Entrepreneurs don't always have the experience or the resources to build out full-grown operational talent even if they have innovative products. Talent may be right at your side, if you'll just take a look. Michal Tsur, cofounder and president of Kaltura, and Leah Belsky, its senior VP of operations, offer guidance on where to find innovation in their article, "Five Tools for Innovation."
I know from experience that their advice to look at the talent sitting next to you works. When I was running USA Network and the SyFy Channel, I often used task forces to solve problems. We didn't have the budget to hire outside consultants, and I didn't believe, anyway, that they would have more insight into our business than the people who worked there. So I would put together task forces made up of people from different departments and, importantly, people operating at different levels. It was my way of seeing how people handled the collaborative process, and who stepped up to the plate to take responsibility for deliverables. Believe me, it wasn't always the most senior person in the room who came forward. This is how I learned that new ideas come from anywhere in a company.
If you don't have all the innovation you need coming from your current team, there are great sources at universities all around the country. Julie Goonewardene offers a blueprint for successful intellectual property commercialization in her article "Finding Innovation in the Rough."
I am an example of a person with no technical background who used satellite technology to build a business. In her article, "Can't Code? You Can Still Run a Software Company," Danielle Weinblatt shares her experience in working with software engineers and how to motivate them by connecting the why instead of what they need to develop.
For those entrepreneurs who need technology, and that is just about everyone today, Joyce Durst's "Five Reasons to Keep Your Outsourcing Close to Home" will be particularly informative.
Finally, all innovation doesn't succeed. It really needs the right iterative process, customer validation and execution. Serial entrepreneur Julie Goonewardene offers advice in "Why Health Care Innovations Fail." Her clear explanations can be applied to any industry.
The pressure brought to bear today in a world of exponential growth in technology innovation and morphing business models is tough for entrepreneurs to navigate. There is less room for error than ever before. The following articles will provide insight on how to navigate these channels.
Five Tools for Innovation
Michal Tsur and Leah Belsky
Start-ups are supposed to be innovative-but they can get as bogged down in the details as any big company. Here are five ways to keep the innovative spark alive.
It's taken for granted that young technology companies are innovative. They're new, after all. They have new ideas and new perspectives.
Unfortunately, that's not the reality. Soon after developing their initial idea, most young companies are quickly consumed by execution, not innovation. They've got to reassure skittish customers, figure out if that new marketing whiz really deserves equity and find a health insurance plan they can afford. No wonder, then, that many start-ups lose the initial spirit and continuous idea generation that characterized their early days.
How then do growing companies stay innovative? It's a question we've been asking others in the tech community over the past year. Here's what they recommend, and what's worked for us:
1. Get some idea scouts.
You've already got these people on board-the trick is figuring out who they are and how to get the best information from them. These employees are close to users and customers, enjoy generating new ideas and know how to listen. They may be project managers or account managers, and they likely don't have much formal authority. That's okay. They're still essential. Anoint them, listen to them and make sure they're heard. They are your feet on the ground.
2. Create a task force.
Maybe you've got a great new idea, but no one to work on it. Assemble a cross-departmental team that can take a breather from their assigned duties to work through a few quick iterations of the idea. Leaders in your organization should all have the authority to call task forces together. Their goal should be to test out ideas before new projects get an organizational home.
3. Listen to industry-smartly.
In the age of TechCrunch and the ever-churning blogosphere, you can be sure that many employees are reading online all day long. But simply listening to industry gossip is not enough. Encourage your employees to read across and within your industry and to analyze the news. Why is Google entering the mobile space? Why is SalesForce now presenting itself as "social"? Encourage employees to analyze tactics in your industry and actively contribute to your own strategy.
4. The miracle of the train
Have you ever ridden a train, walked to lunch or waited in an airport with a colleague? It's amazing to witness the type of brainstorming and idea generation that can occur in these quasi-work environments. Smart leaders facilitate this type of reflection and brainstorming time. Encourage employees to travel, chat and meet together in unstructured ways.
