Jeffrey Kluger Quotes

A small company like Nichia should do niche products.

To the extent that anyone anywhere does anything interesting, the question is: 'Why isn't Apple doing that; why is Apple behind in that?' We aren't the Everything Company. We take on a very small number of things that we do very well, and we find that pretty rewarding.

I think there is a niche for every market.

Firms that claim domain focus are late movers.

My basic strategy is to stick to my core business and to my area of expertise.

The most essential thing for us was to get the business model right, then put the world-class technology under it to support it. At Merrill, that meant not doing what people expected.

When you're thinking about your next product or current product and wondering how to make it different so you don't have competition, understand the job the customer needs to get done.

So in 2000, when we changed the business model and started really focusing on that triangle and putting the customer in the center, we decided we should hold off - we've done enough consolidation; we've got enough critical mass.

When looking at trends I always ask myself basic and timeless questions about business, and the one I seem to always come back to is, 'How is this different than anything else in the marketplace?'

I always recommend, if you can, to patent or protect whatever your idea is. If you can't, you have to make your best judgment. Sometimes people don't get anywhere because they sit on something, so afraid to reveal it. And yet, in the reverse, sometimes if you expose something too widely, you can risk losing it.

My father taught us that to thrive, excellence in technology, quality, and customer service along with cost competitiveness is a prerequisite. His contribution to business, the economy, and society at large can never be underscored enough.

It's easier to build a business around a first-class product, even if it's a more expensive product to produce.

As I've said, in 2007, we're free to go and we'll just have to do what's best for the business.

I learnt the hard way about positioning in business, about catering to the right segments.

You need to understand the market, know how you can differentiate yourself in it, and grasp the price and the functional differentiation competitive points that are going to allow you to be disruptive.

The best time to expand is when people are asleep at the wheel.

Be careful not to start a company that really belongs as a feature of another company, like the 25 Twitter URL shortener companies out there. Pick a real problem that's here to stay.

Whatever business you're in - it doesn't matter - it's going to commoditize over time. It's going to devalue. You've got to keep moving it to a higher value.

Even if someone is already in your market space, ask yourself whether you can approach it from a different angle and thereby secure your own customer base.

If you really stay focused on what your beliefs are and what your customer wants, you'll find the right markets.

... whatever business you're in, it doesn't matter, it's going to commoditize over time, it's going to devalue, you've got to keep moving it to a higher value. Keep going to a higher value in whatever it is that you do and force yourself and force the organization to always do it ahead of time

What we need to do is run our business. We need to come up with a value prop that is so compelling that customers have to go for it.

If you haven't created the time as an owner to understand why people are choosing your model over your competition, then you are only managing the business that comes in the door, not actively seeking it out.

You have to do things right to stay in business, and that's not easy, and that's a choice on a daily basis, the choices you make in how to run your business and how to have a point of differentiation and how to be true to your brand, how to offer something that people want and to offer something that you love.

If you ask me, 'So what is your business model?' Our business model's always about shifting to higher value opportunities.