CASE FILE 002 · SONY IoT
Built Sony’s IoT venture from the ground up.
The opportunity was broad. The work was to turn it into a team, an MVP, a customer and a business Sony could continue to use.
Concept → MVP
PRODUCT AND VENTURE BUILT
First commercial customer
AUTOMOTIVE VALIDATION
Shared infrastructure
CAPABILITIES THAT OUTLIVED THE VENTURE
THE SITUATION
Strong technical assets, but no coherent business.
Sony had connectivity, embedded software, device management, cloud infrastructure and analytics. It did not yet have an IoT business that customers could understand, buy and deploy.
The opportunity looked plausible across many industries. That breadth was also the risk. Without an owner holding product, team, investment and commercial direction together, the venture could remain an interesting collection of capabilities rather than become a business.
WHAT I OWNED
Direction, product, team, budget and commercial outcome.
- The venture direction and the strategic logic for why Sony should invest.
- A cross-functional team across engineering, architecture, operations, sales and finance.
- Budget accountability, feature priorities and the move towards an MVP.
- Business model, customer paths and the commercial proposition.
- The move from internal capability to the first commercial customer.
FRAME → EVIDENCE → COMMIT
Breadth had to become a choice.
Frame
Define what business we were actually building: which customer environment, problem and business model justified focused investment.
Evidence
Explore healthtech, proptech, device manufacturers and automotive against urgency, customer access, integration feasibility, commercial value and Sony’s right to win.
Commit
Build an end-to-end enterprise proposition, make automotive the lead path and carry the work through to the first commercial deal.
WHAT CHANGED
The venture became real—and left a lasting asset.
A real team
A multidisciplinary organisation built around one commercial direction.
A real customer
The first enterprise deal in the automotive sector.
A lasting asset
Platform capabilities that later became shared infrastructure within Sony.
The standalone IoT segment did not remain a separate business forever. The underlying capabilities still mattered: they outlived the original organisational form and became useful across Sony.
A new venture needs an owner before it needs a perfect map.
Facing a similar decision? Send me the decision you’re trying to make.
Jörn Green 