Podcasts Technology Ep. 328: Go Vertical Or Go Home

Ep. 328: Go Vertical Or Go Home

Published: Feb. 18, 2020, 1:24 a.m.

Related TEK2day article: "Go Vertical or Go Home" (premium):
https://tek2day.com/2020/02/17/go-vertical-or-go-home/

Unless your name is Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google or Microsoft, it is best to pursue vertical go-to-market and product strategies. Only the previously mentioned Technology giants have the requisite scale to take a horizontal approach. We provide examples of “Vertical Leaders” and “At-Risk Horizontal Players”.

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It is increasingly risky to pursue a horizontal strategy when the platforms giants – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft – are doing the same. For example, Apple invested $4.5 billion in R&D during the most recent quarter, Microsoft $4.6 billion and Google/Alphabet $7.2 billion. Quarterly R&D spend for these giants is larger than annual revenue for most technology companies.

Therefore, we believe the best growth strategy for young technology companies is to build industry vertical expertise into products, services, user experiences and everywhere that domain expertise may provide your company with a sustainable competitive advantage.