Redefining Innovation
Shridan Tatsuno, Dreamscape Global
Eunika Mercier-Laurent does a yeoman job of reviewing innovation strategies and types of innovation around the world, which helps newcomers and experts alike to place their ideas of innovation into a broader context. As a Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur and a Japan watcher, I find her framework useful for thinking about new ways to innovate since it's easy to get lost in the details when launching new ventures. In particular, the idea of co-innovating with clients is particularly useful in order to overcome the tradition bias of technology-, product- and service-push strategies. Among venture capitalists (VCs) and angel investors, technology alone is insufficient since over 80% of VC-funded startups fail.
To raise funding and survive, entrepreneurs must validate their products, services and business models with customers before refining and marketing them.
Recently, the concept of lean startups has become popular, but it too may be a fad reflecting the bias toward "fast-flip" (quick acquisition) strategies and social media startups. Eunika's diagram of the Silicon Valley startup process is useful for understanding our thinking.
