Innovation @ scale
APIs as Digital
Factories' New
Machines?

10 years ago?
*as of 31 May 2019.
Talent Company
Tech
company
Other
MicrosoftAmazonApple
Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are
the three first companies to reach a
trillion dollars valuation, all from the
Tech sector.
Years before
trillion
since IPO
38
Years before
trillion
since IPO
21
Years before
trillion
since IPO
33
7 out of the 10 biggest market
caps worldwide
are tech companies.
GAFAM have the 5 biggest
market caps, representing
around $4Tn cumulated.
Only 2 of the 10 biggest market caps worldwide
were tech companies (Microsoft and Google).
Nowadays, Tech companies capture most of the market value
Internet Penetration, 2018
While more than half of Humanity
(& rising) is online.
51% of the population represents 3.8B
people.

Tech companies took the advantage on traditional companies
After digital revolution comes the customer value era.
200s
Performance
grading of royal
family members
(China)
1800s
Daily performance of
employees (Scotland
manufactures)
1200s
First follow-up of
margins (Venice
merchants)
1930s
ROI & apparition of the
first dashboards
(France)
1990s
The Balanced Scorecard
evaluates financial & non-
financial performance
(US)
1910s
Taylorism introduces
the calculation of time
per movement (US
workers)
2015s
Digital revolution brings
out new customer-centric
players questioning
traditional KPIs
2018-2019
Amazon, the “customer
company”, is valued $1 trn
Customer approach
expands to take into
account all stakeholders
1970s
EBITDA is
introduced to
highlight cash flow
capacities (US)
2000s
Introduction of
ARPU
(Telecoms)
Productivity era
Stakeholder era
Finance era Customer era

“Brand”
is at the
core of their
business.
Through
storytelling,
community and
user-centricity
2.4M
followers on
Instagram
__
Channel slack with
top 100 customers
for co-construction
__
“70% of online
sales & traffic come
from peer-to
-peer referrals”
Emilie Weiss,
CEO & founder
Source: Recode Decode (Jan 2019), interview of Glossier CEO Emily Weiss

Digitally Native
A cosmetics tech company
Tech staff
40% of Glossier staff are tech profiles
Own tech solutions
Warby Parker’s proprietary algorithm to perfectly place
virtual frames on the user’s face
Data at the core of operations
Casper tracks user data at each touch-point and
constantly runs A/B testing to test new ideas and
solutions
Glossier competitive advantage :
• Shade Selector & Try it on : Tool that detect skin tone and
suggest products from a photo
• Point of Sale System (POS) : Online and offline data
synchronization

2 days ,
Vertical integration economic
advantage
A single line of products
Something as simple as flowers
Control over the supply chain
Traditional market:
4 to 5 intermediaries taking
10% to 20% fees each
Producer Consumer
7 days
,
Producer Consumer
Source: Bergamotte’s podcast & interview

Becoming a software company works...
Nike, from shoe ware to software
In 2006, to expand their shoe
ecosystem and become part of their
customer’s journey, Nike entered the
digital gadget realm by introducing a
small sole-insertable chip.
In 2012, Nike created the Fuelband
that users wore on their wrists and
worked in parallel with Apple’s iPhone.
Today, having built an in-house
digital team, Nike has launched a
myriad of Nike+ mobile application
platforms that collects users’ real-
time data while integrating
themselves into users’ fitness lives.
Nike recognized that Apple hardware
was more sophisticated and the
adoption rates of mobile phones were
higher than fitness wearables, so 2014
was the end of the Fuelband. Leaving
the hardware to Apple and developing
its own software, Nike’s mobile app
platform, Nike+, came out as the
winner.
… but you won’t get a differentiated competitive
advantage by installing an ERP better.

No more product centric, think customer centric
Looking at the new economy with different “glasses”.
Traditional Economy
Industrial economy, centered on products
Revenue = Unit price x number of products
New Economy
Usage economy, centered on customers
Revenue = Revenue per customer x number of customers
Vs
From markets...
Marketing mix (4P)
Competition on one offer
Market share
From a chain...
Added value
Value chain
Assets owner
Number of suppliers
From core business...
5-year plan
Growth & margin
Business portfolio
…to customers’ needs
User experience (4C)
Competition on one particular need
Usage share / Share of wallet
...to an ecosystem of partners
Circular value
Closed loop of value
Network orchestrator
Length of network & diversity of connections
...to mission statement
30-year vision, 6-month action plan
Customer Lifetime Value
Experience platform

Every company will need
their own “Software
Factory”,
to scale innovation

Into the rabbit hole

Disclaimer : a important number of initiatives are hybrids (depending on the companies and their needs).
Share of CAC 40
having a specific initiative
Digital
Factory/Lab
Corporate
venture
Accelerator Incubator Startup
studio
0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
“Initiatives Matrix” are already well deployed in France

Infra: IT, CAPEX
Executive Committee
BU
1
BU
2
BU
3
…. BU
n
1990s to 2000’s promised land.
The mainframe and the laptop
Any standard corporation
Revenue: 1bn€
EBIT: 100m€
FTE: 10 000
Market
Distribution or consumer

