Put the Business Model First

Al Hammond writing in NextBillion about the challenges of the OLPC states:

If there is any lesson that our studies here have shown, the essential starting point is a viable business model, grounded in a real understanding of needs, the value proposition as perceived by local people, and evidence of willingness to pay. Only then can technology opportunities really be evaluated. That is not to say that technology doesn’t have a critical role as an enabler for BOP communities—witness the still accelerating adoption of mobile phones (and their prepaid service business model). But engineers—especially those that don’t know developing market well—should take to heart the real moral of the laptop story: First, it’s the business model.