There are many reasons why entrepreneurial ecosystems like Silicon Valley and others thrive while others don’t. One of those reasons is the act of paying it forward. The health and progress of every entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world lives and dies by the ability of its diverse network of people and groups to share with each other; this includes knowledge and contacts.
Whenever I get asked by executives about how their companies can innovate they expect me to respond with a prescriptive 3 to 5 point checklist of things that will solve all of their problems. Instead, I respond with a question: what are you doing to impede it?
Illustration by Christian Laborin
We lost a great one! Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, The Hulk, Fantastic 4, X-Men and other super-heroes died yesterday. He leaves a legacy of inspiration behind that will keep inspiring many more generations.
Most of his comic book characters have been adapted to film, creating a franchise that is shaping the world over. You might want to visit sites like https://thedirect.com/tags/mcu/ to learn more about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Humans have been telling stories for as long as anyone can remember. In fact, stories are the way we have a ‘collective memory’ at all. From early epic poets like Homer to pictographs across the globe that predate him by thousands of years, stories have been a part of the human experience since the beginning.
I’ve talked at length about how companies aiming to attract innovators to their organization shoot themselves in the foot, because the culture they have doesn’t embrace innovation. Still, let’s ask: How do you hire innovators?
To help answer that question from the perspective of an innovator, the University of Texas conducted a study last year and they asked me to take part. They’ve yet to share the results with me, but I’m jumping the gun and sharing my thoughts with you.
in Innovation, Leadership
Last week the U.N. released a report with not so surprising news: Earth has 12 years to avert climate change catastrophe. This isn’t surprising because it’s been widely talked about and reported for decades, and we’re feeling it; but here we are not taking it seriously.
in Innovation, Leadership
There are three forces needed for innovation to happen: ability, infrastructure and market. When all three exist you have an industry. Creating a new industry is a long-term challenge, which many people and organizations will not take on. When starting out, every startup is in a race to create find product-market fit. It’s not about being first to market, it’s about getting the business model right.