beyond green - opportunity analysis project

Opportunity Analysis Project

Beyond Green

© Beyond Green 2012

Stanford Venture-Labs

Where we started

•Common interest among group members was building a hub for sharing information related to sustainability

•“Beyond Green” refers to the goal of moving beyond green “awareness” initiatives and providing tangible results related to innovation

•Beyond Green team consists of members from horticulture, architecture, mechanical engineering, IT, graphics design, and other business backgrounds

Team FormationTeam Formation



Initial ResearchInitial Research

Social NetworkingLinkedInFacebookIdentified.com

Auctioning and CrowdsoucingEbay.comShapeways.comkickstarter.comquirky.com 99designs.comFold.it/

InnovationSpringerlink.comElsvier.comGlassdoor.comInnocentive.com

Value Proposition #1Value Proposition #1


“Online networking community where Innovators, Inventors, Pro-environmental actionists and end users work together for Sustainable Development.”

What is it?• A web page for networking: Each user has a page that presents the user profile similar a resume. • Market Place - Inventors can post their ideas and price them• Knowledge Database with “end user” subscription• Profit would come from end-user subscription

Survey Test of Value Proposition Survey Test of Value Proposition


Questions:• Do our target customers have the need of the solution we are proposing?• If yes, what are their main needs? If not, what area would call more to their

attention?• How much is the target customer willing to pay for data and our services?• How many hours would customers be interested in spending trying to

develop teams or find mentors + investors within our network?• What kind of website would they like to see connected to our website?

Linkedin, innocentive, kickstarter, etc?

Survey ResultsSurvey Results


Do our target customers have the need of the solution we are proposing?There is a data paucity issue in the renewable space, but a lot of the data is siloed in various spheres and between public research at energy companies, power companies and research labs across universities and national labs

If yes, what are their main needs? If not, what area would call more their attention?The broader issue is lack of non-academic alignment / interest in sharing of data (Changing in recent past)

How much is the target customer willing to pay for data and our services?This is harder to gauge, he was not sure, but said - we had to have a value add beyond access in some way to justify it

What kind of website would they like to see connected to our website? Linkedin, Innocentive, Kickstarter, etc?Survey takers didn't quite get what we are trying to do. We combine a lot of aspects of our favorite sites; most loved the data centralizing aspect

Key Findings and RecommendationsKey Findings and Recommendations


1. Make business concept more data driven

There is an absolutely a paucity of data in the renewable energy space, and this concept could represent a real opportunity to provide a service of value

2. Understand data licensing business model

Study companies such as Salesforce.com, Equifax, Moodys, Dun&Bradstreet, and Forrester.

3. Find market niche that is not already “crowded”

4. Standardize data collection in order to automate processes

Value Proposition #1.5

“Bring customized data from aggregate renewable energy sources to market”


Concept ViabilityConcept Viability


New concept is viable.

From executive at Nielsen Company:

“Through a combination of:

1. Having companies provide data in order to access data2. Creating a revenue sharing model for companies that do provide data3. Emphasizing the loss that companies face when neglecting to share

data

an exchange or COOP can be formed that can be of benefit to the industry as a whole. Companies in the industry like to participate because it provides a market basket for that information. They know that by providing such information, your report will accurately represent the market.”

Next StepsNext Steps


beyond green - opportunity analysis project

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