Actual chief evangelist of Canva, an online graphic design tool, and former chief evangelist of Apple, Guy Kawasaki reveals his top 10 innovation tips that will change the way you think about the art of innovation and entrepeneurship.
In this talk, Guy Kawasaki share with us his knowledge and opinion of what innovation should be about. After all his experience in many fields of the entrepeneurial world, Kawasaki highlights 11 "rules" that every innovator should follow.
“Great companies start because the founders want to change the world...not make a fast buck
Guy Kawasaki reveals his first advice for his top 10, and I have to confess that it is so powerful that every business school should have a poster of it at their entrance. For Kawasaki, the founders of a company must have the intention of making meaning, it is to start a business with the idea of changing the world, of influencing people in a positive way that will make their lives easier. If you make meaning, you will probably make money, however, if your main mindset is to just make money, you will be more likely to not make a profit and to fail in your venture. Kawasaki affirms his theory with a few examples of really successful companies that changed and continue changing the world such as Apple, who brought computer power available to everyone, or Google who made information accessible to the world.
In order to step up into the next level, you cannot be satisfied with only improving an existing product by 10%. Real innovation starts by jumping into the next curve, by going further than anyone thought and creating something that never existed before. Kawasaki provides a great example of how successful companies did not jump to the next curve and stayed behind while other companies took over the market, which is what happened with the ice industry.
-Ice 1.0: the companies had to wait for winter and be located in cold areas so when the time came, they could go and cut the ice until it melted in warmer months.
-Ice 2.0: the ice factory was invented, it meant that the companies did not have to wait for winter and also they did not have to be located in cold areas. Now people could have ice during the whole year, it was the ice man who transported the ice to the consumers.
-Ice 3.0: refrigerators were invented and therefore everybody could have ice without having to buy it from the fabric.
In every stage of the ice industry there were big companies making money, but they were all different firms for every evolution. It means that companies during Ice 2.0 defined themselves by what they were doing successfully without looking to the future, so when the next jump in the curve towards Ice 3.0 took place, these were not ready and therefore failed to adapt.
"Don´t worry be crappy". An entrepeneur cannot wait until it is the perfect time for a cheaper chip or a more advanced technology. It is okay if an innovator ships a revolutionary product with some crappy elements, it does not mean that it is okay to ship a crappy product, but if you create a product that will change the world, you need to ship and not wait for the perfect occasion.
Remember, do not let the bozers grind you down. There will be many people that will try to convince you that your idea is not possible and out of reach. You have to ignore them and believe in your idea to make it happen, because people do not know what they want until you show them.
“If you are an engineer you make a product that is unique and valuable, if you are a marketing person you communicate to the world that your product is unique and valuable."
Watch the video for the rest ideas that Guy Kawasaki reveals. There is an entire world waiting for people to change and transform it for a better place.
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