5. Think big.
Insist on the importance of maintaining your company's vision. Yes, we all need to listen to customers, but it's easy to get caught up in incremental "improvements" from user requests and forget about the big ideas you started with. Identify the people in your organization who have this vision, and make sure they collaborate with those who are responding to user requests and market research.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
The spirit of innovation can quickly be overshadowed by the reality of having to make important day-to-day business decisions.
Figure out who the innovators are; listen to them. Authorize leaders to form cross-departmental task forces to test new ideas before they become part of your business strategy. Have them always hold the company's vision.
Encourage employees to analyze innovations within your industry and to make suggestions for your company-and create informal opportunities for brainstorming.
Why You Can't Innovate Alone
Diane Zuckerman
Sure, it's fun to come up with new ideas. But do you have a real innovation? No one at your company can tell you that.
I've started and grown several health care businesses over the past twenty-five years-made mistakes, failed and succeeded. And I've come to truly appreciate a quote from serial entrepreneur Brewster Kahle: "If you want to solve hard problems, have hard problems."
Safety and risk avoidance are easy; making a revolutionary change takes guts. What does it take to win? Start with these three attributes.
Genuine innovation
Unfortunately, it's almost impossible for you to know, with any sort of certainty, that your product is innovative. For that, you need a customer. Prototyping is always an iterative process, of course. But you want to take pains to include a target customer on your team, or at least make sure your prototyping includes feedback with a would-be customer.
Think about it: Customers no longer merely consume. They want to contribute and create. Involving them at the earliest stages not only helps ensure you've got a product people actually want, but it will prove to be effective marketing as well.
Operational excellence
You need to do what you know, know what you're doing, and lead. Ideation and creativity are fun, but unless your execution is impeccable, they're not profitable. You will need a sound and detailed road map based on a clear strategy, focus and plan. At the same time, you need to respect the importance of urgency, especially if you expect to be a first mover.
Handpicked people and partners
Take care to choose the right balance of people, not just those who are book smart. You need individuals with street smarts, wicked creativity, honesty and unwavering tenacity. You want those who appreciate that every single penny spent should bring value. And, by all means, you want them to have a sense of humor.
When you're looking for partners, synergy should be the key concern. Partnerships should allow you to keep doing those things at which you are best in class, and to hand off something that is not your core strength.
Keep it simple and get the core right. You can always be a feature creeper later.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
Solving problems can be relatively easy compared to genuine innovation, which takes guts.
In order to know that your product is innovative, you need a customer on the team at every stage.
Choose your team carefully and your partners strategically, so that you can be best in class and execute impeccably.
Finding Innovation in the Rough
Julie Goonewardene
Universities can be great sources of new technology for your company-if you know how to navigate them.
John Chavez is always on the hunt for the next big idea. Literally. The president of the New Mexico Angels and tax secretary to former Gov. Gary Johnson spends hours each month trolling the research labs of the University of New Mexico, visiting with scientists and their graduate assistants. John knows universities are fertile ground for raw technology with potentially lucrative commercial applications.
"The goal is to find promising technology before it goes public. The best way to do that is through relationships with university researchers and the tech transfer office" at the University of New Mexico, says John. Over the past few years, he's uncovered technologies that New Mexico Angels was able to use as the foundation of three start-ups: Lotus Leaf Coatings, Synfolia and Tyrosine Pharma.
John isn't the only entrepreneur or investor vetting university research. Venture capitalists routinely walk the labs of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. With those two universities hauling in a combined $142.9 million in licensing income in 2011, the VCs aren't walking away empty-handed.
So how does an entrepreneur gain access to the potentially fertile grounds of university research labs? Here are five suggestions:
Focus
There are two thousand, six hundred eighteen colleges and universities in the United States. An unfocused approach is a recipe for disaster. Home in on the industry that plays to your professional experience and knowledge base, and then identify universities conducting meaningful research in your area of interest. In software, Carnegie Mellon actively promotes its efforts and is easily a premier destination. If software is your target, Carnegie Mellon should be on your list.
