Innovation Archives - Ryan Baltrip

AI: The New Co-Founder for Small Businesses? My Take

rbaltrip-admin2024-08-22T15:43:02+00:00AI, Business & Leadership, Innovation, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Strategy|

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, AI is emerging as a powerful tool for small businesses. A recent New York Times article, "How A.I. Can Help Start Small Businesses", shed light on how generative AI is empowering entrepreneurs to launch and scale their ventures with unprecedented speed and efficiency. I was particularly intrigued by the stories of individuals like Steven Bright, who leveraged ChatGPT to navigate the complexities of starting his company, Skittenz. But overall, having grown up with both my parents being small business owners, the article's core message resonated with me - AI has the potential to be a game-changer for small businesses seeking to leverage the power of this technology. While the potential benefits are undeniable, it's also important to approach AI adoption with a balanced perspective. At the end of the day, for AI to be useful, it has to be a helpful enabler and accelerator for small businesses, not a time killer or distracting rabbit hole that they can get lost in. So let's dive deeper into the article's key takeaways and explore some of the nuances and considerations for small business leaders navigating the AI landscape. Key Takeaways from the Article Accelerated Progress: Sean Ammirati, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, observed a significant increase in the speed and quality of his students' entrepreneurial projects when they incorporated generative AI into their workflow. "Stilts to Get Through an Obstacle": Steven Bright, founder of Skittenz, aptly describes AI as providing a boost to overcome challenges and move faster towards business goals. Increased Confidence: Access to AI tools gave entrepreneurs like Mr. Bright the confidence to launch their ventures without relying heavily on expensive external expertise. Potential for Faster Profitability and Scale: Research suggests that AI adoption can help businesses reach profitability and scale more quickly. "Bootstrapping [...]

Understanding AI History Teaches Us to Keep Hype-Cycles in Perspective

rbaltrip-admin2024-08-13T01:49:11+00:00AI, Business & Leadership, Innovation, Uncategorized|

As of August 2024, almost two years after AI hit the cultural consciousness, it seems the AI-bubble may be starting to take some hits. Recently, Bloomberg News posted an article highlighting that some tech founders and investors are starting to question/wonder about AI's profitability, etc. etc. Well, here is case & point on why it's so important for business leaders to have some basic understanding of the history of AI (or technology, for that matter). AI, in particular, has gone through periods of rapid progress followed by an "AI Winter," which is often caused by a lack of what we could call tech capacity (software, hardware limitations, etc.). We often go through hype cycles, and if the history of AI (or tech) teaches us anything, it's important to have a balanced perspective of the promise, perils, limitations, and opportunities of AI [or insert latest technology].

The Data-Driven Blueprint for Successful Online Programs

rbaltrip-admin2024-03-29T13:41:35+00:00Business & Leadership, Digital Learning, Education, Innovation, Leadership, Learning Innovation, Management, Marketing, Strategy|

Launching and sustaining a successful online program takes more than just a great idea. It requires careful planning, a solid understanding of the numbers, and a clear vision for the student experience. Three essential tools – the pro forma, enrollment cascades, and course sequence cascades – offer institutions a multi-faceted lens through which to plan, analyze, and make data-powered decisions when establishing and scaling online programs. 1. The Pro Forma: Your Financial Roadmap Think of a pro forma as the financial blueprint for your online program. It's a model that projects your expected multi-year revenue, expenses, and profitability. A well-crafted pro forma helps answer these critical questions: Feasibility: Can this program sustain itself financially? When will it break even? Resource Allocation: Where should I invest most heavily? Where can I optimize resources? Decision-Making: Should we go ahead? Having hard financial data helps avoid costly mistakes Scenario Planning: What happens if enrollment is lower than expected? What if we raise the tuition? Funding: A robust pro forma can attract internal or external funding. 2. Enrollment Cascades: Tracking Your Students' Journey An enrollment cascade charts the progress of student cohorts throughout the program. It reveals where students might be struggling, dropping out, or thriving. Here's what an enrollment cascade tells you: Bottlenecks: Are there high drop-off points? This is a red flag for problems with course design, advising, or support. Targeted Interventions: Pinpointing student attrition allows for customized support to get them back on track. Data, not Guesswork: Enrollments cascades drive investment in the resources that make the biggest impact . Predicting the Future: Enrollment trends help you anticipate how many students you'll need to support each year – forecasting faculty, facilities, and budget needs. 3. Course Sequence Cascades: Ensuring a Smooth Progression A course sequence cascade visualizes how students flow through the series of required courses in your program. It reveals [...]

3 Insights on Why Pursing Innovative Paths Can Fail

rbaltrip-admin2021-01-02T19:51:26+00:00Business & Leadership, Innovation, Leadership, Management|

Recently, I have been re-reading a classic in business management - The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen. Over 20 years later, this book’s principles continue to be timely words of insight and wisdom. Rather than let some of these thoughts go, I thought it might be helpful to consolidate a few of my reflections here and share 3 insights on why pursing innovative paths can fail. 1. Innovative paths are often hindered not by failed leadership and management but hindered by highly effective leadership and management. Good management, seeking to serve its existing customers and brand values, is often the reason that top firms fail to exhibit leadership with disruptive innovations. It is a false perception to think that “bad” leadership is the reason for failure to innovate. Instead, the problem is often “good” leadership. 2. Innovative paths are often most successful within established firms when set up as autonomous arms of the organization. The history of business innovation in a wide variety of industries has proven this to be true - data storage, computers, steel, farm engineering, retail, higher education, etc. When deciding to pursue a disruptive technology, most organizations will be most successful setting up an autonomous organization changed with building and pursuing the new business. With few exceptions, the only instances in which mainstream firms have successfully established a timely position in a disruptive technology were those in which the firm’s managers set up an autonomous organization charged with building a new and independent business around the disruptive technology. 3. Innovative paths fail when leaders fail to appropriately align their organizations resources to invest in the new autonomous organization. Established organizations are established for a reason, and their good leaders know how to align their resources toward those established aims. However, those very skills and abilities often work [...]