Don't compete in crowded markets, create new ones. "Blue Ocean Strategy" by Kim and Mauborgne

Title: Blue Ocean Strategy: how to create uncontested market spaces and make the competition irrelevant

Author: W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Reviewer: Richard Sesek (educator, wantrepreneur)

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Topic/Intent of book: This book contrasts “blue oceans” which are untapped markets that are ripe for growth with “red oceans” which are saturated with competition. The innovation is to pursue both differentiation and low cost simultaneously. Often, by creating/inventing new market niches that lack existing competition. Go where others are not.

I selected this book because: A colleague, Murray Gibson, recommended the book, so I ordered a copy. Murray had explained the concept over lunch and I was intrigued.

Recommendation: Yes. I found the book to be a bit repetitive and perhaps I have read too many similar books. I feel like if you have read a lot of books about market strategy, perhaps much of this book is redundant. However, this could be said of many books. I told a student about the major concept of the book and even told him that I thought the book could have been 1 or 2 chapters. However, he bought it anyway. As he read it, he had epiphany after epiphany and thanked me many times for “recommending it”, which I hadn’t really.

In retrospect, this was the right book for this student at the right time. I am glad that I told him about it. I recently re-listened to it while working in the yard, and perhaps I was more ready for it. It is more nuanced than I had originally perceived.

Major lessons from this book: The major strategies for employing the blue ocean strategy are: eliminate(do not consider factors that the industry takes for granted), reduce (determine which factors can be reduced below the industry standard), raise (determine which factors to raise above the industry standard), and create (discover factors that the industry has never offered.

The focus is often on creating new “oceans” with new products (this is the part that could have been a couple of chapters). However, reducing the factors that can be eliminated or dumbed down (reducing technical surplus) and enhancing factors to differentiate your offering are often not emphasized nearly enough.

Book Inspirations: I think the blue ocean strategy concept provides inspiration to startups, particularly those existing companies “charting new seas” of opportunity. The major lesson for me is that while this book did not resonate as strongly with me (the first time), it was very well received by a young man looking to form a startup with his classmates. This also illustrates the power of book clubs and shared discussions. Had we read this together, I may have had a different initial impression. In fact, his admiration for the book inspired me to give it another chance. I read and listen to many books, perhaps its juxtaposition with the other books worked against it. Regardless, I need to be less jaded and opinionated when reading/listening and not draw over-simplified conclusions.