Lyrics

If I could be one grad of MIT Sloan
I would be Socrates with the weed smoke
Jane Technologies got that clean code
Got the EnStrat class up in beats mode

But I’m no graduate of MIT Sloan
I’m just sayin’ that kind of move-makin’ would be dope
Scott’s never seen so much cash before
Plus human wellbeing is the credo

But wait, which direction is it clever for Jane to take
A navigating entrepreneur can make a lot of mistakes
Scott Stern is the compass master, so let’s break it down
And figure out the straight pathway that Jane has found

I’m talkin’ about the Strategy Compass
That entrepreneurs use so they aren’t grasping at hunches
‘Cause a pioneer without a compass is lost, technically
Which competitors are we up against? What’s our identity?

Who’s the target customer? And what tech do we need?
Check the compass, figure the direction and proceed
Check the compass, for Jane Technologies
Check the compass all my Sloan peeps at MIT

Check the compass, figure the direction and ask yourself
Are you takin’ the field, to attack and storm a hill?
Or do you sit back and dig a moat and just chill?
Are you jackrabbit skilled, or packin’ a tortoise shell?

Are you building a coalition or straight competing for deals?
Compete or collaborate, storm a castle or fortress-build
That’s the compass, baby, North, South, East, West
Four strategies, so let’s see which is best

Intellectual Property is where you sit back and collaborate
Stay safe within the castle and add to the value chain
Within an existing market, and deliver for incumbents
An Idea Factory – that’s how Getty Images functions

Architectural is building a moat, but still competing
A strategy that’s got Google and OpenTable succeeding
With reservations for seating, a brand new platform
That industry-transforms like the Apple App Store

Or like Facebook, which is serving an urgent need
That people never knew they had while controlling the IP
And identity, to get up in everyone’s headspace
But architectural plays can also go the way of the Segway

That’s a segue to Disruption, storm a hill and compete
Keep a low profile at first, don’t provoke the beast
Stay low and build exclusive cred, like Clubhouse
And then, when it’s too late to defend, you just bust out

With moxie and verve like a swaggering hip-hop hustler
Trust me, you wanna be Netflix not BlockBuster
Havin’ a last stand like Custer – Rest in Peace, incumbents
Who failed to fend off attacks from Disruptors

But wait, you can storm a hill and collaborate
That’s the slow path to riches, that’s the Value Chain
The domain of quiet achievers, some would say the safe path
The pedestrian way to make cash, data cache

Straight facts, like me kickin’ MBA raps
I’m adding lyical value, but y’all paid for this class
That’s a value chain move to the industry flow free
And Jane has that, ask Anna Nadia Cybulsky

The disruption play is gonna go too slowly
Ask Brittany Brody, that’s a twisty rollie
The industry was exploding, a lot of startups fail
And plus Socrates didn’t want to go to jail

And end up on a Federal prison list
Thank goodness Jane has never been the biggest fish
They’re the scrappy underdog, with ethics and grit
We never work with any illicit businesses!

And if I may, let Jaime Saez say it
It was stuck between legal and illegal designations
Plus drug dealers get watched by the Federals y’all
And Scott’s got a DEA agent for a brother in law

Touching the plant would be silly, the bank were chilly
Funding was an issue, points out Lara Ajele
And Socrates had the momentum, his back was windy
And the last thing he wanted was to go back to McKinsey

‘Cause yo, if I could be one grad of MIT Sloan
I would wanna be Socrates with the weed smoke
Jane Technologies got that clean code
Got the EnStrat class up in beast mode

But I’m no graduate of MIT Sloan
I’m just sayin’ that kind of move-makin’ would be dope
Scott’s never seen so much cash before
Plus human wellbeing is the credo

The cannabis industry was a wild landscape
Cash made on pen and pencil deals and handshakes
And it lacked transparency in a bad way
Just like Scott could not see any of your hands raised

So you need a way to make sure visibility doesn’t distort
Scalability of stores was poor, just ask Chris Fort
And cannabis is something not everyone can carry
You gotta duck regulations, ask Thierry Vanparys

And delivery is a risky business, complex mixes
And a beer verses three shots, we all know the difference
But dispensaries have products that nobody knows well
Plus 21+ signs, just ask Tosin Joel

Ask Jason Lowery, not every customer knows the shelf
You know, all those products that Jason knows well
And that’s fine, baby, cannabis users bigup
Kayemba Mvula knows, we gotta fight stigma!

This isn’t just some weed, people use it differently
It’s an agricultural industry, just ask Wynston Reed
The challenge was to add uniformity and literacy
Ask Mohit Malhotra and he won’t disagree

So when Soc was getting Jane started he appraised the market
And decided to stay hands off, as advised by Taylor Carter
This is a wellbeing product, it’s not just dope
And dispensaries need e-stores and customer info

Everything Soc and his team have achieved is crazy, son
He started off just like y’all, chilling in the Atrium
Before he build the architecture
That most Americans use before they spark a spliff first

That’s the compass, that’s how companies are profiting
Also shout out to Erin Scott for her co-authorship
And Josh Gans, for takin’ a startup chart and choppin’ i
Into four highly-demarcated quadrants

Capture that dataset, it’s prohibition-era money
The industry is fluid baby, ask Lindelwa Farisani
Just like Zoom during COVID, it’s the new TV
With Scott Stern on Al Sharpton MSNBC

Socrates is a humble man, he was like “Yo
We’re the source of information for those who ply dope
I started in Iraq with a rifle, took the high road
And now Jane is this whole industry’s bible

As a prof, Scott has had a lifetime of adventures
But it got up-ended when Jane technology entered
Call me Baba, like Ali Baba, never jackin’ the price
But Scott Stern had never seen so much cash in his life

So next time you buy some marijuana and spark it
Keep in mind that Soc and his team have cornered the market
It’s changing the world, it’s not just point-making
Doordash or Amazon, without the exploitation

Saving mom and pop dispensaries, sellin’ weed
Ganja, herb, mary jane, I appreciate that as an MC
It’s wellbeing, edibles make me think hella deep
Like hell yeah, get the money and let it be…

So yo, if I could be one grad of MIT Sloan
I would wanna be Socrates with the weed smoke
Jane Technologies got that clean code
Got the EnStrat class up in beast mode

But I’m no graduate of MIT Sloan
I’m just sayin’ that kind of move-makin’ would be dope
Scott’s never seen so much cash be-fore
Plus human wellbeing is the credo

So all my startup founders, follow your hunches
Your passions and hungers, your appetite for disruption
At MIT business lunches, discussions, testing industry functions
Just don’t forget to check your Strategy Compass

‘Cause a pioneer without a compass is lost, technically
Which competitors are we up against? And what’s our identity?
And who’s the target customer? And what tech do we need?
Check the compass, figure the direction and proceed

Check the compass, figure the direction and proceed

And, proceed…