In order for any business to develop and sell a technology based product there are three main (obviously there are others) factors to consider and balance.

Business, Technology and People

I consider myself fortunate to having come from a technology background and over time gained exposure and knowledge of the business and people aspects. It has allowed me to be pragmatic and informed when it comes to planning, developing and delivering desirable products to our customers while maintaining our business edge.

Personally, this is where I like to reside and operate. In the sweet spot where Business, Technology and People come together and need to work in unison to succeed.

To briefly clarify what I mean by Business, Technology and People

Business

• The commercial viability of the product or service
• The value you are proving better than your competitors
• The business processes
• The day-to-day operations
• The business goals and strategy
• The legal & compliance requirements
• The people and their roles in the business

Technology

• The technical feasibility of a product or service
• The design, development and delivery of a product or service
• The metrics that need to be monitored
• Collating data which can be analysed for further opportunities
• Product experimentation
• Implementing innovative solutions to problems

People

• Understanding & listening to customers, their drives, desires and pains
• Solving customers problems
• Delivering value to customers
• Measuring customer engagement

However, from experience, if a balance between Business, Technology and People isn't achieved or maintained it will manifest itself pretty quickly in one of the following ways.

Business + Technology - People

• You will be developing a product or service without knowing your customers
• You will not be delivering what the customer wants
• You will waste time, money and effort

Business + People - Technology

• You wont be able to develop a product or service that meets a customers need
• Without a product or service, there is no business viability

People + Technology - Business

• You will be developing something that meets your customers needs but may not be commercially viable

My passion (Innovation & improvement)

I stated previously that I like to operate in the sweet spot where Business, Technology and People overlap. 

More accurately, I like to work on applying innovation across / improving all these areas.

• What innovations can be used to improve our business competitiveness or processes?
• What technological innovations can we use to develop an even better product or service?
• What innovations will people like in our product or services that will deliver value?

That is what makes me happy. To work in a successfully commercial business with a well researched & iteratively measured and honed remarkable product that meets identified customers needs, carefully designed and developed by a strong engineering team that is constantly looking to the horizon for new opportunities and innovations to take advantage of to continually grow the business.

Summary

• Businesses must be pragmatic when juggling the various aspects of Business, Technology and People
• Decisions & actions should not be made without considerations of all three factors
• Try to gain experience & appreciation for as many aspects of People, Business & Technology that you can