Business

Comments – NPR: Surprise Medical Bills: ER Is In Network, But Doctor Isn’t

November 12 in Business, Business Intelligence, Business Models, Entrepreneurship, Health care, Healthcare, Predictive Analytics, Strategy, Strategy, telemedicine by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Comments – NPR: Surprise Medical Bills: ER Is In Network, But Doctor Isn’t

Posted comments today on NPR story about ER billing problems using ER services in Texas. Ironic, as noted in my comments,  Texas is one of the states that has pushed back most strongly on ACA efforts to improve our healthcare system. So if you do have an emergency while traveling in Texas, on the way to the ER in the ambulance, I suggest make sure you check that you are covered for both hospital and doctor costs. Looks like “every doctor  for himself” there- what a way to run a healthcare system. We can fix this and I believe with modifications ACA is the vehicle to accomplish this objective.

You can read my comments and the NPR article at http://tinyurl.com/pfd5zwe

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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WSJ – Comments on Alibaba “Singles Day” Results

November 11 in Business, Business Intelligence, Business Models, Entrepreneurship, Health care, Predictive Analytics, Product Development, startup, Strategy, Strategy by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on WSJ – Comments on Alibaba “Singles Day” Results

On November 10th, the WSJ reviewed Alibaba results and the Gross Merchandising Volume or “GMV” metric used to measure performance of e-marketplace companies such as AliBaba and others. I find GMV and related platform business model metrics not well understood. These will be increasingly important as growth of “customer to customer” platform networks accelerate in healthcare and other sectors. Below is a full copy of my comments. Link to the WSJ article and edited comments at http://tinyurl.com/n369mha

Eeading about Alibaba’s business model, I recall the “eyeball model” driving the e-commerce explosion in the 1990’s. The premise- attract large numbers of users/customers to your site, generate value by product and service sales and, most important, generate scale to drive advertising revenue and “exponential” future earnings. Some did it well such as eBay, but the model spawned hundreds of new ventures and most failed. Why? Management, undercapitalized, poor execution strategy- these are the usual reasons most ventures fail. But there was also a fatal flaw here- the eyeball model at the time could not create a universally successful business in all sectors without careful positioning and deep pockets, not the outcome many investors expected. “Build it and they will come”- they didn’t.

Fast forward to today. Alibaba reported very impressive results on “Singles Day”, I.e., 111114, reporting 35 billion yuan ( about $5.75 billion) in the 24 hour Singles Day period. GMV or Gross Merchandise Value is their key business model metric- high GMV translates to higher revenue and presumably long term earnings growth. Following a $25 billion IPO two months ago, there is great pressure to show high GMV.

Several comments here. No question Alibaba is an outstanding success by any measure. One question is long term sustainability. Having merchants offer steep discounts ( 50 % in some cases) to create high single day sales volume looks like a “loss leader” strategy- at least one analyst also questioned whether this is sustainable long term. Remember Groupon and LivingSocial issues. Secondly, note GMV shows total value of transactions sold through Alibaba’s marketplace platform and is not a well defined standard. GMV may include shipping charges, items that will be returned, and other components for the “customer to customer” sales via Alibaba’s platform. GMV is excellent for comparing marketplace companies, but each player may use different assumptions to calculate. Finally, recognize GMV is one of several platform model metrics such as Gross Transaction Volumes or GTV which is well suited for platforms using commission-based pricing strategies. Bottom line here- Alibaba’s success will spur other “GMV” centric new ventures as did the “eyeball” model- lets understand the definitions here and standardize, ensure the proper financial accounting and reporting practices are in place, and ensure the e-marketplace sector achieves the global market growth we all foresee.

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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Inc. – 8 Recommended Courses for Entrepreneurs 

September 18 in Business, Business Intelligence, Education, Entrepreneurship, Predictive Analytics, Uncategorized, Venture capital by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Inc. – 8 Recommended Courses for Entrepreneurs 

Interesting Inc. Article on 8 recommended courses entrepreneurs should take. Check out  http://tinyurl.com/mct6llb

I posted following comments:

Good post and pleased to contribute here.  I like to say the “traditional laws of business are not repealed for new ventures”- not all agree with this assertion but my experience with many ventures shows these skills improve probability of success. Your selection of recommended courses is a good starting point and reinforces this point which I believe is missed by many. I suggest two additional recommended course areas

— Mathematics/Statistics – new business models and ventures are using analytics to develop innovative lines of business. Conceiving, managing, marketing, financing and growing these new analytics-centric businesses in fiercely competitive markets demands new analytic skills I find lacking. These skills can provide a competitive edge

–International – all business is global and more than 50 percent of Fortune 500 revenue is derived from overseas business. Entrepreneurs should understand how to operate in the international arena, i.e., how non-GAAP differs from GAAP reporting; how to develop equity and non-equity intl alliances; how exchange rates impact financial flows and strategies- all important management skills that provide entrepreneurs with a competitive edge.

