Next Generation Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid

Chapter 4. Needs, Needs Everywhere, But Not a BoP Market to Tap

by Erik Simanis, Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, Johnson School of Management, Cornell University

Market creation, argues author Erik Simanis, is fundamentally different from market entry. And although the BoP is a “basket of compelling needs,” it is not yet a “market” in the traditional sense of that term. As a result, entrepreneurs in the BoP context have to think in terms of market creation—and understand how to achieve that end in a uniquely challenging context. The wise venturer in the BoP space, Simanis writes, learns how to frame the value proposition and manage the innovation process (through seeding, base-building, and growth and consolidation) in ways that align ...