WEDO TECHNOLOGIES WORLDWIDE USER GROUP & SUMMIT 2016: Telecoms operators will find that size works against them when it comes to dealing with more nimble rivals, Sebastiano Tevarotto, a Silicon Valley exec and advisor, warned.

Noting that the average age of a S&P 500 listed company is on a downward curve, he warned that “being big, and continuing to be big, is not a great recipe”.

Tevarotto, who is currently on the board of virtual trade show company HyperFair and broadband TV platform company Minerva Networks, said: “The key competition doesn’t come from the large company that is competing against you shoulder-to-shoulder. They are not the ones that are changing the game, changing rules in their favour.”

Instead, the threat comes from new and smaller players who generally target specific applications and services. “Try and understand who the guys are who don’t have a big brand yet. Who the guys are who don’t have great success yet. Because they are working hard to come and eat your lunch.”

In order to address this challenge, “you’ve got to unbundle yourself. You’ve got to really look at the products and services you offer, understand the market, understand what you are doing, understand what you are supposed to be doing but aren’t. And really analyse and understand where the opportunities are, not the problems. If you don’t do it, somebody else will,” he said.

Tevarotto pointed to Silicon Valley as a potential source of inspiration, but not without some caveats.

For example, while some companies in the past have created West Coast outposts, it is important that such a move is “more than just PR”. Among the options mooted by the executive was partnerships with venture capital companies, who have broad knowledge and experience in the market.

Acquisition advice
And while the time may come to acquire, “buy, but please don’t integrate”.

“You identify a company that has great value, with people who have something that you don’t have, that operate in their own way. You buy them, you bring them in, and then you teach them how to do things. Which is to say, ‘don’t do the things you have done successfully until now’.”

“I don’t think telcos, and in general large companies, lack vision. They lack execution and courage, and the ability to let new ideas prosper and come to prosper, for a number of reasons. Essentially, the sheer size of the organisation, and having to execute day in, day out on the business plan takes the mind away from the little baby that needs all kinds of help and protection to grow into a large business that ultimately is going to challenge the status quo,” Tevarotto observed.