a Virginia-based, grassroots establishment founded by the manager of the Dave Matthews Band that helps artists recover recording, touring and merchandising fees that would be lost to traditional record companies, Ticketmaster's VP of Music, David Marcus, credits the 200-employee firm, which has been in business since the mid-1990s, with "shining a light on the path to the future. Coran's [Capshaw, Musictoday's founder] an aggressive, smart entrepreneur. Sometimes it takes small innovators to get mature companies back to innovating again [emphasis added]."
Marcus refers to Musictoday's exclusive negotiation agreement with Ticketmaster, which specifies that the small firm can sell 10 percent of Ticketmaster's tickets. As the magazine notes, "That sounds modest, but it represented a seismic power shift" in the music industry. The article goes on to explain that that agreement is just one example of what happens when a company makes a real effort to know its clientele (in this case, artists and celebrities) and connect it to its target audience (fans and record buyers).
Marcus' admission is huge, akin to Microsoft allowing a "mom and pop" software retailer to tap its audience and share in its profits. However, such is the case when a small firm proves its smarts and staying power. The VP's comments reminded us of the remarks of another innovative small firm, Washington-based professional employment organization Pay Plus Benefits. The firm's President, 2004 Best Boss John Heaton, told attendees of his session at the 2006 Best Bosses Conference a short story of how one of his IT professionals adapted existing Windows software to meet an application need – in the process saving the company from spending hundreds of dollars in the "new software" budget line item as well as time and resources. The solution came about because Heaton put a cap on spending for that particular project, forcing his IT person to come up with a new solution. "Money is the great inhibitor of innovation," Heaton told attendees. "No one innovates when they have the money to buy something."
Does your small business or nonprofit have experience in competing against or beating a much larger competitor based on your firm's level of innovation? If so, we want to hear about it. And stay tuned for more on the topic of innovation in our upcoming February Ideas e-newsletter. (Click here to subscribe if you don't already.)
— Winning Workplaces, January 18, 2007 | Add your thoughts