The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Kristin Peterson

E-Business I

Malcom Gladwell has written a fascinating book that dissects everyday trends into their rrot causes, painting for the reader an interesting framework of epidemics. Everything from the recent decline in crime in New York City, to the success of Sesame Street and the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood is analyzed, outlining the Three Rules of Epidemics quite convincingly and demonstrating what conditions need to be present to make an idea “Tip”, and spread like wildfire.

Reading this book with the dotcom world in the back of my mind and the spirit of entrepreneurship that accompanies many e-businesses, I thought of the thousands of business plans which pass over the desks of venture capital firms in that space. Perhaps a convincing business plan does not just need a strategic analysis and marketing plan. Perhaps a startup needs also to consider whether or not they have the resources needed to enact the Three Rules of Epidemics, to make their business a success.

For example, The Law of the Few maintains that there are exceptional people in this world, who, once involved, can provide an ingredient that can make an idea tip. These people either know a tremendous number of people, are early adopters of new information who share emphatically, or are sales people extraordinaire, persuading us to their point of view. When implementing a business plan, Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen (of course) are essential people to know. We all have friends who have acquaintances in every corner of the nation, who once persuaded by an effective and relentless salesmen could help your business idea tip.

The Stickiness Factor is another over which an entrepreneur has some control. With a strong creative team, ones message can be structured in such a way to make it irresistible to the target market. The content of an idea can be sound, but its packaging must be formatted properly by someone with the talent for knowing what will stick. From website design to usability and advertising, Gladwell’s message, when applied to e-business, underlines the importance of a strong creative team in making a website tip.

The Power of Context is far more esoteric, however. Gladwell outlines and reiterates the importance of environmental circumstances in influencing an epidemic. Very subtle contextual changes in a situation can turn an idea into a full-blown epidemic. Most of his examples seemed to happen by accident, yet were powerful factors in tipping. How a dotcom startup can influence the obscure contextual influences to their benefit and success is not clear to me. As I move through E-Business I and II, and use the Tipping Point framework to assess dotcom business models, it is possible that the ability to influence the Power of Context will become more apparent.