Beyond incubation
We all know what incubators do: they bring people, ideas and facilities together to build new products and services. Simple, or is it?
Incubators build start-ups that focus on innovators and early adopters to generate initial revenues. But is this enough? Not if you read Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A Moore. Written in 1991 (and revised several times since) its message is still true today. Many businesses fail to migrate from the early adopter to the early majority markets – the chasm. This is primarily driven by the lack of a “whole product”: i.e. one that addresses the whole customer experience from buying right through to servicing, support and upgrading and makes it easy for a customer to buy.
This is where consumer facing distributed energy offerings are today: the market is hugely fragmented. Although much of the technology has been proven and pilots delivered, early adopters are still faced with integrating many of the parts themselves, something the mass majority will not do. In addition, funding is also highly fragmented for consumers and businesses alike. Even government support is fragmented, varies across regions and can be altered with very little notice. Bringing this all together is a huge challenge as the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland recently identified in their recent report: Financing Energy Efficiency in Ireland - A Handbook on the Residential Sector.
What we believe is needed is a “Commercial Catalyst Programme” that brings together businesses, proven ideas, funding and understanding in order to build whole products able to cross the chasm. We also expect to be able to identify “bridgeheads” – medium scale mass market opportunities, working with the public sector where appropriate. Here we are thinking particularly of initiatives like the EU’s Renovation Wave. These must not be allowed to have a fragmented approach, but to consider the consumer energy experience in the round: i.e. considering the building as a whole product.
Author: Philip Lewis