Digital Darwinism: Seven Breakthrough Business Strategies For Surviving in the Cutthroat Web Economy: Seven Breakthrough Strategies for Surviving in ... Web Economy (Penguin Business Library) - Softcover

Schwartz, Evan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140286845 ISBN 13: 9780140286847

Publisher: Penguin, 1999

Synopsis

Evan Schwartz examines the Web's greatest success stories such as Yahoo!, Dell Computer and AOL and reveals the best strategies for surviving and thriving in the rapidly evolving world of e-commerce. The Web has transformed every aspect of business life by providing countless new ways of linking buyers and sellers, and instant access to millions of homes and companies around the world. From branding to pricing to target marketing, Schwartz draws out the vital lessons for all aspiring entrepreneurs.

About this title

Review

Over the last few years, the big bang of the World Wide Web has shaken the realm of commerce. Today on the Internet, you can get everything from phone numbers and dancing babies to golf clubs and custom-built computers. Some of these Web sites are businesses that found their genesis in the advent of the Web itself, while others are longstanding companies trying to adapt to the reality of this new digital marketplace. Who will survive and who will be rendered extinct? That's what Evan I. Schwartz tries to answer by dipping into the Internet's "primordial soup" to discover the characteristics of the winners that will eventually emerge.

In Digital Darwinism, Schwartz identifies seven strategies that will separate the winners from the losers. These include building a brand that stands for solving something, elastic pricing, affiliate partnerships, and integrating digital commerce with every aspect of business. Schwartz buttresses his arguments with analysis of dozens of companies already competing on the Internet, including Yahoo!, Peapod, Priceline, E*Trade, Dell Computer, and Recreational Equipment, Inc. Schwartz views these early years of the Web as largely "irrational," but anticipates a general rationalization. He writes, "As each successive generation of Web commerce passes, there will be more rational companies and fewer irrational ones, more fit business models and fewer unfit ones. In the future, there may be no such thing as an Internet company. The Internet is becoming so important that all companies will eventually become Internet companies."

Like his previous book, Webonomics, Digital Darwinism is succinct and easy to read. His analysis of the current state of Internet startups, their stock prices, and their probable fate is provocative, especially when viewed from a Darwinian perspective. For managers, investors, and anyone interested in Internet commerce. Recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

From the Back Cover

"Seven strategies will separate the winners from the losers."
--Dallas Business Journal

"Lively and engaging... Schwartz’s method is admirably inductive... keep[ing] the focus on real people dealing with practical problems."
--Ernst and Young Management Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140286845
• ISBN 13: 9780140286847
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240