Talks at the Graduate Institute of Technology and Innovation Management at (政大科管所)

Two talks in Taiwan

I will give two presentations at the Graduate Institute of Technology and Innovation Management at National Chengchi University. This is partly a preview on a contribution that I am making to an upcoming book. Mostly, I look forward to exchange experiences and explore ideas with the audience.

March 2nd, 2011 (Wed), 12:30-2:00pm

I plan to talk about

1. interactions amongst formal and informal ecosystems of Silicon Valley,
2. tools and concepts such as real-options analysis and multi-side platform business models,
3. current thinking on topics such as open source and how "foreign" companies engage Silicon Valley.

Location: 政大(台北市文山區指南路二段64號) 商學院九樓908教室

March 4th, 2011 (Fri), 3:30-4:30 pm

I will talk mostly about the practical applications of real-options analysis and multi-sided platforms. And, if there is time, I would like to cover the topic of how to engage Silicon Valley from the outside.

Location: 政大(台北市文山區指南路二段64號) 商學院九樓914教室

Keeping the disruptive innovation advantage

What was

In the technology space, it used to be that innovation advantage came mostly from execution and incremental improvement and were kept in-house. Intel remains a classic example today where its "copy exactly!" methodology ensures its semiconductor production is highly predictable.

Nothing wrong with it. Intel makes awesome products and continues to dominate the global logic chip segment today.

What is

Today, with ideas competing on a global basis and with accelerated concept-to-market deployment, good execution is no longer a sufficient advantage. For example, beyond creating a solid product Google has created an ecosystem of users and supplier that allows a self-sustained cycle to drive its growth.

What will be

As Star Trek's temporal prime directive dictates, even if I know about the future, I couldn't tell you. With that said, a near non sequitur about what the future holds is that as existing industries transform and new ones emerge, the degree of uncertainty and therefore the need to share risk would only increase.

In other words, whoever the next tech darlings may be, they will be the ones most adapt at seeking out information, best at discerning insight from what is known, and most effective in convincing others to participate in the value-chain.

And, yes, you still have to execute like the paranoid Intel and create a strong platform for your business model like Google.

Nobody ever said this is easy.

Internal ecosystems and connections

Tapping internal resources

An often overlooked area where innovative ideas reside is the rank and file of the company. These are the people with a stake in the success of the company and have the deepest knowledge on the top customer concerns and how to get things done. Furthermore, by involving your own employees in innovation, they just might take more ownership of the work and be more productive.

Tools and policies

The most famous example is Google's Innovation Time Off where engineers are encourage to spend up to 20% of their time on a project that they feel passionate about. According to Marissa Mayer of Google, half of their new products in 2005, such as Gmail, can be traced the 20% time off.

Taking a different tact, Intuit, a finance/accounting software company, has built a product called Brainstorm as a way to foster, track, and guide employee innovation across the globe. I have talked with the team leader who built the product. Interestingly, part of its genesis came out of the desire to support and collaborate amongst team members for their own innovation ideas.