Don't overlook lesser-known universities. By reading journals in your field-cancer or optoelectronics or whatever-you can quickly identify researchers worthy of a closer look based on their published work.
Do your homework
Once you've identified universities and researchers of interest, do some homework. All university tech transfer offices have websites that provide basic info. Then Google the researchers you'd particularly like to connect with. A growing number of scientists, such as Dr. Brian Benicewicz, a polymer chemist at the University of South Carolina, have comprehensive websites (benicewiczgroup.com). Benicewicz's site chronicles his career at Celanese, Ethicon and Los Alamos National Lab; describes his current research and commercial ventures; and introduces his graduate assistants-also potential sources of big ideas.
Reach out
Cultivate relationships. You could start with the university tech transfer office. These folks are paid to know what's going on in their institutions, and more specifically, in the university's research labs. Good universities won't get in the way of interactions between faculty researchers and business/entrepreneurs. Some will even broker the introductions.
Don't hesitate to reach out directly to faculty researchers. Send a friendly email inviting them to coffee. Ask to tour their lab. Ask questions and listen carefully. Just remember that the first visit is about the researcher and the researcher's work, not about you. If you encounter resistance-university researchers are stretched very thin-see the next tip.
Reciprocate
Relationships are a two-way street; if you want access to a researcher's lab, you have to bring something to the party. Without acting like a know-it-all, offer university researchers insight into potential markets, offer ways to accelerate a technology's commercialization path and offer to make introductions to potential experts, investors or resources. This will help establish you as a welcome guest rather than an unwanted time sink.
Work it
Don't expect to hit the mother lode on your first visit. Be prepared to spend time and shoe leather visiting tech transfer offices, walking labs and talking to researchers. Technology isn't going to simply fall into your lap.
There are amazing technologies being developed in university labs across the country. While university tech transfer offices maintain inventories of available IP, the advantages of going straight to the source are undeniable. Establishing old-fashioned face-to-face relationships with those generating the ideas will give you the inside track on finding that diamond in the rough. Be sincere in your interest, be willing to give advice, be consistent and just be there!
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
Universities can be a great source of new technology for your company and provide opportunities for investment in raw technology. Your approach to finding the right place to look must be focused.
Do your homework, visit the websites, focus on the researchers you want to connect with.
Focus on the industry you know, then identify the universities conducting meaningful research in your area. Cultivate relationships with those offices and faculty researchers and be persistent and consistent.
Innovation Is about Behavior, Not Products
Diane Zuckerman
True innovators get people to do new things, not just buy new stuff.
Innovation is not invention. An invention is generally a product or a process and something you can see. Innovation is different. To innovate, we must ask "why" someone does something rather than asking "what" someone does. We must design with the intent to influence or persuade, and then deliver an experience that is both meaningful and measurable to the buyer or user. That then becomes the value proposition.
Here are three important principles to consider when trying to design an innovative product, service or company:
Change is a step-by-step process.
You want to start with the commonplace and convince users to take baby steps, not giant leaps. ZocDoc started with something everyone does-calling the doctor for an appointment. The company matches requests with doctors who have open slots, and delivers the results online for easy access. Simplicity is key to change and action.
The environment shapes behavior.
The context is as important as the information we deliver. It's about changing the relationship of someone doing something. Of course the Internet has changed our behavior, but other platforms can do the same, especially those that encourage communication and collaboration. Companies such as PatientsLikeMe provide a safe and secure platform for people to share their personal experiences with their treatments, and for other patients to corroborate their experiences, become more aware of treatment options and learn from others.
Information is useless without action.
Design of your product or company should focus on a new action, not the avoidance of an old habit. A value proposition to change behavior might be "the ability for a patient to communicate and collaborate with anyone, anytime, anywhere, sharing all their own health information." This contrasts nicely with the existing paradigm, where patients are passive and wait for someone else to guide their health care. This new action gives patients confidence, control and a feel-good behavior they want to repeat.
