Summer School 2: Competition and the cheaper sneaker

Planet Money

NPR

Business, News

4.6 • 29.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 July 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For episode 2 of Planet Money Summer School, we are talking strategy. You have your million dollar business idea, and maybe some money in your pocket to get it up and running. But now you enter into a crowded market. You have to deal with competition.

So, what can you do to make sure your product is a success? That was the conundrum facing the Starbury. It was a basketball shoe with a celebrity endorsement, that had to go up against THE basketball shoe with THE celebrity endorsement: the Air Jordan. Our first story is about the ways in which the Starbury succeeded and failed in taking on a juggernaut.

Then, we will hear a story about trying to avoid the dangers of "perfect" competition. Two companies making almost identical handbells learn that the key to their success lies in convincing customers how different they really are.

Find all episodes of Planet Money Summer School here.

The series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Max Freedman. Our project manager is Julia Carney. This episode was edited by Keith Romer and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. The show is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Planet Money, from NPR.
0:04.6	Welcome back to Planet Money Summer School, MBA edition.
0:16.7	No uncomfortable suits, no boring power points, just the secrets of business school delivered
0:21.8	straight to your brain.
0:23.8	I'm Robert Smith and this is lesson number two, competition and the chief or sneaker.
0:29.7	Every Wednesday till Labor Day we are meeting here in your ears to learn the way that business
0:34.3	masterminds think, just in case you want to be one or out smart one.
0:39.5	Plus in every episode we play two great Planet Money stories and talk to a brilliant professor.
0:45.0	Last week we walked you through how small ideas become successful businesses, but there's
0:49.6	often one thing standing in the way of success, the competition.
0:54.8	You are not the only one selling a better mouse trap.
0:58.6	How do you navigate a world where everyone is trying to be smarter and faster than you?
1:03.8	Look, I just teach journalism at Columbia, so I'm going to need someone with a little
1:08.9	more of the competitive spirit to help us out with this question.
1:13.8	And I found just the person, Dan Wong from Columbia Business School.
1:18.4	Hey Dan.
1:19.4	Hi.
1:20.4	Great to be here.
1:21.4	You are a professor of strategy.
1:23.5	I love to say it that way, strategy.
1:25.3	That's also how I say it too.
1:27.0	As a professional.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.