Blogs

Lots of folks talk about having an innovation strategy and it seems all the rage with the media and the politicians. But as the old saying goes “talk is cheap”. Pursuing a strategy of innovation can be hugely rewarding on a number of fronts, but it takes

Phobos, the son of Ares, was the god of fear. He was a great and powerful god. He loved to toy with humans. One day he was boasting about his belief that all men were weak and fearful. He bragged that even the most powerful of men

Anyone who has sailed knows that without forward motion, the rudder cannot steer the boat. A becalmed sailboat will drift around aimlessly no matter what you do at the helm. The same is true for organizations: you cannot steer an organization that is not moving. Certainly there

In his famous book “1984”, George Orwell introduced the concept of Doublethink – the act of “holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” It seems to me that one of the success criteria for an entrepreneur is their ability to double-think.

One of the biggest, if not THE biggest, challenge of a startup is finding that first customer. It is easy to find folks that claim an “interest” in a new offering but it is quite another to find somebody that will actually put their money where their

I am always amazed at the distain many researchers and techies have for business people and investors. I was once at a university innovation conference where a panel of business types (including me) was introduced as ‘sharks’ – people who steal researchers’ ideas. I get it. To

Emerging markets are akin to the Holy Grail for innovation-minded companies. They represent new and exciting opportunities for growth without the pain and cost associated with “red ocean” markets from which every percentage of market share gained must be taken from existing players. The romantic view is

One of the biggest challenges of any startup is dealing with the cultural battles that arise when a company starts to implement structure and process into its operations. Communication and coordination are easy when the entire company can sit around a single lunch table, but once you

Having a positive attitude is extraordinarily important for those in leadership positions. But positivism must be tempered by reality. The key is to strike a balance between an honest assessment of challenges in our way, and the necessity to envision and articulate a viable path through them.

Life is full of transitions. One that seems to be particularly common in the technology realm is that of super-doer to super-manager. Unless you were born with a super-rich daddy, most of us started our careers with a whole lot of heavy lifting. Our success was measured