Re: [projectvrm] new post on the economy

[Katherine Warman Kern < >]

Thanks Doc,  Starbucks Trader Joes and Whole Foods are all great examples because they are so visible.  I know of others which aren't so visible but enormously successful.  

For example, a company called World Courier started delivering documents overnight before  Fedex or UPS. When these competitors undercut them on price, World Courier shifted its focus to critical priority deliveries, for example, clinical trial blood tests which have to be maintained under controlled environment at every step in the delivery process. The founder takes such pride in the quality of the service that he has turned down unsolicited acquisition offers from bigger competitors because he fears they'll cut corners.

It has occurred to me that it would help entrepreneurs to hear the stories of the many unknown, successful premium quality businesses.   

Katherine Warman Kern

www.comradity.com

@comradity

203-918-2617

On Sep 9, 2011, at 5:47 AM, Doc Searls < "> > wrote:

A good one, Katherine.

I like "an economy of premium quality," and think VRM will help grow that, for the simple reason that better demand will invite better supply

I remember, many years ago, arguing that there did not need to be an inverse relationship between quality and price: that there might actually be a "highest common denominator." The argument fell on deaf ears. Then Starbucks and Peets came along. And Costco, Trader Joe's, Panera Bread and many others.

In the audio industry, where I once hung out, even cheap stuff gained distortion readings south of .1% across the audible spectrum, and could produce a hundred watts of power per channel. (Their FM tuners went to hell, but few cared, with good reason.)

In laptops, the winners now are Apple and Lenovo, both putting out best-of-breed gear for their respective operating systems. Neither are cheapest, but both are the best, and people pay for quality of build and service.

In radio, another of my old hang-outs, the cheapskates robbed the whole field of its soul (and most of its bodies), but what survives and thrives is the quality stuff on public and noncommercial radio, where the listeners actually pay for the goods (though not yet in sufficient numbers). The top stations in North Carolina, Austin and San Francisco are the public ones, rather than the cookie-cutter alternatives. 

The list goes on. 

Later I'll add a comment to your post and point to it on the blog.

Cheers,

Doc

On Sep 8, 2011, at 2:21 PM, Katherine Warman Kern wrote:

http://www.comradity.com/comradity/2011/09/confidence.html

 

Katherine Warman Kern

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www.comradity.com

 

@comradity

(phone) 203-918-2617

(fax) 203-549-9184