This is an excerpt from a larger paper (maybe ebook) I’ve been writing on how companies interact with industry analysts. It is especially useful to companies that can’t seem to get traction with analysts. If you think that you can’t get the attention of analysts because your company is too small, the analyst business is a racket, your PR person is lazy and stupid, etc. then read this and see if it applies to you. There’s a good chance it does. Most analysts are bombarded with briefing requests from companies who seem to have no unique value i.e. are me-too companies.

These are my own opinions and don’t necessarily reflect how the rest of Neuralytix feels. However, you find most analysts will agree with this assessment.

Analysts look for a number of elements when looking at a company and product. Probably the most important is unique business value. What does this product or company bring to customers that no other does? How will they shake up the market? Unique value comes from a variety of sources but especially:

• An exceptional product or feature. What about the product makes it special to customers? If a product can solve a difficult problem that no one else can, there is unique value. When products entertain, that too generates important value. Keep in mind, technology is not a product. Technology enables products but products are something people can use and will pay money for.
• A disruptive business model. Many of the greatest companies are built on boring products but new business models. A company that can produce, sell, or distribute the same product in a new way will often beat their competitors. Amazon is a good example of a company that has done this several times. When they started selling books to people it was nothing new. Selling books over the internet, which allowed for rock bottom prices and unlimited selection, was very new.
• New forms of operating a business. Delivering best in class service and support, superior manufacturing quality and speed, and high degrees of customization are all bound tightly to the operations of a company. Companies with flexible and efficient operations tend to bring customers special value even if it’s not seen that way. Dell, for example, may have started as a company with a unique business model for the time – they were less expensive because they only sold over the phone and then through the internet – but that special value has long passed. Instead, their manufacturing capabilities and efficiencies have allowed them to create highly personalized versions of standard computer products as quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively as if they were standard products.

Besides unique value, analysts will also look for visionaries since these often signal the future of the market. This is especially true of the CEO. If the CEO seems hidebound, it’s likely the company will be equally so and will possess little unique value going forward. Vision is useless, however, if the company cannot execute on the vision. Most analysts will try and understand whether a company has the operational capacity, financial resources, and sheer will to make the vision a reality.

Hope that helps.