The Business Model of Candy Crush Saga
The success of Candy Crush Saga relies on its ability to provide users with short but addictive rounds of candy crushing that do not demand much time but instead focus on one’s skills. As the company’s executive points out: “our business model is to sell add-ons and services within the game now” (Misener). Although the game is free, it allows users to purchase advantages and lives using real money. However, users are often unaware of their spending because they perceive the money used in the game as “not real” (Sapieha).
The three components of the value proposition of the game are the following: a free-to-play game that is fun does not require much time or deep involvement to understand how to play and allows users to “play all the way to the last level without ever having to pay” (Misener). The difference here is the short span of the rounds or focus on bite-sized entertainment (Shanley). Other computer games often demand much time and attention of the user to complete the quests and unlock achievements. Furthermore, computer games are usually more time-consuming.
The Business Model of Interactive Studios
The company “Interactive Studios” provides technology and products that help companies improve their management and address other problems linked to navigation or data gathering and analysis. The company’s value proposition is to provide clients with supported and modern technology that can be used in malls, shopping centers, or hospitals. The technology will allow them to gather data for analytics; furthermore, this data can also be resold by the client to a tenant or any other interested party (Feibel). As a company founder, I agree that this value proposition is vital because most companies create their tools to measure analytics. In contrast, others address it on the different levels (internal one), ignoring the data that customers provide. Providing clients with technologies that generate data, which can be resold or used for improving benefits, is a strong value proposition.
Lean Startup
The role of business models in lean startups is not as crucial as in traditional ones. Instead of trying to forecast the future, lean startups focus on finding the right business model by testing the existing hypotheses or guesses (Blank 67). Moreover, they also use customer’s feedback about all aspects of the business before the product is launched.
Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech for Entrepreneurs
One of the messages that impressed me the most was Jobs’ discussion of death and its significance in one’s life. Although thoughts about death are often seen as morbid or too dark, they can also motivate them to evaluate their lives, decisions, and aims. When we plan something, we should not forget that we do not have anything to lose; that is why we can freely experiment with the aims and dreams we have, even if we are scared (Jobs). I believe that this is a vital message for entrepreneurs who are afraid of making risky decisions – there is nothing to lose in this life because there is nothing to own. In a certain way, this message shows one what it means to be free from the anxiety of doing something wrong or failing. It sometimes appears that many people change their plans only because they think that something they dream about is impossible to achieve. However, as we can see from Steve Job’s example, even the most fantastic dreams can come true.
Works Cited
Blank, Steve. “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything.” Harvard Business Review, vol. 91, no. 5, 2013, pp. 63-72.
Feibel, Adam. “Digital Directory Startup Pointed in Right Direction.” Ottawa Business Journal, 2016, Web.
Jobs, Steve, speaker. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. Stanford University, 2005.
Misener, Jessica. “Candy Crush Exec Reveals the Game’s Biggest Secrets.” BuzzFeed. 2013, Web.
Sapieha, Chad. “Candy Crush Saga: Why You Play and Why You Pay.” Financial Post, 2013, Web.
Shanley, Mia. “How Candy Crush Makes So Much Money.” Business Insider. 2013, Web.