In the Dominican Republic, the term “innovation” is often used, but often in the context of horizontal innovation. This means that we implement technologies or processes that already exist in our business, which is the most common type of innovation. However, there is also the implementation of completely new and relevant ideas, which is known as vertical innovation.

If you want to learn more about these types of innovation, you can read Peter Thiel's book Zero to One

This happens naturally in primary markets that do not have the capacity or conditions to invest time or money. It is not a question of determining whether one form of innovation is better than the other, since the truth is that it depends on the situation. In most cases, it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel to offer a better service.

Both types of innovation have common ways of approaching them, in this case I want to talk about the S -Curve, Lead User Innovation and product maturity .

When we talk about the S Curve , it's about how a startup's product grows — first slowly, then quickly, and then it stagnates.

This is what the initial phase of a product that is progressing at a good pace looks like, but if we continue to expand the graph, we can see that this same curve is repeated over time.

Lead user innovation . A “lead user” is someone who can afford the product, has advanced skills related to your product, tolerates imperfections, and “ hacks ” the product to maximize their personal benefit. These users are crucial in the early stages of growth, as they help define the direction in which you should innovate. They have more impact in the slow growth stages and when the product is stuck in the S Curve because of their role in bringing ideas on how to innovate the product.

And finally, product maturity — the stage at which the product reaches its “maximum” development and adoption in the market. At this stage, sales begin to plateau and can rise or fall depending on various factors, such as competition or market saturation. This situation is more prevalent in the stagnation stage of the S Curve , and occurs because, at that point, we have no more capacity to innovate, while competition increases and, consequently, captures a greater market share.

Integrating these concepts will help you see more clearly where you are and how you can act to move forward. Note how the key player here is the lead user — it is from this group of people that the most important ideas for creating a relevant product for the market come out. If you want to be ten steps ahead of your competition, all you have to do is talk to your users.

Piero Silverio
Brand & Business Strategy

Hector Terrero