Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Startups in “Market Space”
While my goal is to eventually apply the Market Space model to large enterprises, I’m going to begin with startups. Obviously, my work at RSCM makes startup close to my heart. And most large enterprises were new entrants at some point, so analyzing the birth of firms seems like it should lay some crucial groundwork. (For previous posts in this series, see here: one, two, three, four.)
Hill Climbing in “Feature Subspace”
Looking at the search for profitable products as a Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) problem illuminates the general complexity of the firm’s challenge (see previous posts in this series: one, two, three). But in terms of analyzing specific firm behaviors, I think it’s important to acknowledge that we don’t have a pure MAB here. It seems pretty clear there’s more causal structure in Market Space.
“Market Space” as a Multi-Armed Bandit Problem
In the last post, I presented my 30,000-foot view of Market Space. I think it already provides some intuition. From the final diagram, you can literally see the firm’s search problem. But our eventual goal is a more formal model. So we need to drop our altitude a bit.
“Market Space” Approach to the Firm
In our last episode, I sketched out the goals for my new model of the firm. In this post, I’ll present the high level view of my model, which I call “Market Space” (yes, we’ll be using a high-dimensional space again).
Another Tilt at the Microeconomics Windmill
As I’ve written before, I am not entirely satisified with how microeconomic theory characterizes firms. So I’m going to take another tilt at the windmill and try to develop a model more suited to answering the questions I find puzzling. Note, the body of posts in this series will appear below the fold. They are as much for my own benefit as readers’, so probably interesting to a limited audience. And to any professional economists who may read this series, please be gentle. I realize it’s a rather presumptuous undertaking. But I’m more trying to work through my own thoughts rather than attempting to advance the field.
On the Advice of Counsel…
Yesterday, the attorney for my new company advised me that I should be careful about what I disclose to the public about the company’s activities. The company operates in a highly regulated field. Evidently, any open discussion of what the company does, especially of any offerings it may or may not hypothetically be considering, could be construed as a solicitation.
From an economics point of view, I think that such restrictions, however well meaning their original intent, tend to merely protect incumbents from competition. Nevertheless, I obviously don’t want the company to get into any trouble. Therefore, I have edited or redacted any potentially problematic revelations from these posts
- What I’m Working On: Supercharging Innovation
- Revolutionizing Angel Funding
- You Can’t Pick Winners at the Seed Stage
If you have any questions, post a comment here and I will contact you privately.
25 Random Things (Kevin Edition)
Rafe, you are not the last person on Facebook to do 25 Random Things. After your post, Jane browbeat me into finally putting my list together.
1) I can force my eyes into a disconjugate gaze–looking in slightly different directions.
2) My wife can also force her eyes into a disconjugate gaze. This gives a whole new meaning to, “Love at first sight.” Our daughter inherited this superpower (among others).
3) I have large hands but can nevertheless fit my entire fist in my mouth. In fact, I held a record at my oral surgeon for largest mouth opening.
Possible Insight 