Principled Innovation LLC

P.I. Podcast: Interview with Alex Osterwalder

April 8th, 2010

Just a few years ago, there was precious little discussion of either business models or business model innovation in the association community.  Today, as a result of the game-changing impact of the Web and in the aftermath of near economic collapse, the present and future viability of association business models is a core concern for boards, CEOs and senior executives.  I believe this is such a critical issue for associations, that I have announced plans to present a two-day business model innovation workshop this September, the first session of its kind in our community.

As I have done my own deep dive into the specific challenges and opportunities of association business model innovation, I have been inspired by the work of Dr. Alexander Osterwalder, the lead author of the spectacular book, Business Model Generation.  I have followed Alex’s blog, Business Model Alchemist, for some time now, and I was among the early adopters who joined the online community Alex and the core team formed to support the creation of a book that is both visually appealing and content rich.  (Listen to the podcast to learn more about the book’s creative business model, a departure from traditional publishing to be sure.)  It was a great pleasure to be a contributor to the project, and I think Alex’s design-oriented approach to business model innovation is very powerful.

When I met Alex last fall at BIF-5 in Providence, I invited him to be a guest on the P.I. Podcast.  We’re both quite busy with travel, so it took a bit of time to schedule our interview.  It was worth the wait, though, because we had a really terrific chat.  I was especially interested to learn more about the Swedish company, Peepoople, and I think you will be too.  This is a long podcast (close to an hour), but I hope you’ll carve out some time to listen.  You will be glad you did.

If you would like to be notified about the lowest available tuition for my September 2010 business model innovation workshop, please complete this form.

This podcast (53 MB download) is just about 60 minutes in length.  Please e-mail me if you have any comments, questions and suggestions for future guests.  Please don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, and be sure to join the Principled Innovation Facebook fan page.

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