Despite the past decade’s increased adoption of scientific methodologies by startups, most still fail to scale into large companies. The paralyzing plethora of advice, theory and models recommended to startups is poorly matched by practical advice on the applicability and implications of actually following the recommendations. In this action-based research I, an IT consultant for twelve years and founder/co-founder of several startups, try out and evaluate the applicability of methodologies for applying scientific management principles to innovation in early-stage startups. In the first part of my research, I use an naive explorative hands-on approach which results in insights into the limited applicability of popular methodologies such as Growth Hacking and The Lean Startup. These limitations are especially pronounced for early-stage startups who are yet to launch a minimum viable product (MVP), as well as those that have trouble to decide which hypotheses are the riskiest. Most actionable insights during this part stemmed from the engagement in various thought-experiments and reflections, and not from external customer feedback. To remedy this, and to thoroughly evaluate the applicability of a pre-launch market assessment method, I engage in market opportunity discovery following the recommendations set forth by Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI). This hands-on in-depth approach yielded seemingly high-quality actionable insights with direct implications for the product and marketing strategy of the studied early-stage startup. In the discussion part, I reflect over the applicability of the evaluated methodologies and argue that the main difference between applicable and non-applicable methodologies is whether they are manufacturing-based or needs-based. Finally, I reflect over possible implications and suggest that a startup community wide change of mindset from manufacturing-based methodologies such as The Lean Startup to needs-based methodologies such as Outcome-Driven Innovation will minimize the startup innovation-process variability and increase startup efficiency dramatically on a global scale.

The financial industry is and have been going through a transformation due to digitalisation and globalization, recently breaching the long unaffected investment banking sector. Together with the implementation of the MiFID II regulation, which has been a catalyst for investment banks, this has led to increasing competition in the sector.  Evidence suggests, through a cross-discipline consensus, that the traditional comprehension of competitive advantage is no longer sufficient, and that innovation is instead a key strategic issue in order to sustain a competitive position and to potentially strengthen it during change.  This study empirically investigates how investment banks can utilize a job-centric approach to innovation based on causality, i.e. the cause and effect mechanisms that cause customers to make the choices they do in given circumstances. The empirical data consists of interviews with existing and prospective clients to the case-company with regards to the service of commissioned research. A theoretical framework based on the literature is created and used to analyse the qualitative empirical data.  The findings of this thesis suggest that investment banks indeed can develop their services by incorporating a job centric approach in order to stay competitive during an industrial transformation. The passive data obtained as a result of the analysis can be utilized for development and innovation purposes. To competently use the results requires an adaptation to a certain culture of innovative thinking, one that focuses on the job to be done rather than internal processes. / Finansbranschen har genomgått en omvandling på grund av digitalisering och globalisering, som nyligen nått den länge opåverkade investment bank-sektorn som tillsammans med implementationen av MiFID II, som har varit en katalysator för investment banker, har lett till ökad konkurrens inom sektorn.  Bevis antyder, genom vetenskapligt samförstånd, att den traditionella förståelsen av konkurrensfördel inte längre är tillräcklig, och att innovation istället är en nyckelstrategisk fråga för att upprätthålla en konkurrenskraftig position och potentiellt stärka den i förändringstider.  Denna studie undersöker empiriskt hur investeringsbanker kan använda ett jobbcentriskt synsätt på innovation baserat på kausalitet, dvs de orsaks- och effektmekanismerna som får kunderna att göra de val de gör under givna omständigheter. Det empiriska materialet består av intervjuer med befintliga och potentiella kunder till uppdragsgivaren beträffande tjänsten uppdragsanalys. Ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på litteraturen skapas och används för att analysera de kvalitativa empiriska uppgifterna.  Resultatet av denna studie tyder på att investeringsbanker verkligen kan utveckla sina tjänster genom att integrera en jobbcentrisk strategi för att förbli konkurrenskraftig under en industriell omvandling. Den passiva data som erhållits som ett resultat av analysen kan användas för utvecklings- och innovationsändamål. Att kompetent använda resultaten är dock beroende av att anta en viss kultur för innovativt tänkande, en som fokuserar på jobbet som ska göras snarare än interna processer.