582: McKinsey's Venkat Atluri, How to thrive in the ecosystem economy (Strategy Skills classics)

582: McKinsey's Venkat Atluri, How to thrive in the ecosystem economy (Strategy Skills classics)

Venkat Atluri, McKinsey senior partner and coauthor of The Ecosystem Economy: How to Lead in the New Age of Sectors Without Borders, explains how value creation is shifting from stand-alone enterprises to coordinated networks of collaborators. Drawing on two decades advising leaders in technology, media, and telecom, he outlines what makes ecosystem businesses distinct from traditional conglomerates—and the governance required to make them work at scale.

Atluri emphasizes that ecosystems aren't about diversification for its own sake, but about following a customer-led thread:

"Start with the customer and then follow the thread—what other problems does that customer have that you can solve together with partners?"

Key Insights from the Conversation
  • Beyond Suppliers: Many firms mistake a supplier list or procurement process for an ecosystem. Atluri is clear:
    "A supplier list is not an ecosystem. An ecosystem is about mutual value creation and sharing in the upside."


  • Role Clarity Matters: Some firms will anchor the platform, continuously raising the bar for developers and users. Others will participate as contributors, protecting privacy, quality, and customer experience. Scale only comes when "responsibilities, incentives, and accountability" are explicit.

  • Discipline in Operating Models: He advises executives to integrate ecosystem thinking into strategy, but then run deeper, dedicated workstreams to define roles, economics, and governance.

  • Competition Is Ecosystem vs. Ecosystem: Scenario planning must account for new types of disruptors and ask, "What would an ecosystem leader do here?" Over time, Atluri expects the economy to consolidate into a few macro-ecosystems with multiple micro-ecosystems nested beneath them.

  • History as a Control: Symbian and BlackBerry illustrate that large user bases are not moats.

    "Unless you keep raising the bar on your proposition, you lose."

  • Customer Experience Sets the Standard: Consumer expectations now apply in B2B as well:

    "If something doesn't work out of the box, that tells you the company is focused on itself, not the customer."

🎯 Practical Takeaways for Senior Leaders
  • Map a customer segment's biggest problems and use that to prioritize expansion.

  • Deliberately choose whether to anchor a platform or participate in one—and align capital and talent accordingly.

  • Replace vendor transactions with value-sharing constructs that reward partners for enlarging the pie.

  • Establish governance, metrics, and cultural norms that enable collaboration at scale.

  • Continuously improve the platform to keep developers, customers, and partners engaged.

Atluri's message is simple but powerful:

"Ecosystems win when they deliver ever-rising value to customers and fair economics to contributors."

Companies that treat ecosystems as procurement exercises will stall. Those that treat them as strategic systems will build compounding advantages over time.

📚 Get Venkat's book, The Ecosystem Economy, here: https://shorturl.at/XawOb

Here are some free gifts for you:

Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach

McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf

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327: Promoting women into senior roles (Strategy Skills classics)

327: Promoting women into senior roles (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic from week 4 of the Corporate Strategy & Transformation study. Promoting women into leadership roles is a hot topic and, sadly, a debate. Why is it a debate? What are the elements that require further analysis? To paraphrase Marvin Bower, one does not ask a client if a woman should take over the relationship, one simply tells a client a woman is taking over. It is not the client's job to decide what is right. In this podcast, we explain why we have more female than male partners at FC and how we constantly develop them to serve in more and more senior roles. Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study. Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

8 Mars 202316min

326: How too much debt impacts cost of capital (Strategy Skills classics)

326: How too much debt impacts cost of capital (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we discuss how your cost of capital changes as you take on more debt and how this change is different between organizations. It's a crucial concept for this utility. We explain how the cost of capital change usually takes place and then we review the drivers at play that are different for this power utility vs. an average company. Click here to see the full study and here to see the merger study and market entry study. Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube: When too much debt is a good thing Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

6 Mars 202320min

325: What is the role of government (Strategy Skills classics)

325: What is the role of government (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we use economics to explain what is the role of government, when governments should intervene, how they should intervene, and when they should hand over certain activities to the private sector. If you want to further your understanding of strategy at the highest possible level you should listen to this. Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

1 Mars 202318min

324: John U. Bacon, Developing a team of leaders (Strategy Skills classics)