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

 

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Comments on Healthcare Analytics- HBR Blog on Operational Analytics

September 12 in Business, Entrepreneurship, startup, Uncategorized by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Comments on Healthcare Analytics- HBR Blog on Operational Analytics

Interesting HBR Blog post on how analytics will move from providing insights on improving processes to “operational analytics” actually controlling business processes.  Emphasis of the article was the manufacturing sector (HBR Blog, “Let Algorithms Decide-and Act- for Your Company”, September 10, 2014)

I posted following comments sharing a vision on where predictive analytics is heading in the health care sector….

Thanks for insightful post and operational analytics insights you shared.

Glad to share several comments.

First, if you replace “manufacturing” with “healthcare” which now represents about 20 percent of US GDP, and you understand how we can leverage predictive analytics to improve cost performance and quality, you quickly realize the high potential that lies ahead.

Here are a few high potential applications and benefits of these new capabilities which are only a small sample of what lies ahead here:

• Tracking Medical Diagnoses, Treatments, Medications, Outcomes, Costs,Reimbursements, and Relationships

ICD or International Classification of Disease Codes classifies diseases and CPT or Current Procedural Terminology codes describe services provided by medical practitioners. Tracking and examining relationships among these metrics, looking at patient data, identifying processes, and key cost and patient health drivers, we can develop ‘best practices’  … Read more comments and the HBR Blog post at  http://tinyurl.com/k9pfpjp

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

Posted “Emerging Business Models Driven By Predictive Analytics” in Business Model Innovation Forum

September 4 in Business, Business Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Health care, Healthcare, intrapreneurship, Predictive Analytics, startup, Strategy, Uncategorized, Venture capital by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Posted “Emerging Business Models Driven By Predictive Analytics” in Business Model Innovation Forum

Agreed to serve as a member of the Business Model Innovation Forum. Good discussion here on all aspects of business models and where we are heading. I posted following comments today as an initial contribution – more information in the Forum at www.businessmodelhub.com. I am pleased to share a copy of my posted comments:

Emerging Business Models Driven By Predictive Analytics

I am pleased to contribute to the Forum and look forward to discussions with other members.

Two areas related to business models in my view should be discussed. First, predictive analytics which is reshaping traditional business models and changing the competitive landscape. These new tools analyze millions of “information records”, develop “rules” to explain the outcomes with major improvement in speed and accuracy. Note information records may include traditional databases, as well as unstructured “text analytics” from news feeds, messaging, maybe doctors notes related to an electronic health record (EHR). Seamless analysis of both traditional structured and unstructured data is a powerful new direction and where we are heading.What we are seeing are new services emerging, creating new markets, many driven by entrepreneurial firms. New clinical diagnostic services to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce costs- results show dramatic improvement. Technology Assisted Review or TAR, using advanced analytics in the legal arena to assist in identifying relevant and priviliged documents reviewing millions of documents for class action and other major legal cases. Continuous Audit, Continuous Monitoring or “CA/CM” using real time analytics in Fortune 1000 companies to identify problem, possibly fraudulent transactions pre-audit saving time and money and reducing exposure.

I have been involved in these and can cite many others. Key point- we are creating new business models here- some based on outcomes, others based on client savings maybe linked to longitudinal or total costs. So today what looks like a traditional software product, services, or solutions business may be competing with “transaction based” players, oftentimes entrepreneurial firms using creative business models and pricing structures.

Secondly, while we often focus on the internal, company- centric elements of the business model which are essential, lets keep in mind that external factors play a major role in shaping a firm’s business model and strategy. In 2013, I made this point in comments on an excellent business planning post by Accenture. You can see my comments and the Accenture link at http://tinyurl.com/ozugkl9

Bottom line here- we can expect to see many new, creative business models emerging which “push the envelope” demanding that management acquire new business planning and analysis skills. “Business as usual” will not be a successful strategy. Many of these new emerging business models in my view will be driven by agile entrepreneurial firms creating both new investment and value creation opportunities as well as challenges for traditional players,

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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Data Marketing 101: New Directions. Infographics +Predictive Analytics