2000s to 2017 promised land.
A web site, communities, ecommerce and smartphone gadgets
Any standard corporation
Revenue: 1bn€
EBIT: 100m€
FTE: 10 000
High enthusiasm but limited
impact
1 Ten’s of FTE concerned.
2 Many initiatives everywhere
(POC, MVP).
3 Very little impact on business:
0,1% at best.
BU
1
BU
2
BU
3
BU
n
Infra: IT, Gestion, Moyen generaux,
Executive Committee
Digital Lab, Studio ...
CDO
….
Market
Distribution or consumer

The next optimal.
Innovation @scale and software Factories
BU
1
BU
2
BU
3
…. BU
n
BU n+1
xx xx
xx xx
Any standard corporation
Revenue: 1bn€ + 10%
EBIT: 100m€ + 5%
FTE: 10 000 digital fluent
Need for global impact
1 All of FTEs must acculturate
to digital.
2 Initiatives must be distributed
to all customers.
3 Software must be self-edited.
4 Shareholders must be engaged
and finance the transition.
Consumer
Distribution or Direct to consumer
Executive Committee together
SOFTWARE
Shareholders

Software is shifting
away from being
a department
to becoming
a competitive
advantage,
making it a lever
to drive growth
in your market

USE CASE
Sephora helps sales assistants make personalized
recommendations to clients based on purchase
history and preferences.
Sales assistants can access the global omnichannel
CRM anytime anywhere on their tablets. They can
consult the products already purchased by the
consumer (in store and on the internet).
An automatic recommandation service then
advises them on the proposal to make to the client.
The sales assistant is also responsible for helping the
consumer in their discovery of technical devices in
the store such as connected terminals where the
consumer can buy all products from the brand
catalog and have them delivered.
Sephora boosting CRM to offer
an omnichannel experience

Speaking about building a customer-centric strategy,
Getting started ?

What are the big challenges?
Give software access to
legacy systems (IT)
where the business runs
Make innovation for all
customers, all distributions,
all employees
Make sure the first items
leaving the tech factory
are competitive advantages
(for all customers, all
distributions, all employees)
Harmonize cultures through
common languages and rituals
(market, technique, logistics, R&D...)
Define
and promote data
through operational
and measured cases
Use digital to redefine
and become the industry
standard on your difference
1
2
3
4
5
6

A tale of two companies…
Company A
Is a leading French
department store,
part of an RB-scale
group
Company B
Is a French clearance
store chain

A company-centric viewpoint breeds in differentiation
Company A
Buying
Sorting
Advertising
...
Company B
Buying
Sorting
Advertising
Selling
...
If their businesses are identical, why would their IT
stacks differ?

1. CURATION
2. HOSPITALITY
3. EVENTS
Focusing on a differentiated core through customer taxonomy
1. IN-STORE GAMIFICATION
2. LOYALTY
3. REAL-TIME
Company A Company B
Our clients are inspired by finding the
best products according to their current
needs, but also through exclusive
experiences.
Fun, smart shopping thanks to recurring
deliveries from top brands, at incredible
prices.
If they focus on their core value propositions, then their
IT stacks need to be custom-made

I buy products
in store or online
I watch videos
tutorials
I search for brands
and products
I plan on buying
stuff
I try new toysI select
products
I replenish on my
favorite products
I try
new ones
I share my experience
with others
Adapt to the new experience standards on each customer touchpoint
1
2
3
4
5 6
7
8
9
New ways to catch the attention
of potential customers
New ways to connect with
your customers
New ways to engage your customers
and create lasting relationships with them
After the purchaseDuring the purchaseBefore the purchase

Then find YOUR magic
Brooklyn-based Prose, which launched in January
2018, is a direct-to-consumer shampoo brand that
allows consumers to create personalized hair care
products by completing a brief quiz. It is designed
to give the company’s Artificial Intelligence an
understanding of each consumer’s unique hair
needs, from age, hair type, and hair length to
specifics such as physical activity level,
environmental factors, diet, sensitivities, and
fragrance preference.
A custom formula is then created based on these
answers, and packaged in a bottle decorated with a
label that has your name on it. While it uses
technology to formulate the product, Prose was
inspired by a very old concept: the apothecary. “All
beauty products used to be personalized,” said Prose
co-founder and CEO Arnaud Plas in a statement.
“We wanted to find a way to modernize this
process.”
Prose using machine learning for
customization

Key challenges
● Architectures
● Microservices
Refactorings
● Legacy Upgrades
● Corporate Design
systems
● Methodologies
and glossaries
Organization & Alignment only solution ? An API platform of course
(this slide forged @APIdays 2012)

Internal software vendor model
New software entity that will provide and contract its
platform of services to the legacy company.
Your
business
Your
business
software
editor
Warning !!
Strong governance
needed

In a nutshell

Don’t use technologies (and apis)
to create new digital business.
Build your software to upgrade
YOUR business competitive edge
for all customers, all employees,
all brands, all channels…

Innovation @ scale
Thank you
cyril.vart@fabernovel.com