Summary of the "Revenue & Pricing models" session with US professor Lidija Polutnik

Last Monday, the West Swedish Incubators and their partner at this event, AstraZeneca BioVentureHub, invited their startup- and industry community to an exclusive session on ”Revenue and pricing models for value capture” with US professor Lidija Polutnik, visiting from Babson College, Boston.

Dr. Lidija Polutnik is Professor of Economics at Babson College, where she teaches graduate level courses in managerial economics, pricing, and competitiveness in the heart of the entrepreneurial superenvironement in Boston. Her research and consulting have focused mainly on pricing, revenue management, and strategic cost management. She has also served as Chair of the Economics Division from 2005 to 2017.

Between 2014 and 2020 Dr. Polutnik held a Visiting Professor position in Gothenburg at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, where she continues to hold the Honorary Visiting Professor title and works in close collaboration with the GU Ventures subsidiary, GU Executive Education, delivering Executive MBA-programmes and customised programmes.

This exclusive session introduced the key success drivers of revenue models and pricing for new ventures and small and medium sized organizations.

Dr. Lidija Polutnik comments:

"Everyone knows that the most important job for any business and especially for startups is to be laser focused on the value you provide for the customer. The question is how you do it. What problem are you solving, how does your solution compare to other options customers have in the market? Do you know what the customer is willing to pay for your solution? The core ingredient for successful Revenue and Pricing is a data grounded value definition." said Dr. Lidija Polutnik.

Then the main focus can be on delivering on that data grounded value, which the participants had chance to discuss during the mingle, as well as ask questions before, during and after the session. The event took place at the University of Gothenburg, Conference center Wallenberg, and was moderated by Mia Ekdahl, Head of Communications & Relations at Health Works within AstraZeneca.

Moderator, Mia Ekdahl, who also takes part of the Executive MBA-programme at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, runned by GU Executive Education, presented her four take-aways at the end of the event:

"1) Ask yourselves: are you (still) relevant to your customers and how do you ensure that is still true in ten years?
2) Don’t tie your offer too hard to a particular technology or method. The world moves fast.
3) Pitch, pitch, pitch to find and define your value to customers.
4) Match your value model to your business mission and vision. Don’t sell yourself cheap to achieve volume if your strategy is to be a premium brand. It will be hard to renegotiate later."
"Moderating an event with such an experienced expert like Dr Polutnik and such an engaged audience really makes all the difference”, said Mia Ekdahl.

One of the participants was Robert Börjes, newly appointed Head of Communication at AstraZeneca BioVentureHub, that commented:

"US Prof. Lidija Polutnik (pls Google her...) led us through, in a clear, entertaining and a very transparent way. Well supported, soft challenged, and navigated by todays moderator Mia Ekdahl Health Works, AstraZeneca. The audience, concisting of people in the ecosystem of innovation hubs, incubators, academia and companies, was well invited to participate and eager with smart questions, and always received answers with many up to date examples. Many lessons learned and an advice not to leave this issue for later or to someone else. Defining and articulating the value brought to the market, enablers and stakeholders, are truly crucial to succeed and of course to get financed and find the right talents. And also understanding with whom and how to collaborate during a go to market journey. Really important findings to consider, especially if you are a startup or a late scaleup."

Dr. Polutnik's work explores the relationship between costs and customers' value and the influence of this relationship on the firm's financial results and the sustainability of business models. Her work contributes to both theory and practice, and her research has been published in a variety of academic journals including: The European Accounting Review, Advances in Management Accounting, Journal of Cost Management, Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, and Industrial Relations Journal.

The session started with the organizers, West Swedish Incubators, introduced by Sofia Hjelmberg from GU Ventures and by AstraZeneca BioVentureHub, who showed an example of how to catalyze collaborative innovation in a Life Science Ecosystem presented by its CEO Magnus R. Björsne.

”The customer within the pharma industry today is the patient, compared to 10 years ago when the payor was the customer” said Magnus R. Björsne, CEO of the Bioventurehub Astrazeneca, on the subject.

Sofia Hjelmberg also sends her three take-aways:

1. "Always remember that cost is a moving target."
2. "A revenue model design is a hot topic from investors."
3. "Select your pros and cons of cost driven pricing, competition driving pricing and value driven pricing."

"We are grateful to everyone that participated at this event and Per Hillertz at AstraZeneca, that co-planned the event with us."

West Swedish Incubators is a EU-funded partnership project with the support of the Region of Västra Götaland, ERUF-funds through Tillväxtverket, the University of Gothenburg and the incubators. The project aims to improve efficiency and to create more opportunities for collaborations for the region's startups. West Swedish Incubators includes Borås INK, Brewhouse Inkubator, Chalmers Ventures, Founders Loft, GU Ventures, Innovatum Startup, Science Park Skövde, and Sahlgrenska Science Park.