True innovation requires a simple, personal behavioral change. A strong value proposition influences, persuades and delivers an experience that is meaningful and measurable.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
True innovation creates a change in what we do, not how we do it. It requires a simple, behavioral change. A strong value proposition persuades and delivers an experience that is meaningful and measurable.
Start with the commonplace. Offer users the opportunity to take small steps-keep it simple and actionable.
Design your product or service to focus on a new action.
Can't Code? You Can Still Run a Software Company
Danielle Weinblatt
I can't code, but I can run a software company. You can too. Here's how.
As a founder of a software company, I often get asked about my ability to code. The answer is simple: I can't code at all.
At first, I thought what many young and eager entrepreneurs think-that I must learn how to code. So I downloaded a bunch of files to help me learn Ruby on Rails. After my first lesson, I was able to code my name forward and backward and perform simple math equations. That's about as far as I got.
But I've still been able to build a software company that reduces recruiting inefficiencies for more than two hundred and fifty companies. And I learned several lessons that are key to running a technology company without a technical background.
1. Understand the real motivations behind why people work with you.
If you can't understand what motivates your employees and what it takes to keep them happy with their careers, your organization is doomed. In the interview process, I try to ask questions that will uncover what really motivates a developer. I can't administer a coding exam, but I can certainly try to make our work environment conducive to productivity and success.
2. Under-promise and over-deliver.
As a first-time nontechnical founder, I built credibility with my development team by promising that we would hit certain milestones such as getting accepted to an accelerator program, landing great coworking space and raising capital. I always articulated the things that we could achieve together as a team and didn't rest until I delivered what I had promised.
3. Communicate "wins" on the business side driven by innovations on the tech side.
It's easy to speak about business with your sales and marketing teams. But the development team needs to be engaged in the business wins, too. When developers see their work transformed into real revenue and happy customers, it helps build morale for everyone. Developers don't work in a vacuum, or at least they shouldn't. Business wins are rewarding for them, too.
4. Explain why things are getting done, not what needs to get done.
One of the biggest mistakes I made in the beginning was to hand developers a laundry list of features that needed to be built without taking the time to agonize over why each of these features was needed. When you can articulate the "why" rather than the "what," your developers are more likely to be in sync with the company's overall direction and vision.
I still can't code. When I asked one of my lead developers if I should learn, he urged me to focus on delivering progress on the business side and to leave development to him. I guess if we ever wanted to run simple math equations, I could step in… or not.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
You don't have to code to run a software company-or cook to own a restaurant-but you do have to learn to run the business.
Motivate your employees by building a team environment that focuses on what can be achieved together.
Communicate your overall vision to your team, then concentrate on building the business. Leave the technical development to them-they are the experts.
Five Reasons to Keep Your Outsourcing Close to Home
Joyce Durst
How to outsource your software development without booking a flight to Asia.
Outsourcing your software development doesn't necessarily mean you have to go around the world in search of the right partner. Yet many managers equate well-stocked, inexpensive talent pools with China, India or Russia.
There is another option, however, and it's closer to home. Through our development center in Costa Rica, our consulting firm offers so-called nearshoring. This can provide the same cost savings as a typical offshoring arrangement, while avoiding many of the headaches that typically come with offshoring. A well-executed nearshore outsourcing strategy can result in:
Faster time-to-market
A better end product
Improved customer service
Less frustration and fewer missed targets
Here's why we like using development teams in Central and South America:
1. Time zones
Working across multiple time zones can create tremendous burdens for offshore development. Your software development team is often up and working while you are asleep or not in the office. When you or your offshore partner have an inevitable problem, it can take twelve hours to get an email answered, and another half-day before those responses are read. Then you often have to take a conference call outside of normal business hours.
If you use nearshoring, you can often work in the same time zone as your outsourcing partner. Phone calls and emails can be answered right away, vastly improving communication for all parties.
