Despite arduous debates, Golden State’s Stephen Curry is more than likely going to trump James Harden and become the 2015 NBA MVP. Stephen Curry is a sharpshooter with range and ridiculous handles; evidenced by his making 77 three-pointers in a row, and getting Clippers Chris Paul to fall twice with his controlled but creative dribbling. Budding entrepreneurs developing a product or service can learn how to gain traction by studying Curry’s rise to stardom.
Curry’s wowing abilities has led to his becoming a NBA phenomenon. Curry has joined the likes of NFL Rookie of the Year Odell Beckham Jr., who also wowed sports fans and brought down Twitter with his amazing one-handed catch. Curry’s shooting ability and ridiculous handles combine to form a wow-factor that exceeds NBA customers’ expectations and drives customer satisfaction. As a result, he secured endorsements from State Farm and Under Armour, increased ticket and jersey sales, developed a significant brand that led to more media coverage, and, ultimately, generated revenue for the NBA. What is more, he has already helped his sponsor Under Armour grow their customer base. Clearly, a developed wow-factor can lead to increased sales, traction and brand awareness.
Similarly, startups are more likely to gain traction when a wow-factor exists because customers like their expectations exceeded; think of Zappos’ amazing customer service or Tesla’s electric cars. Google created an augmented reality by developing Google Glass; the company also developed flying Drones, and recently launched Project Fi, which could be the blueprint for faster mobile online access and cheaper phone bills. Ministry of Supply is a Forbes 30 Under 30 winning start-up that created a high-tech men’s dress shirt that is odorless. NeverWet is a hydrophobic coating that completely repels water and heavy oils on any object. Let us just say waterproof has nothing on NeverWet. The League created an app that allows customers to find an elite Ivy-league lover online, instead of in a Starbucks. Harvard Bioscience founded a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology (HART). This company has developed life-saving bionic organs that are unaffected by the normal human aging processes, which may enable us to live longer.
Stephen Curry, like Google and Harvard, provide great examples on the significance of a wow-factor for budding entrepreneurs. As evidenced, a wow-factor enables a start-up to gain momentum and traction. When a customer or investor is wowed by an experience, their expectations are exceed, which increases customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth and viral marketing. Ultimately, a wow-factor helps to craft a brand and becomes a tool for differentiation. It takes a lot skill building and learning to create something that wows potential customers. So — budding entrepreneurs: work your ass off to acquire the skills you will need to develop innovations that will wow customers, and you too will be like Stephen Curry with the shot to achieve glory.
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