324: John U. Bacon, Developing a team of leaders (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team. This book is a true story filled with unforgettable characters, stories, and lessons that apply to organizations everywhere. It includes the leader's mistakes and the reactions of the players, who have since achieved great success as leaders themselves. Let Them Lead is a fast-paced, feel-good book that leaders of all kinds can embrace to motivate their teams to work harder, work together, and take responsibility for their own success. John U. Bacon has written twelve books on sports, business, health, and history, and the last seven are all National Bestsellers. Bacon's radio essays earned him NPR's PRNDI Award for best commentary in 2014. He appears often on national TV, gives speeches across North and South America, and teaches at the University of Michigan, where he won the 2009 Golden Apple Award for "exceptional teaching." In 2006, he was inducted into the Ann Arbor Huron High School Hall of Fame for turning around the hockey team. Bacon is a decent hockey player, a mediocre Spanish speaker, and a poor piano player, but that has not prevented him from enjoying all three. Get John's book here: LET THEM LEAD: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America's Worst High School Hockey Team. John U. Bacon. https://www.amazon.com/Let-Them-Lead-Unexpected-Leadership-ebook/dp/B08NWWG72Y?ref_=ast_author_dp Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

27 Feb 20231h 7min

323: Ben Pring, How should we regulate tech? (Strategy Skills classics)

323: Ben Pring, How should we regulate tech? (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the coauthor of Monster: A Tough Love Letter on Taming the Machines that Rule our Jobs, Lives, and Future, Ben Pring. Who is responsible for regulating and overseeing technology and online platforms? Is it the government? The ITs and developers? Or maybe…the users? In this episode, we deliberated the significance of technology in human lives and the negative consequences brought by irresponsible and abusive use of technology. Ben Pring is a widely acknowledged IT futurist and thought leader with a storied track record working with the biggest and fastest-growing IT vendors and with the most demanding and sophisticated IT buyers. Get Ben's book here: Monster: A Tough Love Letter On Taming the Machines that Rule our Jobs, Lives, and Future. Ben Pring and Paul Roehrig. https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Letter-Taming-Machines-Future/dp/111978591X Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

22 Feb 20231h 7min

322: Luke Burgis, What fuels our desires? (Strategy Skills classics)

322: Luke Burgis, What fuels our desires? (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. Why do we want what we want? This topic is rarely presented in conversations, business meetings, or political agendas, but it has a comprehensive impact on our lives and shapes our societies. This episode explores the psychology behind human desires, role modeling, competition, and the awareness of intentional wanting. Luke Burgis has founded and led multiple companies. He's currently entrepreneur-in-residence and director of programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's also the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He graduated from NYU Stern School of Business and later from a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Claire. Get Luke's book here: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. https://www.amazon.com/Wanting-Power-Mimetic-Desire-Everyday/dp/1250262488 Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

20 Feb 202353min

321: Jenn Lim, Go beyond happiness (Strategy Skills classics)

321: Jenn Lim, Go beyond happiness (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering Happiness, also known as DH. In this episode, Jenn speaks about her journey of discovering and understanding the meaning of happiness and purpose. What is the source of genuine happiness and how does it impact your work and career? Delivering Happiness, also known as DH is a company that Jenn Lim and Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos.com, cofounded to create happier company cultures for a more profitable and sustainable approach to business. DH started as a book and evolved into a business consultancy and global movement that has impacted and inspired over 400 companies around the world. Jenn's mission is something both simple and profound: to teach businesses how to cultivate cultures that generate profit, sustain all people at every level of the organization with humanity, and share how we can make an impact by being true to our authentic selves. In 2017, Jenn was selected to be on the Global Happiness Council of Work and Wellbeing with the charter to scale the impact she's made in even more sustainable ways. In 2020, DH was on Inc. 5000's list of fastest-growing companies. Get Jen's book here: Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact. Jenn Lim. https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Happiness-Authentic-Leaders-Prioritize-ebook/dp/B08RYQ83MQ Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

15 Feb 20231h 3min

320: Harvard's Frank Cespedes, Managing sales in a world of constant change (Strategy Skills classics)

320: Harvard's Frank Cespedes, Managing sales in a world of constant change (Strategy Skills classics)

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing by Frank Cespedes. How do you manage sales in a world that never stops changing? In this episode, Frank shares valuable insights to equip sales professionals and business leaders in managing sales within their organization and how to better improve and develop themselves while managing constant change. Frank Cespedes is a sales expert and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He runs a business, has served on the boards of corporations and start-ups, and has consulted to companies around the world. He is the author of articles in Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Organization Science, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications as well as 6 books, including Aligning Strategy and Sales, which was cited as "the best sales book of the year" (Strategy+Business), "a must read" (Gartner), and "perhaps the best sales book ever" (Forbes). Get Frank's book here: Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World that Never Stops Changing. Frank Cespedes. https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Management-That-Works-Changing/dp/1633698769 Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

13 Feb 202350min

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