Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Established Organizations:
Micro Cases on Intrapreneurship
Caselet 2
Advanced Analytics Associates: Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way
General Brass, PhD (USMC-Ret.) is the founder and Chairman of Advanced Analytic
Associates, Inc. (AAA). As a mid-sized government contractor with 1,500 employees, AAA
provides software development, systems, and support for both civilian and defense agencies of
the Federal government. With more than 50 patents, AAA has yet to commercialize or
“productize” any of its intellectual property. Dr. Brass announced a campaign for 2018 to
develop a minimum of five new products for the commercial markets using these patents. The
first proposed product is “TruthTeller,” a software program that can discern with 95.2% accuracy
when an individual is lying. TruthTeller uses only voice recordings and can apply to recordings
taken from radio, TV, etc. A team of six individuals in AAA has been assigned part-time to
market TruthTeller to commercial customers (for non-government clients). Dr. Brass has asked
you to help coordinate this commercial marketing effort. He wants your initial thinking on a
strategy for a campaign to cultivate commercial customers for the product. As the effort moves
forward, he would also like you to consider the costs and benefits involved with this effort to
launch the new product. What are the issues involved? What advice do you have for the team?
Where are the potential landmines? How will you recognize success?
Discussion Questions
1. What are the issues involved in seeking commercial customers for a technology originally
developed for government use?
2. What advice do you have for the team that is tasked with finding and cultivating commercial
prospects for this new technology?
3. What are some of the potential costs and benefits associated with this effort to launch the new
product?
4. Where are the potential landmines? What objections can the marketing team anticipate from
prospective customers?
5. How will you recognize success? Prior to an actual product sale, how will you judge progress?