These foundational assets are important. They help form the barriers to entry a company fosters to protect its market share. In most cases, these assets are the basis of how companies compete and seek to differentiate themselves from rival companies; they are the tools of the (win-lose) competition at the core of most corporate strategies today.

Every download is effectively an optional improvement to the original device purchase.

the misalignment might result not because the core offering is missing something, but rather because some customers do not universally value some elements of the core offering. While important for some customers, and perhaps even target customers, certain elements may not be valued by all customers. This is where we can find opportunities on the

The myopia associated with core business perfectionism often blinds us to the value of what we already have. Looking around for new bets, companies also tend to overlook a significant, untapped source of profit that exists in the near field—on the edge of the core business, through the sale of ancillary goods and services that

Part of the reason edges can be simultaneously higher return and lower risk is that the risk is paid for elsewhere.

The first problem is that few (if any) companies are able to sustain core dominance over the long term. The second, bigger problem is that by definition, this route to success doesn’t even apply to most companies.

The company, given its strong sales and customer service culture, was already active in ancillary services; it just wasn’t charging for them.

What mission is my customer ultimately hoping to accomplish with my product and would he or she give me permission to help more toward this end?

To find an edge opportunity, we propose starting with a different set of questions: What do our different types of customers want (or need)? What could or should our solution include? Which of our assets would others value and why?