August 19 in Advertising, Business, Business Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Health care, intrapreneurship, Predictive Analytics, Product Development, startup, Strategy, Uncategorized, Venture capital by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Data Marketing 101: New Directions. Infographics +Predictive Analytics

Excellent article by Shannon Byrne on how startups can use Infographics – good insights here. Check out http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/08/18/data-marketing-101-startups-can-put-data-work/

Coupling Infographics with predictive analytics pushes the boundary here and I shared some thoughts – here is copy of my posted comments

Shannon. Excellent post. Thanks for sharing. Infographics is an exciting area and I see predictive analytics pushing the boundary further and opening new possibilities. For example as you say need to ‘mine data that’s helpful to your audience’ and you suggest several questions to address.
But suppose we mine data and use PA tools to identify drivers that are not known – predicting the ‘unknown-unknowns’ and showing these in Infographics provides exciting and powerful capabilities. For example, suppose you are showing attributes of your customers and show typical data, e.g., sales by region, sector, customer size and so on. But suppose you can also identify and show that the highest sales are driven by sales staff with certain backgrounds who sell to certain sectors. Or you identify and show how sales rank based on variations in the sales process; I.e., response to RFP, sales call center query, direct sales call, and so on.
Key point here- the relationships I suggested here and the questions to ask will be defined by the PA model not the Infographic data modeler- that is the real power of predictive analytics ‘technology and a concept still not fully understood by many.

In the healthcare sector for example, we use PA tools to optimize clinical treatments based on data going well beyond a patient’s condition and symptoms. Mining data using PA defines ‘ inferences’ and the rules between business metrics. Fast forward here and we can envision many exciting Infographic applications that will push the boundary enabling us to improve clarity and communications of complex and insightful business metrics

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

 

 

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SaaS Metrics 2.0 – A Guide to Measuring and Improving what Matters- Post By David Skok

August 17 in Business, Business Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Health care, International business, intrapreneurship, Predictive Analytics, startup, Strategy, Uncategorized, Venture capital by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on SaaS Metrics 2.0 – A Guide to Measuring and Improving what Matters- Post By David Skok

Excellent post by David Skok at http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/on using a using analytics to manage a SaaS business. I posted comments also emphasizing need to use analytics to assess changing markets/external factors for #entrepreneurial ventures. Also strongly recommend the site – http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/- excellent resource for entrepreneurs

Below is a copy of my posted comments – you can review the original post at http://www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics-2/

Here is a copy of my posted comments..

David

Excellent article- thanks.

Several months ago I was invited to do a guest blog post and serve as an Advisor for Funding Profiles, a Santa Clara-based company offering a powerful suite of financial analytic tools that “integrates with existing business applications to continuously translate traditional financial metrics into the language of business strategy”. For companies with thousands of products, infrastructure, and processes spanning the globe, the ability to ‘drill down’, examine ‘what-ifs’, and assess how and if global LOBs meet KPIs and support the strategic plan, is a powerful planning tool. Your post reinforces this point.

But markets and technology are moving quickly, consumer power is increasing, and external global factors will impact all global businesses which creates risk and uncertainty. In fact, one study shows macro-environment, competitive and corporate positioning factors account for about 80 percent of ROA variation among LOBs. So optimizing the company’s internal resources, processes, and KPI’s really address only 20 percent of the planning challenge based on these findings. My post “How Analytics is “Raising the Bar” for Corporate Strategy: Understanding the External Environment” talks about how new analytic tools can provide a competitive edge, creating what Tom Davenport (Author- Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning) defines as “analytic competitors”.

Bottom line- while emphasis of the above is larger corporations, my view is entrepreneurs that also understand how to analyze markets, external opportunities and threats, and how to use analytics with Porter’s Five Forces Model, STEEP, and competitive benchmarking tools can achieve a competitive edge. Properly used, external market analytics provide a competitive edge for evaluating, strategy positioning, and managing entrepreneurial ventures. During the past six months, I have looked at ventures in areas of wearable healthcare monitoring devices, clinical analytics, analytics for fraud detection, legal analytics, and solar energy among others. To accurately gauge outlook and opportunity for these and others, venture evaluation must go well beyond the typical “size of market, expected market share” and ‘drill-down’ to understand external market threats and opportunities. We have a way to go yet in educating the entrepreneurial community but I believe today’s “hyper competitive” dynamic global markets will help accelerate the adoption of these new analytics capabilities.

