失敗新解

????Better Place申請破產之后，有人問我有關Better Place商業模式的觀點是否錯誤。許多人認為，電池更換注定要失敗。但我不敢茍同。Better Place失敗了，并不意味著他們率先發起的商業模式創新也失敗了。Better Place試圖跳過行業轉型的中間階段，從大處著眼，從小處做起，迅速擴大規模。他們其實需要一個更小的地方，先證明整個系統的可行性，然后再進行迅速擴張。即使以色列（8,000平方英里）和丹麥（17,000平方英里）對這家公司而言也太過龐大，難以迅速證明他們設想的電池更換模式的網絡效應。Better Place成立之初，我曾與夏嘉曦進行過郵件交流，當時我曾建議他們在羅德島證明這個模式的可行性。羅德島的面積僅有一千平方英里，人口僅有一百萬人。夏嘉曦的回復是，羅德島在他們最初考慮的名單當中，但私人投資者豪擲8億美元之后，Better Place選擇了更大的市場。結果，他們花光所有的錢和時間，最終未能成功證明這個模式的可行性。

????但我依然認為，未來的試驗肯定能證明Better Place 的商業模式是可行的。相信我的話。埃隆?穆斯克剛剛宣布，特斯拉（Tesla）將啟動電池更換模式。特斯拉將測試充電站，S車型的車主可以在90秒內更換電池，價格僅為50至60美元，不論是時間還是成本均遠遠低于加滿一箱油的價格。大膽的商業模式不會死去；他們會得到重生。如果我們想知道最佳做法之后的下一種做法，就得嘗試更多東西。其實，那些未能成功的努力帶給我們的啟發，要遠遠多于成功的嘗試。所以，對于那些勇于嘗試、但未能一蹴而就的人，不要落井下石，更不要因為他們公開分享范式轉移的觀點而對他們大加批評。我們應該感謝他們推動我們不斷進步，感謝他們為我們提供了再次嘗試所需要的寶貴經驗。下一次一定會更好。讓我們重新定義失敗，把它看作一種有意識的重復。（財富中文網）

????本文改編自《商業模式創新夢工廠》，該書的作者是索爾?卡普蘭。卡普蘭為羅德島州普羅維登斯市商業模式創新工廠的創始人兼首席催化師，并定期在It's Saul Connected上發布博客。

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????After the Better Place bankruptcy announcement I've been asked if I was wrong about Better Place's business model. Many suggest that battery swapping is doomed to failure. I don't think so. Just because Better Place didn't work doesn't mean that the business model innovation they pioneered won't. Better Place tried to skip the middle phase of the transformation mantra, think big, start small, and scale fast. They needed a smaller place to prove out the entire system before scaling fast. Even Israel (8,000 square miles) and Denmark (17,000 square miles) were too big to quickly demonstrate the network effect of their proposed battery-swapping model. I exchanged emails with Agassi when Better Place was getting started suggesting that they prove out the model in Rhode Island, only a thousand square miles with a population of a million people! Agassi responded that Rhode Island had been on their early consideration list, but with private investors throwing $800 million at them, Better Place chose larger markets. They ran out of money and time to prove out the model.

????I still think the Better Place business model is possible with further experimentation. Don't take my word for it. Elon Musk just announced that Tesla (TSLA) is launching a battery-swapping model. Tesla is going to test stations where Model-S owners can swap batteries in 90 seconds for $50-60, less time and money than filling up a tank of gas. Bold business models don't die; they just get reinvented. If we want to go from best practice to next practice we have to try more stuff. We learn more from efforts that don't work than from those that do. So instead of piling on those that try to do bold things without initial success or criticizing those that share their paradigm shifting ideas publicly, we should thank them for pushing us forward and providing the knowledge to try again, only better the next time. Let's reframe failure as intentional iteration.

????This piece is adapted from The Business Model Innovation Factory. Saul Kaplan is the author of The Business Model Innovation Factory. He is the founder and chief catalyst of the Business Innovation Factory (BIF) in Providence, R.I., and blogs regularly at It's Saul Connected.