Innovator's Dilemma - We're that broken

The Great Recession ... do we really understand how severe the damage is the fundamentals? This is the third Spring-eve of this economic nuclear winter (remember the mythical 'green shoots' of the early Spring of 2008?).

With Spring 2011 just over a week away, banks are still closing, housing values are still in decline, unemployment - while just inching below 9% for the first time in 2 years ... the longest duration at this 9% level EVER [and note that this dubious streak could come back to life as subsequent statistical corrections during the Great Recession typically have revised bad numbers upward after reporting] is still anemic.

As human nature tends to be, rather than mull impersonal big numbers that most find virtually impossible to digest (i.e.: billion, trillion, quadrillion), an example of one can often resonate more powerfully because people have a better ability to process examples that can be personalized.

In today's climate where folks are asking: "Where is a growth opportunity?", imagine a truly remarkable breakthrough invention, proven and even embraced by major market players, yet struggling to get funding necessary to mostly implement (not sell)? Here is a real-time example that illustrates just how broken today's fundamentals are:

Start-up's solution:
A patented invention that stops fires from starting in environmentally controlled facilities.

Key Value Proposition:
Eliminates damage from fire, as well as fire suppression agents from water to chemicals.

Application examples:
Data centers, storage facilities, archived materials, museums, etc.

Patent's estimated value:
$20-$25M

Endorsements:
- A major defense contractor projects sales potential in the neighborhood of $.5B.
- A major insurance company will offer a significant discount to clients who adopt the solution (due to the significant cost-savings from paying claims).
- A major utility embraces the solution.
- Industry experts anticipate the start-up to be acquired in just a few years.

That said:
- Deep pocketed entities that could seed now have a policy to not venture into start-ups, but to pay a premium later to acquire.
- The start-up's leadership is still pursuing an investor to fund scaling (seeking ~$10M).

Intuitively obvious to the casual observer, this start-up's invention is brilliant. The applicability of the solution is a no-brainer. The value and benefits are significant - from stopping costly damage to property, to significantly reducing the risk of injury to fire fighters and emergency service personnel, to savings lives where the solution is deployed.

Isn't it telling that in the late winter of 2011, a new business opportunity like the above is having a challenge to find funding? (If you happen to know of potential investors who may be interested in learning about this opportunity, contact me directly and I can share more details.)

Talk about an innovator's dilemma. We are that broken right now.

Innovator's Dilemma - Book recommendation: 'Do More Faster' (by Cohen & Feld)

An easy-to-read collection of advice for those embarking on start-up businesses ... from dozens of leaders of start-ups. Nicely organized across the major 'theme' areas of:

1) Idea and Vision
2) People
3) Execution
4) Product
5) Fundraising
6) Legal and Structure
7) Work-Life Balance

Each theme area includes 8-16 sub-topic perspectives and advice from entrepreneurs of all ages who have run the gauntlet and have generously shared guidance that can help future start-up leaders be more prepared and effective with navigating these inevitable challenges.

Here's the opening intro inside the front flap:

It is a cold, hard fact of business life that most start-ups fail. Even many of those entrepreneurs who ultimately succeed have stories of personal challenges, unsuccessful companies, and difficulties along the way. The founders of TechStars, a mentorship-driven start-up accelerator, have worked with entrepreneurs and companies over the past twenty-five years, and have seen a number of the same issues come up again and again.

In Do More Faster, the founders of TechStars identify the key issues that first-time entrepreneurs encounter, and offer advice from successful entrepreneurs who have worked with the TechStars program.

Innovator's Dilemma - Think out of the ... (uh) ... USB

Now this is creative innovation! Push those boundaries into the great-beyond! (If the Star-ship Enterprise can utilize a transporter in the 1960's, then why not this creative app for the USB port of a PC?)

Visit their site to see a demo (have your Rosetta Stone software handy!) http://www.1jour1vin.com/fr/landingpages/usbwine

Think about how the sophistication of transmitting has evolved in the few short decades since 1's and 0's were discovered and the world began its rapid digital transformation. Along with more creative and aggressive use of the bandwidth spectrum and the seemingly endless trend to pack more processing power from tinier and tinier 'engines', I can envision a future when breakthroughs are made with transmitting more that sound and data.

From a layman's perspective, does that mean that once discoveries are made - with how to map digital representations of physical 'stuff' (animate and/or inanimate) - then humanity is in a position to embark upon the next frontier of 'transport'? I know I am getting a little sci-fi here, but isn't that one of the ways discoveries are made ... by imagining and envisioning (a theory) then going out and trying to figure out how to connect the dots (as opposed to accidental discovery)? Break though this barrier and you'll be Back To The Future with Doc, traveling across the stars.

Think about the progress recently with virtual reality technology. Think about the imagination reflected in The Matrix (brain-updates via a direct man-machine interface and download). From Star Trek, to The Fly to countless other sci-fi movies ... it's fun and instructive to reflect on the imagination of yesteryear in venues like Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy and others ... and now living - just a few decades later - with some of those once 'impossible' concepts as part of our daily routines.

Now matter what your background or IQ, its fun to imagine and figure out ways to be a part of influencing innovation!