A sure formula for killing your small technology company is to ignore the ecosystems of which it is a part. Small technology companies perform better when they are able to add value to their customers and partners by levering key resources in their ecosystems and incorporating ecosystem realities into their products and services and go-to-market strategies. Take RideShark, for instance. It's a small, creative Ottawa-based organization that understands its ecosystem and levers it to create value for its customers, partners, community and themselves. The company was founded by two local engineers, Sharon and Tom Lewinson. RideShark has developed the most advanced ridesharing and ridematching software system on the market today. Rideshark sells a low-cost, fully hosted service that allows users in a geography or an enterprise to find carpool partners and cycling buddies, track and monitor travel-related emissions, manage priority carpool parking, and operate sustainable transportation incentive programs. RideShark has already secured an impressive list of global clients. Small and large organizations around the world are engaging RideShark to deliver their customized, dedicated ridesharing solutions. How does RideShark capitalize on its ecosystems? To add value to its customers and itself, RideShark uses various ecosystems working to improve the health of the planet anchored around the Microsoft Gold Certified Partnership Program, environmental initiatives, and the Lead to Win ecosystem. The company founders have positioned RideShark as a player in a ridematching solutions niche that collaborates with thousands of other companies, hundreds of governments, and millions of individuals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, many of its competitors perceive themselves as simply suppliers of software and services to people who want to carpool. Indeed, small technology companies that can shape their ecosystems to favour them perform better than those that don't. Founders who don't understand their company's ecosystem operate at a significant disadvantage. Typically, they don't realize this until it's too late. These founders select small and obscure niches, work to solve the wrong problems, develop products with no customer in mind, are unable to grow revenue, cost too much and take too long to launch products and services, and can't tell whether another company is a competitor or a complementor. How you perceive your business is an important mental construct, because it drives what you do. RideShark, for instance, is sought out by eco-organizations around the world. This increases the number and diversity of the company's customer base, and reduces RideShark's marketing costs. Individuals who are concerned about the planet champion the adoption of RideShark in their organizations. This increases Ride Shark's sales and reduces selling costs. The time required to develop a new feature or customize an existing one is also a very important and fundamental value provided by the company – as such, RideShark engages companies in the various ecosystems with a similar environmental worldview to develop new concepts, speed customization, and accelerate new feature development. As a result, code development never stops and new features are added continually, so the product maintains its technological lead in the market. Feature innovation is a differentiator for which RideShark's customers are willing to pay. RideShark customers are also attracted to the technology's security and privacy – RideShark levers the ecosystem anchored around the Microsoft Gold Certified Partnership Program and forthcoming ISO27002 certification, to deliver their clients privacy and security. RideShark also takes advantage of the local Lead to Win ecosystem. Seasoned executives who are part of Lead to Win review boards or its sales program meet with the founders periodically, to help move them along and provide advice to solve their toughest problems or help them find ways to be more productive at trade shows.