2. Corporate culture and expertise
Many companies based in Central and South America have corporate cultures very similar to those in the United States. Employee work habits tend to be comparable, and stable political environments reduce the risk that your project will be interrupted by a larger chaos that you can't control. The region offers a rich talent pool with plenty of engineers who are just as skilled as those in other parts of the globe.
3. Reduced turnover
Companies in countries that are traditionally used for offshoring, such as India, tend to suffer from high levels of turnover. Many nearshore options have better internal continuity, with teams that have worked together for longer periods of time. Lower turnover typically translates into greater stability and faster project turnaround.
4. Lower language barriers
Without effective communication, even the best project managers and software developers will be challenged to deliver successfully. Your organization must have a free flow of information with your outsourcing partner. Because nearshoring partners live in regions closer to home, they often have a greater familiarity with English and, as I mentioned above, with American culture.
5. Easier travel
A trip to Asia is expensive and time-consuming. It is much less burdensome to catch a plane to Central or South America. The flight south is faster and cheaper, and often allows you to stay in the same time zone.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
"Nearsourcing" in Central or South America can provide the same cost savings that outsourcing to China, India or Russia will get you, without some of the headaches and with some possible benefits.
Central and South American companies have similar time zones and more similar cultures, with skilled engineers on par with those of other countries.
There are fewer language barriers between South America and the U.S. Many of their workers have greater familiarity with English.
Travel between the U.S. and Central or South America is also easier than going to Asia.
Why Health Care Innovations Fail
Julie Goonewardene
MD, MBA? That's not what it takes to become a health care entrepreneur.
In many ways, doctors are well prepared to become entrepreneurs. They are professional problem-solvers. They understand patient needs, and they also understand health care trends and issues.
But for many doctors, like many of the rest of us, the trick lies in knowing what you don't know. I work every day moving innovation from bench to bedside, and I've found there are few key areas that consistently get short shrift as physicians try to build growing companies.
Market size
You can have the best idea in the world, but if only five people need it, it's best to move on. The innovations with the greatest potential are those that solve real problems for the largest populations.
Dr. Mark Kyker, an anesthesiologist, noticed multiple problems in keeping patients warm before, during and after surgery. Cotton blankets offer no clinical benefit and must be cleaned after use, which costs money. Electric blankets and forced air warmers can be loud and require attachments, limiting mobility. Dr. Kyker thought the same technology used in self-heating hand warmers could be used for self-heating surgical blankets. The single-use blankets keep the patient at a consistent temperature throughout the procedure. They don't require cleaning, are noiseless, require no attachments and are affordable.
Market potential for Dr. Kyker's brainchild? With more than 51.4 million inpatient and 57 million outpatient surgeries performed in the United States annually, it's huge.
Expert advice
Starting a company requires skills not typically taught in medical school. Recognizing that you're not an expert-even if you have an MBA-is critical. Listen to those with entrepreneurial experience and use what's relevant to you.
Dr. Kyker enlisted the help of a serial physician entrepreneur, Dr. Steve Isenberg, who's also a partner in StepStone Business Partners, an angel investment firm. Dr. Isenberg and Oscar Moralez, another StepStone partner, helped Dr. Kyker found his company, Apricity, and create a business strategy.
Respect for capital
Don't expect investors to come running just because you have a great idea. Today, investors rarely look at early-stage technology. Most start-ups are self-funded with help from family and friends. If you're lucky and good, you might get funding.
The entire value chain
The health care value chain is often more complex than that of the typical start-up, particularly if your product requires FDA approval.
Dr. Kyker and his partners recognized the challenges early on and partnered with Grabber, which makes self-heating hand warmers, to help perfect the technology and produce prototypes. Apricity found a second strategic partner after a meeting with representatives of Mölnlycke, a European company that supplies a portfolio of disposable products to hospitals on a global basis, at a trade show. Mölnlycke has since signed a licensing agreement with Apricity and is now selling the self-heating blankets in Europe, giving Apricity a powerful leg up.