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

 

 

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PR/Advertising Lessons for Entrepreneurs from P.T. Barnum

August 12 in Advertising, Business, Business Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, Predictive Analytics, startup, Strategy, Venture capital by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on PR/Advertising Lessons for Entrepreneurs from P.T. Barnum

Here is wisdom from circus showman P.T. Barnum I have often shared with early stage #entrepreneurs to reinforce the last point- end game here is to create short and long term sales-  the rest is ‘showmanship’ and important not to confuse this point. Also note the need to emphasize benefits to build on adv/promotion and actually close the sale (i.e.,”explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions…”). Good counsel and insights here for early stage entrepreneurs.

“ If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,” that’s advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion. If the elephant walks thru the mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity. And if you can get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations. If the town’s citizens go to the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately they spend a lot at the circus, that’s sales.”

                                                                                                                                                                                P.T.Barnum

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Healthcare Monitoring – Fast Company Market Perspectives

August 9 in Business, Entrepreneurship, Health care, intrapreneurship, Predictive Analytics, startup, Strategy, telemedicine by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Healthcare Monitoring – Fast Company Market Perspectives

Healthcare Monitoring – Fast Company -“Why We Don’t Talk About “Wearable Software”

Revolution is coming in the wearable healthcare monitoring arena as we move from devices to software/ ecosystems and new predictive analytics are fully embraced. Excellent Fast Company Labs article by Tina Amirtha summarizing directions. I see significant opportunity here not covered in the article  – why pharmas will play a key role, role of wearables in telemonitoring/Telehealth, tracking medication compliance,adverse drug reactions. And wearable healthcare monitoring coupled with analytics is spawning many exciting entrepreneurial ventures

Check out the Fast Company article at http://tinyurl.com/klzncnl. My comments shown are shortened due to space – here is a complete copy:

Tina- great article. As former CEO of a public predictive analytics company pleased to share comments. First, analytics is indeed the “Holy Grail” but my view is the real opportunity drivers here are not individuals but pharmas who have the incentive to establish and grow ongoing patient relationships. Healthcare monitoring/analytics is ideal strategy to help pharmas achieve this objective. Last time I looked the 3 to 4 major pharma chains represent about $200 billion or 75 percent of the market and about 24,000 locations- independent pharmas account for the rest of the locations and market. Secondly, health monitoring devices can make a substantive contribution to Telehealth/ telemedicine – I have done work in this area and telemonitoring proponents have not fully embraced these technologies- in my view and they are missing a real opportunity. We are seeing new entrepreneurial ventures addressing this market- my experience is creating sustainable business models addressing hardware, software, analytics dimensions is a real challenge for some of the reasons you noted.

Finally, in a late 2012 blog post “Buy Health Monitoring Devices Off The Clothing Rack      http://tinyurl.com/nhyp9uy 
I suggested we may be buying health care monitors in Lands End, and discussed how this will impact traditional retailer strategies. Sales staff questions may move from “What size and color jacket would you like to see?” to “Can I show you our blood pressure-only monitoring jacket or our top of the line full featured model tracking glucose, oxygenation and includes a USB port?”And what about health care coverage. Expect to see some interesting issues emerge here- are you buying a jacket or a medical device; where do you draw the line? Clothing may also be an external driver to grow this market

Bottom line here- the real opportunity, which translates into hard dollar cost savings and improved healthcare quality, is using wearables and the software ecosystem to track medication compliance, adverse drug reactions, drug efficacies, and similar data. My vision is coupling wearable healthcare monitors with predictive analytics will dramatically reshape today’s healthcare system- refocusing the emphasis of today ‘ s wearable discussion and educating industry players on the possibilities here are the challenges and next steps needed to make this happen

Paul B. Silverman

 

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

 

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Annie Oakley Wisdom for Entrepreneurs…

August 8 in Business, Entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, startup, Strategy by Paul Silverman | Comments Off on Annie Oakley Wisdom for Entrepreneurs…

Annie Oakley Wisdom for Entrepreneurs

Annie Oakley lived in the late 1800’s, was a sharpshooter and exhibition shooter, and had a starring role in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.

But Annie Oakley faced many obstacles- the fifth of seven children, mother widowed twice, poverty, raised in the county poor farm, and sent to an adoptive family for several years. Suffered more mental and physical abuse, often locked outside when snowing. After she returned to the county poor farm, reunited with her family and her mother had married a third time and had more children.

Annie Oakley succeeded despite a most challenging childhood. That is why her quotation is even more powerful when you understand her path to success and the many obstacles she had to overcome:

 “Aim at a high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bull’s-eye of success.”

 Good counsel here for entrepreneurs and worth sharing …

                                                                     Paul B. Silverman

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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