Learning From Failure — part 2
Too Quick To Change, Too Difficult To Scale
Things are changing at Corsair’s, but hopefully for the better this time. Two years ago, when this became my full time pursuit, we made some changes. That was our first mistake, although I said that already in part one.
It was a mistake because, until that point, things were working. We had a strong team and strong culture of bootstrapping. It only changed because my own circumstances had. I had more time, so clearly we should adjust our approach. Or at least, that seemed reasonable…
Instead, my time got distributed and eventually absorbed by the new consulting arm. I have already discussed how that model went awry, but I am now noting that was actually doubly so. Not only did analytics not serve, it changed a process that did. Our original dream of a better platform for analytic education quickly morphed into a marginal value add to the consulting model.
Education Differentiated… But It Didn’t Scale
There is a devious sort of failure that happens when you a pioneering something new. It feels like success. It is clearly working. It clearly differentiates you. Your clients clearly care. Only it won’t scale.
Analytics is learning. It isn’t far from education. Less so when you are a proponent of active education. “Active education” is effectively “distributed analytics”. Unfortunately, distributed often equates to higher costs and rarely to higher revenue. In other words, when you broaden analytics to include education you start to hit massive scaling issues.
We tried everything. Internships, corporate training, apprenticeships, boot camps, and onward… All were successful in driving outcomes. All failed to work at scale. There were other unexpected issues here as well — but I will hit those in the final article (part 3).
But we did learn… we just needed to go back to what was working.
Scale was difficult, that is not to say impossible. It simply required the right innovation and a return to the right focus. It was going to require more bootstrapping. Sadly, for me personally, that didn’t scale.
Corsair’s has refocused … or should I say recursively focused on our original concept. We are carrying forward the learning and success we found. We are abandoning the distractions and doubling down on innovation and the analytic process (slightly refined — more on that in the last article). We are iterating, testing, and educating.
Our new simulation platform captures what mattered from our other efforts, but it also scales. It is a great new way to train and learn. It is also a great way to assess and hire. It is a bridge over the analytic gap that provides experience for analysts and companies alike. It is a platform that creates confidence!
For me personally, it is a concept I have invested many long years to see come together. The future looks bright. But it is a concept that needs to scale without the burden of my current pay rate. I am have stepped aside from the day to day. I have other challenges now to concur. But then bootstrapping and innovation have always been my strengths — and that is exactly what I am going back to.
I will close this article here. I have one more set of lessons to provide. Lessons that touch closest on personal failure and learning. So stay tuned and thanks for reading.
