Business Thinking

How do you get better at understanding — and therefore doing — business?

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The Art of the Asian Joint Venture

How Robert Kuok used the joint venture to expand his business empire ... and what this tells us about business in Southeast Asia.

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You’re Always Selling to a Situation, Not an ICP

One simple idea that falls out of the Heart of Innovation book — that you can use immediately — is this idea of selling into situations, not selling to ideal customer profiles. It’s what the pros do anyway.

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The Origin of the Tatas

How one of the oldest business empires on the subcontinent got started, and how one man’s values laid the foundation for five generations of business conduct.

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Cases from The Heart of Innovation

Three cases from The Heart of Innovation, picked to demonstrate the ideas of Deliberate Innovation.

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The Heart of Innovation: Why Most Startups Fail

A theory of demand (and product market fit) that explains it all, and does NOT require ‘pain’ to do it.

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Business with Tariffs; Business as Usual

Every Asian Tycoon we’ve examined got their start in a world with tariffs. They could thrive and adapt under severe uncertainty. So can we. Here’s how to calibrate for that world.

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Vanguard as a Demand-Side Mystery

We study the rise of Vanguard, the index fund management company, as a case study of how customer demand is not always about pain.

Feature image for The Jobs to be Done Framework as a Method to Understand Demand

The Jobs to be Done Framework as a Method to Understand Demand

How and why the Jobs to be Done Framework can help you sell more, faster, and accelerate your understanding of demand.

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The Sugar King of The East

The life and times of one of the most skilled tycoons of South East Asia: Robert Kuok. This is the fourth case on the rise of a tycoon in the Asian Conglomerate series.

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How to Become an Asian Tycoon

Every Asian tycoon becomes a tycoon in the exact same way. Learning to see this core pattern is half the battle.