Shrimp on smartphones? eFishery: Agile innovation in Indonesian aquaculture (B)

• Main Authors: SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D., WONG, Adina
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Commercialization; Entrepreneurship; Aquaculture; Product development; Agile enterprise; Fund raising; Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/247; https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-18-Batch [PDF-Pic]/SMU-18-0010 [eFishery]/SMU-18-0010B [eFishery B].pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Part A. In November 2016, Gibran Huzaifah, CEO of Indonesian firm eFishery that sells automated fish feeders for fish farmers, ponders a strategic pivot in the business–from hardware to data services. While his engineers struggle to develop a fish activity sensor to improve efficiencies and drive sales, Gibran ponders the option to develop new products to help farmers predict harvest levels (Fishbiz), signal quality to lenders (FishFax), and deploy platforms for inputs (Marketplace) and outputs (eCosystem). In addition, he is also considering whether it may be smarter to develop autofeeders for shrimp farmers, a market that is more geographically dispersed but with higher purchasing power. Part A ends by asking which direction Gibran should take for 2017. Part B. It is February 2018, and eFishery has moved into making automated shrimp feeders. Gibran seeks a roadmap to land investment funding and sees two paths to pivot into a viable platform business: 1) The “High Road of Quality Hardware” seeks a strong foundation for Marketplace and appeals to the engineering team. The CEO worries the High Road may increase unit costs, swell a bloated balance sheet, slow sales, and reinforce the firm’s self-identity as a slow-scaling hardware company. It means redoubling work on the fish sensor, working with an outside firm to build a water quality sensor, and developing a P2P protocol and new data station to help the feeders talk to each other and send data to the cloud. 2) The “Low Road of Bootstrapped Disruption” seeks to get FishBiz and FishFax to market. Some sales staff share Gibran’s vision, but most employees are used to hardware. Data capabilities remain weak and only major reallocations of scarce resources will make the new products strong enough to drive adoption. Students will develop a better understanding of the complexities of managing a start-up through its first major business hurdles. The case explores an entrepreneur’s challenges in recognising emerging opportunities that differ from the initial option set. Class discussion will explore the trade-offs required to transform a low-scaling, high touch business model into a low touch, highly scalable alternative. Concepts on scaling and agile strategy are highlighted. This case is designed for use by both undergraduate and postgraduate students.