Just wanted to share a short and rough draft version of my notes (not transcript), as it might save some people time.
I’m moderately confident that it covers 80% of the video’s content, but am quite sure that it misses one or two important points and details.
How to innovate on purpose
It’s not useful to think it requires being a genius (Einstein)
It’s not useful to think it’s about luck (wonderful idea from within the bathtub)
Innovative ideas need to be …
a) … impossible until now
I.e. looking at existing technology and thinking about using it in new ways; e.g. Machine Learning applied to cars → Google self-driving cars
To-do:
Learn promising technology very well
Ask the question: “What industries has this technology not been applied to yet?”
b) … undiscoverable to others
I.e. find out what multiple topics / things you know, and thereby realising your potentially unique overlaps; e.g. programming language design + cloud computing → developing programming language specifically designed for cloud computing
To-do:
Pick two unrelated topics you know a lot about
Ask the question: “What does combining them make possible?”
c) … stupid sounding
I.e. find the overlap between ideas that seem like a bad and a good idea at the same time, because you know some secret that makes the stupid idea seem like a good one; e.g., “let’s have anonymous random people argue to decide the facts on every topic” and “let’s have everyone trust this information” → Wikipedia
To-do:
Ask the question: “What’s an important truth you know that few do?”
Ask the question: “What seems dumb unless you know this truth?
d) … tiny at first
I.e. find the overlap between things people care about and weird people like you care about; e.g. “people can’t easily find Bay Area events, I will send an email list to my friends” and “I will let other people post their events too” → Craigslist
To-do:
Tackle a problem had by a small group you understand
Slowly expand the features for a larger and larger group
Just wanted to share a short and rough draft version of my notes (not transcript), as it might save some people time.
I’m moderately confident that it covers 80% of the video’s content, but am quite sure that it misses one or two important points and details.
How to innovate on purpose
It’s not useful to think it requires being a genius (Einstein)
It’s not useful to think it’s about luck (wonderful idea from within the bathtub)
Innovative ideas need to be …
a) … impossible until now
I.e. looking at existing technology and thinking about using it in new ways; e.g. Machine Learning applied to cars → Google self-driving cars
To-do:
Learn promising technology very well
Ask the question: “What industries has this technology not been applied to yet?”
b) … undiscoverable to others
I.e. find out what multiple topics / things you know, and thereby realising your potentially unique overlaps; e.g. programming language design + cloud computing → developing programming language specifically designed for cloud computing
To-do:
Pick two unrelated topics you know a lot about
Ask the question: “What does combining them make possible?”
c) … stupid sounding
I.e. find the overlap between ideas that seem like a bad and a good idea at the same time, because you know some secret that makes the stupid idea seem like a good one; e.g., “let’s have anonymous random people argue to decide the facts on every topic” and “let’s have everyone trust this information” → Wikipedia
To-do:
Ask the question: “What’s an important truth you know that few do?”
Ask the question: “What seems dumb unless you know this truth?
d) … tiny at first
I.e. find the overlap between things people care about and weird people like you care about; e.g. “people can’t easily find Bay Area events, I will send an email list to my friends” and “I will let other people post their events too” → Craigslist
To-do:
Tackle a problem had by a small group you understand
Slowly expand the features for a larger and larger group
Entrepreneurial success depends on:
Quality of idea
Time commitment
Ability to build the product
Propensity to learn from feedback
Skill at securing funds
Relentless pursuit of success
Sales and marketing skills
Leadership
Random chance