Paul Graham
When a startup launches, there have to be at least some users who really need what they’re making — not just people who could see themselves using it one day, but who want it urgently. Usually this initial group of users is small, for the simple reason that if there were something that large numbers of people urgently needed and that could be built with … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Author: Paul Graham | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation
Rahul Vohra
[Sean] Ellis [has] found a leading [product/market fit] indicator: just ask users “how would you feel if you could no longer use the product?” and measure the percent who answer “very disappointed.” After benchmarking nearly a hundred startups with his customer development survey, Ellis found that the magic number was 40%. Companies that struggled to find growth almost always had less than 40% of users … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Author: Rahul Vohra | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Innovation, Management
Rahul Vohra
To increase your product/market fit […] spend half your time doubling down on what users already love and the other half on addressing what’s holding others back.
Content: Quotation | Author: Rahul Vohra | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Innovation, Management
Ibrahim Gokcen
Failing fast and cheap doesn’t mean making bad decisions. It means complying within the constraints that you have, and learning how do you go faster or how do you test things faster. And then implementing the decisions properly.
Content: Quotation | Author: Ibrahim Gokcen | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Innovation, Management
Scott Belsky
Your challenge is to create product experiences for two different mindsets, one for your potential customers and one for your engaged customers. Initially, if you want your prospective customers to engage, think of them as lazy, vain, and selfish. Then for the customers who survive the first 30 seconds and actually come through the door, build a meaningful experience and relationship that lasts a lifetime. … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Author: Scott Belsky | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Innovation, Market Research
Scott Belsky
Whether you’re building a product, creating art, or writing a book, you need to remember that your customers or patrons make sweeping judgments in their first experience interacting with your creation – especially in the first thirty seconds. I call this the “first mile,” and it is the most critical yet underserved part of a product. […] In a world of moving fast and pushing … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Author: Scott Belsky | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Innovation, Marketing / Sales
Scott Belsky
Life is just time and how you use it. Every product or service in your life either helps you spend time or save time. […] The only exceptions are rare products … that add a time-consuming action to your plate while also making that experience faster than it normally would be.
Content: Quotation | Author: Scott Belsky | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Innovation, Marketing / Sales
Scott Belsky
Simple is sticky. It is very hard to make a product—or any customer experience—simple. It is even harder to keep it simple. The more obvious and intuitive a product is, the harder it is to optimize it without adding complication.
Content: Quotation | Author: Scott Belsky | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Innovation
How Big Companies Can Outrun Disruption
Large companies can be easy targets for disruption, but Gary Pisano says there are steps that can keep them ahead of the innovation curve. Rule 1: Don’t emulate startup cultures.
Content: Article | Author: Gary Pisano | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Innovation
Freek Vermeulen
Stopping doing certain things is a different route to innovation.
Content: Quotation | Author: Freek Vermeulen | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Innovation
How to Shape Remarkable Products in the Messy Middle of Building Startups
Scott Belsky’s new book, The Messy Middle, covers an expansive range of topics, from constructing teams (“If you avoid folks who are polarizing, you avoid bold outcomes”) to culture and tools (“Be frugal with everything except your bed, your chair, your space, and your team”) to anchoring to your customers (“empathy and humility before passion”). We’re pleased to present Belsky’s introduction to his “Optimizing Product” … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Scott Belsky | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Innovation, Management
Taking the measure of product development
Is the way you measure product-development performance harming your company’s health? New research suggests that it might be.
Content: Article | Authors: Marek Kowski, Mike Gordon, Sander Smits | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Innovation, Products & Services
Scott Keller, Mary Meaney
To most leaders, the speed and flexibility that drive innovation lie at the opposite end of the spectrum from standardization and centralization, which promote efficiency and control risk. Not so. Rita Gunther McGrath’s research sheds light on agile organizations. Large companies that raise their income disproportionately, she found, have two main characteristics: they are innovative and experimental and can move quickly but also have consistent … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Authors: Mary Meaney, Scott Keller | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Best Practices, Change Management, Innovation, Management, Organizational Behavior
David Bohm
No really creative transformation can possibly be effected by human beings unless they are in the creative state of mind that is generally sensitive to the differences that always exist between the observed fact and any preconceived ideas, however noble, beautiful, and magnificent they may seem to be.
Content: Quotation | Author: David Bohm | Source: Brain Pickings | Subjects: Innovation, Management
Accelerating Product Development: The Tools You Need Now
To speed innovation and fend off disruption, R&D organizations at incumbent companies can borrow the tools and techniques that digital natives use to get ahead.
Content: Article | Authors: Dominik Hepp, Hannes Erntell, Mickael Brossard | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Innovation
Taking the Measure of Innovation
Don’t overlook the insight that two simple metrics can yield about the effectiveness of your R&D spending.
Content: Article | Authors: Erik Roth, Guttorm Aase, Sri Swaminathan | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Innovation
Safe Enough to Try: An Interview with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh
Organizations are more likely to innovate and thrive when they unleash the potential of individuals and the power of self-organizing teams, says the online retailer’s CEO.
Content: Thought Leader | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Chris Gagnon, Tony Hsieh | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Organizational Behavior | Company: Zappos.com
How to Make Sure Your Next Product or Service Launch Drives Growth
Fifty percent of launches don’t hit their targets. Launch champions follow these four rules.
Content: Article | Authors: Alessandro Buffoni, Alex Krieg, Alice de Angelis, Volker Grüntges | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Innovation, Management
Andrew Hargadon
The pursuit of innovation doesn’t depend on genius. Instead, it demands ingenuity — the ability to come up with solutions that are original and clever given the constraints that you and everyone else face.
[…]
The penicillin story makes clear that the need to come up with a new and brilliant idea is often overrated. The ideas are out there, and people can see them. They just … [ Read more ]
Content: Quotation | Author: Andrew Hargadon | Source: strategy+business | Subject: Innovation
Data From 3.5 Million Employees Shows How Innovation Really Works
Innovation, like marketing and sales, is a pipeline. In one end go raw concepts and notions. Out the other end come actionable ideas that can move the business forward. With the right technology, could you manage this pipeline the way you manage a sales pipeline?
Our research shows that you can.
One of us, Dylan, has analyzed five years of data from 154 public companies covering over … [ Read more ]
Content: Article | Author: Dylan Minor | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Innovation