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Abstract

This case follows the growth of Veniam – a startup founded in 2012 in Porto, Portugal – from a small player in what many considered a peripheral region in terms of innovation and startup activity, to one of Europe’s leading startups and a global pioneer in the Internet of Moving Things. The case asks students to consider the timing of Veniam’s entry in the ‘Internet of Moving Things’ market. This is a large but not yet materialized market. Hence, the case pushes students to discuss and decide what’s the best marketing strategy for the company, specifically how much should the company opt for a technology-centered approach (‘market driving’) versus a customer-focused approach (‘market driven’). It allows the instructor to highlight the risks of being too technology focused and neglecting the customer and business model side of innovation. It also pushes students and faculty to discuss critical segmentation and targeting decisions that may determine the fate Veniam’s go-to-market strategy, with learnings that are applicable not only to any other technology startup but also to venture teams in high-tech and science-intensive industries.

Citation Note

Based on field research; 21 pages Follow the 'handle' link to access the Case Study on RePub. For EUR staff members: the Teaching Note is available on request, you can contact us at rsm.nl/cdc/contact/ For external users: follow the link to purchase the Case Study and the Teaching Note.

Objective

1. Analyse the key challenges in the go-to-market strategy of an early-stage high-technology venture; 2. Explain key concepts and challenges in how to design a marketing strategy for a new technology; 3. Explore the value proposition to push for the adoption and diffusion of a disruptive new technology; 4. Devise a winning value demonstration strategy.

Type
Case Study