Failure
No one likes to fail, and physicians often associate failure with life-or-death situations. Apricity's self-heating blanket went through multiple iterations and three years of hard work before it could be successfully commercialized. The best advice is not to be afraid of failure. Get up, dust yourself off, learn from mistakes and try again. Your next idea may be the home run.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
For health care professionals becoming entrepreneurs, it's important to recognize what you don't know and learn from other health care entrepreneurs.
Be prepared to self-fund your idea during the early stages, with your own and family and friends' money. Health care innovations can be more complicated than typical ones, especially if they require FDA approvals.
Strategic partners can be very useful in helping you develop and perfect your product or idea, and give you a better chance of getting to the finish line with it.
Taking the Risk out of Doing Business Overseas
Christine Adamow
Starting and running a company in an emerging market means you need to forget some of the basic things you've learned about entrepreneurship.
In 2006, I traveled to East Africa to do consulting work with three software companies. After I became comfortable with the culture and ways of doing business in my new home, I started to see business opportunities everywhere. I soon founded Africa Biofuel and Emission Reduction (Tanzania) Ltd., an agri-biofuels company that makes fuel from the oil-bearing seed of the Croton megalocarpus, a tree indigenous to East Africa. Our goal is to create a commercially scalable, profitable renewable energy company.
Doing business in Africa is not for sissies. Africa and other emerging markets have the potential to bring extremely high returns on your investments of time and capital. But emerging markets also come with their own very specific, and real, risks. During my time in Africa, I've come up with three ways to lessen some of the big ones. All I had to do was forget everything I'd learned about entrepreneurship.
Think big-operate small.
Entrepreneurs are constantly urged to think big. Investors, particularly, want us to scale our businesses quickly and demonstrate that we're prepared to serve huge markets.
That's not the way to think in emerging markets. You can absolutely build a huge, successful company in the developing world. But think about it: In these places, Big is scary. These countries have a deep and profoundly negative history with Big: Big armies, Big famine, Big populations and Big droughts, to name a few. Our company gets a better response if we approach on-the-ground development in steady, small, positive steps. We keep our vision and projections to ourselves. Meanwhile, we roll out little pieces of our business model at a snail's pace, giving everyone lots of time to adjust to change.
In an emerging market, pilot programs carry the same sort of cachet that research and development carries in other places. In Africa, they don't care about our fancy R & D. They want proof that we can do business in their environment, on their terms. So we present just about any new business initiative as a pilot program. Otherwise, local and regional governments quickly start to worry that they are being forced into a long-term commitment.
Of course, time is money. You can expect your development costs to rise dramatically-maybe even to triple-because you're working in a slower operating environment.
Buy global-sell local.
Emerging markets provide great opportunities for entrepreneurs-to Western eyes, these countries need everything. The flip side is that in an emerging market, you can't just buy stuff. There will probably be no supply chain for your business. Do not try to create one, tempting as it may seem. Doing so will cost you time, money and focus. Until your company is dominant in its market, buy globally from suppliers who are already in-country and know the ropes. And bear in mind that standards for delivery, quality, service and warranties are not what you're used to. Caveat emptor-always.
Politics matter.
Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer defines an emerging market as "a country where politics matters at least as much as economics to the markets." He nails it perfectly. In a country that lacks an enabling business environment, any activity with the potential to generate income and create wealth can be seen as threatening by the existing power base. You need to put a stake in the ground, communicate your terms of engagement and manage your operations very tightly. Leverage your embassy and diplomatic networks to the nines.
As an entrepreneur, you don't have the status that comes with being an operating unit of a Fortune 500 corporation. Your ambassador, your economic attaché and the State Department staff are your home office. Put them on speed dial, and make them your friends.
KAY'S TAKEAWAYS:
Doing business in emerging markets has great potential for high profits, but they often come with high risks.
Respect the local business environment and culture and expect your development costs to be higher because of the slower pace at which things happen.
Work with existing infrastructure for buying supplies and keep close relations with your American embassy office, such as your ambassador, economic attaché and the State Department staff.
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