Question

The Segway Story and Influencing Context In some cases, entrepreneurs need to influence the context themselves in the sense of changing regulations or other factors. One cautionary tale is Acros, the company that designed a two-wheel, self-balancing personal transportation device called the Segway in the late 1990s. A major issue confronting the company was how Segways would be regulated. Would they be allowed on sidewalks? Would an owner have to be licensed? What would happen when people riding Segways inevitably started having accidents? Management at Acros certainly was aware of these issues and hired lobbyists to work on making Segways regulated more like bicycles than motorcycles. Unfortunately, when the product was introduced to the public, the immediate response was negative. People didn’t want Segways to mix with pedestrians, even if the device was safer than a bicycle or a skateboard. Being confined to street use and kept off university campus walkways, for example, diminished the market. For that and many other reasons, the company never took off. If you were the founder of Acros, what would you have done differently to ensure that Segways could be used on sidewalks and in other public spaces?

Answer 1

I would have focused on the industrial use of Segway rather than individual customers, to begin with. I would have marketed the product for malls, amusement parks, airports, etc. to make the product acceptable to people and get its benefits. Once, the market was secure and sales stable, then the Segway would have been launched for individual use. This would ensure that the product is not rejected outright and it still had a segment that buys them. People frequenting airports or amusement parks, like Disneyland, would love transport that reduces the time and energy required to enjoy the trip.