Business Author, Entrepreneur, and Venture Capitalist, Guy Kawasaki recently shared his 10 point manifesto for business innovation.
Here’s a summary:
- Make meaning, not money
“As a venture capitalist I deal with many entrepreneurs who come in saying they want to make money. Most companies founded on this concept fail. Entrepreneurs should focus on making their product or service mean something. The money may very well follow.” - Make a mantra, not a mission statement
“Bland mission statements about ‘Delivering superior quality products and services for our customers and communities through leadership, innovation and partnerships’ serve no one. Keep it short. Explain why your organization exists and how it meets customer needs.” - Jump curves
“Innovating is harder than staying ahead of competitors on the same curve. Most organizations define themselves in terms of what they do. Instead, they should be thinking, ‘What benefit do we provide the customer?’ True innovation comes when you jump curves, not when you duke it out with existing competitors.” - In product design, roll the DICEE
“D – is for deep, which means build features that go beyond the norm. I – is for intelligence. C – is for complete = product + support + service. E – is for elegance. Beauty matters. Companies should have Chief Taste Officers. E – is for emotive. Great products generate strong emotions: Think Harley Davidson, Macintosh.” - Don’t worry, be crappy
“Twitter has a litany of flaws, but it is changing people’s habits. The first Apple Mac had plenty of room for improvement, but it made a statement about the future of personal computing, and it did not need to wait.” - Polarize people
“If you try to be all things to all people you risk mediocrity.” - Let 100 flowers blossom
“You never know where the flowers will emerge, so let them grow. Innovations may attract unexpected and unintended customers. Rule one: Take the money. Rule two: Learn who’s buying your product, ask them why and give them more reasons. That’s a lot easier than asking people who aren’t interested ‘Why not?’ and trying to change their minds.” - Once you ship, then you flip
“Listen to customers for ideas. That’s difficult because an entrepreneur must often ignore the advice of naysayers who say it can’t be done. Once it is done, and you have customers, it’s time to start listening to feedback.” - Niche yourself
“Find your place. Be unique. Don’t be a ‘me too’.” - Don’t let the bozos get you down
“IBM chairman Thomas Watson asserted in 1943 that the total worldwide market for computers was “maybe five.” These companies thought about what they already did, rather than what could be done next. Ignore them.”
Kawasaki admitted he was a bozo himself once. In the mid-1990s, he was offered an interview for the CEO position at Yahoo. He declined as he saw the web as just another thing to do with a computer modem. “By my calculation, this decision cost me $2 billion.”