Posts tagged as:

Innovation

Wired for Innovation

by Daria Steigman on August 15, 2011

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Y Combinator, Independent Thinking, Steigman CommunicationsI caught up on back issues of Wired this weekend. Good writing is underrated, and this magazine has some of the best. Plus, where else can you read about behavioral feedback loops, hackers, a kerfuffle over a hijacked copy of a video game, and Harry Potter in the same place?

There were also two terrific pieces about innovation and entrepreneurship. One is an homage to Y Combinator and its founder, Paul Graham. The energy of the participants jumps from the pages, as in this instructive description of how Graham and his team select candidates for their start-up bootcamp:

Graham tends not to pay too much attention to a candidate or team’s business plan—it’s likely to change during the course of the program anyway. Instead, he zeros in on the character and intelligence of the applicants. After one team’s presentation, Buchheit says that he would use the product. But Graham is skeptical. “Are these guys winners?” he asks. “It’s all about the guys.” The group is not accepted. [Bolded emphasis added by me.]

The other is a Clive Thompson essay on the roots of innovation. In The Breakthrough Myth, he cites researcher Bill Buxton who thinks:

paradigm-busting inventions are easy to see coming because they’re already lying there, close at hand… Truly billion-dollar breakthrough ideas have what Buxton calls surprising obviousness. They feel at once fresh and familiar.

Good food for thought.

Photo by Karl-Ludwig Poggemann (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , , , , , ,

{ 0 comments }

5 Myths About Entrepreneurs

by Daria Steigman on August 2, 2011

entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, Independent Thinking, Steigman CommunicationsCheck out this instructive post by Vivek Wadhwa, director of research at Duke University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization. In it, he explores five myths about entrepreneurs:

  1. Typical U.S. tech entrepreneurs are in their 20s.
  2. Entrepreneurs are born, not made.
  3. College dropouts make the best entrepreneurs.
  4. Women can’t cut it in the tech world.
  5. Innovation requires venture capital.

These are myths, not facts.

There’s some interesting data in the article that debunks the conventional wisdom in some circles.

Photo by +Rex (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , ,

{ 0 comments }

Spotify’s Business Disruptive Factor (And Why Vinyl May Finally Be Obsolete)

by Daria Steigman on August 1, 2011

Spotify, Business Models, Disruption, Spotify has landed in America.

The music-streaming service with 15 million songs in its catalogue is likely to be disruptive to the music industry in a way that Apple only dreamt of. Here are three reasons:

1. My vinyl is finally obsolete. I have a large collection of albums and cassettes that I’ve been reluctant to jettison–even if I listen to them only rarely. Enter Spotify, and I’m listening to The Go-Betweens, The Mekons, and Gang of Four again.

2. I don’t need a bigger iPod. It drove me crazy that I only had access to a small portion of my music library on the go (not to mention all the CDs that I’ve yet to burn). Until Spotify came around, I was thinking of investing in a mega-gigabyte iPod just to have everything at hand. Now I can stream what I want or download a playlist to listen to offline.

3. I can hear what my friends are listening to. Once our school days are over, most of us don’t talk music that much. Heck, if it weren’t for my brother (who totally turned me on to hip hop by suggesting artists to explore), my music collection would be stuck in the 20th century. Spotify lets me subscribe to my friends’ playlists. It’s digital curation, the music edition.

BusinessWeek has a terrific article about Spotify. One snippet that really stands out:

“Americans own their music; Swedes rent it… If Spotify gets what it wants, your records will no longer define you. Your playlists will.”

It’s an interesting piece about a changing marketplace, and worth reading.

Have you tried Spotify? Agree or disagree that this model will change the business landscape?

Update: A link to the BusinessWeek article has now been added thanks to alert reader Bill Farrell, who was able to find it online.

Disclosure: I received a beta invite to Spotify via a Klout Perk. Within two days I had upgraded to a Premium (paid) subscription.

Photo by Pink Sherbert Photography (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

{ 8 comments }

Why Every Business Owner Should Think Rework

by Daria Steigman on April 28, 2011

Rework is a deceptively simple manifesto for entrepreneurs that is all about challenging conventional wisdom and the way that business ought to be done. It’s written in brilliant one- and two-page bursts of ideas held together by big-picture business themes, much as co-authors and 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson believe that you should focus on actually getting work done rather than spending all your time planning out what you should, could, or might do.

Or, as the authors write:

“If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now.”

I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe Rework since the book landed in my hands three months ago. Since then, I’ve found myself diving back into random sections almost daily for inspiration. As entrepreneurs themselves, Fried and Hansson “get it”; they understand that you can create a different path and succeed. They’ve done it, and we can too.

Check out my complete book review on Overdrive, which has more detail and some excerpts that illustrate why I think this book is a must read.

 

 

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , , , , ,

{ 0 comments }

Artists and Entrepreneurs

by Daria Steigman on April 14, 2011

Artists and Entrepreneurs, Innovation, Independent Thinking, Steigman Communications llcShould business schools teach the arts?

Consider this, from an article in The Economist:

“Studying the arts can help business people communicate more eloquently. Most bosses spend a huge amount of time “messaging” and “reaching out.” yet few are good at it… Many of the world’s most successful businesses are triumphs of storytelling more than anything else. Marlboro and Jack Daniel’s have tapped into the myth of the frontier. Ben & Jerry’s wraps itself in the tie-dyed robes of the counter-culture. But business schools devote far more energy to teaching people how to produce and position their products rather that how to infuse them with meaning.”

The article also talks about managing creative people, art and innovation, and the fact that many artists are terrific entrepreneurs. Good food for thought.

Photo by Stefan Kloo (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Tagged as: , , , , ,

{ 2 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →