The Innovators Studio with Phil McKinney

It can be extremely frustrating when your ideas can't seem to secure support or backing. Why? Is it the idea or is it you?

In this weeks show, I share some of my personal lessons learned along with the collection of frustrations and lessons learned from my mentoring and coaching clients on the challenges of securing backing for an idea.

8 Reasons Why Your Ideas Don't Get Backed

Your idea is too small

If its small/simple, then just do it. You have permission.

Take your idea a “PLUS IT” 

Question: What would 10x your idea look like?

Your pitch for the idea is underwhelming

Do not assume that others “should just get it”

Tell a story (3 act play) 

Question: How could you create an experience (no PowerPoint) to show & tell your ideas?

You haven’t thought through all of the questions that others will ask you

What is the hardest/toughest question someone could ask about your idea? Answer it

Proof that you’ve thought long and hard about the idea is your preparation for the questions you will get asked

Create and update a FAQ

Question: What is the hardest/toughest question you will asked about your ideas? Answer it ..

It's just an idea

How much time have you really spent in deliberate thinking about the idea?

If its less a few 100 hours, then you haven’t made an investment into the idea

Question: Why is your idea so great? Ask “why” 5 times?

You haven’t thought about the resources you need 

What time, people and funding will you need?

How did you come up with that projection?

What’s the risk that you’ve missed on this estimate?

How will limit the downside risk while not being overly conservative?

Question: What resources will you need?  What are the options to execute while limiting risk/exposure?

You’ve ignored or denied that there is real competition to your idea

Every idea has competition, even if its the customer “not” doing today 

For each competition ask yourself — Who are they? Why are the competition? What is the switch barrier? What is the switching cost?

Everything has switching cost.

In technology/consumer electronics,  the “new thing” needs be 10x better, 10x fast and/or 10x cheaper to get over switching costs (e.g. Dvorak versus qwerty keyboard example)

Question: Who is your conception and why are you unique/different?

The impact is underwhelming and/or uninteresting

With limited resources, and good supply of ideas, teams should be working on ideas with the biggest impact

You are competing for a limited set of resources

Question:Why should someone back your idea over another?

You haven’t convinced me their others who want/need your idea

What validation have you done to prove that the idea solves a need/want of a customer

Get up — and go talk to prospects and validate your idea

The “starbucks” approach (gorilla validation)

Video tape — show it to the person who need to convince ..

Question: How could you show, in your prospects words, why your idea is needed in the marketplace?

 

Additional Innovation Resources:

* Managing the Fuzzy Front End Of The Innovation Funnel S12 Ep31

* The Insider’s Guide to Innovation by M&A S12 Ep36

*

It can be extremely frustrating when your ideas can't seem to secure support or backing. Why? Is it the idea or is it you?

In this weeks show, I share some of my personal lessons learned along with the collection of frustrations and lessons learned from my mentoring and coaching clients on the challenges of securing backing for an idea.

8 Reasons Why Your Ideas Don't Get Backed

Your idea is too small

If its small/simple, then just do it. You have permission.

Take your idea a “PLUS IT” 

Question: What would 10x your idea look like?

Your pitch for the idea is underwhelming

Do not assume that others “should just get it”

Tell a story (3 act play) 

Question: How could you create an experience (no PowerPoint) to show & tell your ideas?

You haven’t thought through all of the questions that others will ask you

What is the hardest/toughest question someone could ask about your idea? Answer it

Proof that you’ve thought long and hard about the idea is your preparation for the questions you will get asked

Create and update a FAQ

Question: What is the hardest/toughest question you will asked about your ideas? Answer it ..

It's just an idea

How much time have you really spent in deliberate thinking about the idea?

If its less a few 100 hours, then you haven’t made an investment into the idea

Question: Why is your idea so great? Ask “why” 5 times?

You haven’t thought about the resources you need 

What time, people and funding will you need?

How did you come up with that projection?

What’s the risk that you’ve missed on this estimate?

How will limit the downside risk while not being overly conservative?

Question: What resources will you need?  What are the options to execute while limiting risk/exposure?

You’ve ignored or denied that there is real competition to your idea

Every idea has competition, even if its the customer “not” doing today 

For each competition ask yourself — Who are they? Why are the competition? What is the switch barrier? What is the switching cost?

Everything has switching cost.

In technology/consumer electronics,  the “new thing” needs be 10x better, 10x fast and/or 10x cheaper to get over switching costs (e.g. Dvorak versus qwerty keyboard example)

Question: Who is your conception and why are you unique/different?

The impact is underwhelming and/or uninteresting

With limited resources, and good supply of ideas, teams should be working on ideas with the biggest impact

You are competing for a limited set of resources

Question:Why should someone back your idea over another?

You haven’t convinced me their others who want/need your idea

What validation have you done to prove that the idea solves a need/want of a customer

Get up — and go talk to prospects and validate your idea

The “starbucks” approach (gorilla validation)

Video tape — show it to the person who need to convince ..

Question: How could you show, in your prospects words, why your idea is needed in the marketplace?

 

Additional Innovation Resources:

* Managing the Fuzzy Front End Of The Innovation Funnel S12 Ep31

* The Insider’s Guide to Innovation by M&A S12 Ep36

*

Getting innovation advice from actual innovators is invaluable. In this weeks, show, we hear from Tyler Reynolds, the CEO and Co-founder of Trinity Mobile Networks. Tyler and his co-founder, Stephen Hall, are innovators who were inspired to innovate a solution to a problem they themselves had. During the show, Tyler shares how the idea behind Trinity […]

Getting innovation advice from actual innovators is invaluable. In this weeks, show, we hear from Tyler Reynolds, the CEO and Co-founder of Trinity Mobile Networks. Tyler and his co-founder,  Stephen Hall, are innovators who were inspired to innovate a solution to a problem they themselves had.

During the show, Tyler shares how the idea behind Trinity started at the Harvard / Yale football game 5 years ago. During the game, Tyler and his co-founder found themselves in the same position most have – no wireless broadband because too many people were on their phones during the game.

Rather than just vent and complaint, they decided to solve the problem. What is interesting is the problem is well known but has been unsolved for decades. Many industry experts had declared that it was impossible to solve. Tyler and Stephen didn't know this and went about and solved this impossible problem.

Topics discussed on this weeks show:

* Inspiration can come from the strangest of places (Harvard / Yale football game)

* Get the idea right (salt & pepper prototype experiment)

* Keep your burn rate as low as possible

* Perseverance. It took 3 years to go from idea to launching the company and another 2 years to launch its first product.

* Be willing to change the idea based on what you learn as you go through the innovation process.

Tyler Reynolds' 3 Pieces of Innovation Advice

* Innovation takes longer than expected: In the case of Trinity, they started with a solution that was fully decentralized and over time proved themselves that in fact, the solution needed to fully centralized. A 180 degree change from where they started. They gave themselves the time to work the idea and get it right.

* Expect and want your idea to be attacked: If you share your idea and everyone “gets it” then you may not have such a great idea. Innovations should expect to be criticized and labeled as impossible.

* Focus on building a business not a technology: Academia is the only place where you can focus only on the idea/technology. Customers don't purchase technology, they purchase solutions and solutions are created by businesses

Background/Show Links:

About Tyler Reynolds

Tyler Reynolds designed the network architecture for Trinity Mobile Networks' software-defined networking platform, TrinitySDN, and leads the company in business development, marketing, enterprise sales, recruiting and fundraising. Connect with him via LinkedIn.

About Trinity Mobile Networks:

TrinitySDN is a multi-network overlay SDN platform with client-side software designed from the ground up for smartphones and other battery-constrained wireless devices. TrinitySDN allows every smartphone and handheld device to become a Wi-Fi extender. Wi-Fi Cellular and Wi-Fi networks appear to end users as a single network. Trinity also helps network operators provide the best QoS, regardless of connection type. Learn more at Trinity Mobile’s website.

You can find more on Upramp at their website.

I have a morning routine where I run down a set of daily questions that help me stay on track and focused on the right things. These question have come about over my years of learning the hard way. The inspiration for the questions came from Ben Franklin who asked himself two questions ever day. […]

I have a morning routine where I run down a set of daily questions that help me stay on track and focused on the right things. These question have come about over my years of learning the hard way.

The inspiration for the questions came from Ben Franklin who asked himself two questions ever day. In the morning, he would ask, “What good shall I do today” and in the evening, he would ask himself, “What good have I done this day?”

I'm a big fan of questions and I'm not along, Albert Einstein reportedly  said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important this is not to stop questioning.”

Here are my 9 daily questions I ask myself ..

9 Daily Questions

* What is my biggest strength?

* Most people don't search for their strength. The focus on what they are good at.

* Stop doing stuff you hate and find your strength so that you can discover your passion.

* Am I having fun?

* Life isn't always fun.

* Overall, you need to enjoy what you are doing to be successful.

* What pain do I want in my life?

* Happiness requires struggles.

* What are you willing to struggle for?

* The quality of your life is not determined by your positive experiences, but the quality of your negative experiences.

* What pain do you want to sustain?

* What will I do today that will matter one year from now?

* Need to get our of the minutia and look at the big picture

* At the top of my daily to-do, I have one (1) big picture item

* Keep your “eyes” up looking the future and not down getting stuck in the tactics.

* Is getting rich worth it?

* Most people hold the illusion that if they had more money, life would be better.

* Then they get rich and they aren't happy.

* If you not happy now, you won't be happy because of money.

* What isn't working?

* Life isn't perfect

* Make a list of what is most crappy

* Some of the biggest impact is to take the worst thing at make it ‘ok'.

* Why so serious?

* I tend to go deep when working on a project – and focus on the little things.

* I'm both a perfectionist and a procrastinator

* This question gives permission that everything doesn't have to be perfect.

* How can I learn from this?

* We all fail.

* Successful people learn from their failings.

* Ask yourself how to turn a failure into a learning experience.

* Do I pick partners and friends who support me, challenge me, encourage me and help me grow?

* We are the average of the five (5) people we spend the most time with

* Think through the people in your life –

* Are they helping you grow?

* Is their life one you would be proud to have as yours?

* Be selective if who you keep in your inner circle

* Surround yourself with people based on you ..

* Common interests

* You values

* Things you consider important to your personal growth

* how you value time, knowledge and friendship

Additional Resources

* 9 Daily Exercises that I Do to Keep My Creative Muscle in Shape

* 15 Ways To Feed Your Creative Mind S12 Ep23

There is an explosion in companies who are securing innovation by M&A (mergers and acquisitions). In the last 36 months, 57% of M&A deals were based on innovation. When companies find themselves behind the market, "innovating by acquisition" becomes a quick way to catch-up through the work of others. At the same time, if an […]

There is an explosion in companies who are securing innovation by M&A (mergers and acquisitions). In the last 36 months, 57% of M&A deals were based on innovation.

When companies find themselves behind the market, “innovating by acquisition” becomes a quick way to catch-up through the work of others. At the same time, if an orgnization is not careful, they can put their own R&D and innovation efforts at risk.

In this weeks show, I shared my experiences in managing innovation by M&A. Topics covered include:

* Is innovation by M&A  the “easiest way” to catch-up?

* Isn't this approach a way to hide a corporate culture where failure is not tolerated?

* Are the M&A teams within an organization ready for this shift?

* Do these teams need to change their tools, methods and decision criteria to be successful?

* Does innovation by M&A have an impact on R&D/innovation activities within an organization?

* How do competitors respond?

* What are the six elements/steps to having a market leading innovation by M&A capability?

* Define your M&A/Innovation strategy

* Think through your options

* Develop a new approach to deal evaluation that accommodates “innovation value“

* Negotiate and close the deal with innovation value in mind

* Integration is harder than it sounds

* Implementation doesn't stop on ‘Day 1'

* What are the most effective strategies for innovation by acquisition?

* Having a clear road-map

* Clarity of objectives

* Defined product road map that is flexible to accept innovations from accusation

* Go-to-market that flexible to accommodate new innovations from the outside

* Strategic Integration

* Team retention and integrations with a strong consideration for culture

* Aligning the innovation by acquisition with long term strategic visions

* Ownership by sponsors

* High degree of involvement by the deal sponsors can greatly improve the success of the deal

 

Additional Resources:

* Innovation By Acquisition (July 2011)

* Here Is The Metric That Can Predict Future Innovation Value

There is an explosion in companies who are securing innovation by M&A (mergers and acquisitions). In the last 36 months, 57% of M&A deals were based on innovation.

When companies find themselves behind the market, “innovating by acquisition” becomes a quick way to catch-up through the work of others. At the same time, if an orgnization is not careful, they can put their own R&D and innovation efforts at risk.

In this weeks show, I shared my experiences in managing innovation by M&A. Topics covered include:

* Is innovation by M&A  the “easiest way” to catch-up?

* Isn't this approach a way to hide a corporate culture where failure is not tolerated?

* Are the M&A teams within an organization ready for this shift?

* Do these teams need to change their tools, methods and decision criteria to be successful?

* Does innovation by M&A have an impact on R&D/innovation activities within an organization?

* How do competitors respond?

* What are the six elements/steps to having a market leading innovation by M&A capability?

* Define your M&A/Innovation strategy

* Think through your options

* Develop a new approach to deal evaluation that accommodates “innovation value“

* Negotiate and close the deal with innovation value in mind

* Integration is harder than it sounds

* Implementation doesn't stop on ‘Day 1'

* What are the most effective strategies for innovation by acquisition?

* Having a clear road-map

* Clarity of objectives

* Defined product road map that is flexible to accept innovations from accusation

* Go-to-market that flexible to accommodate new innovations from the outside

* Strategic Integration

* Team retention and integrations with a strong consideration for culture

* Aligning the innovation by acquisition with long term strategic visions

* Ownership by sponsors

* High degree of involvement by the deal sponsors can greatly improve the success of the deal

 

Additional Resources:

* Innovation By Acquisition (July 2011)

* Here Is The Metric That Can Predict Future Innovation Value

Limiting beliefs are those that constrain you in some way. Just by believing them, we do not think, do or say things because this limiting belief inhibits us. Our limiting beliefs originate from self doubts that then become "rules" we apply to our everday activities. In extreme cases, limiting beliefs can sabatoge our hapiness, our […]