Strategy is core to innovation as without solid long-term strategy all the
efforts put into innovation will not lead to right results. Also, strategy
helps define innovation as it helps in answering the following questions:
Does the company really need to grow organically or is inorganic growth a
better option? Does the company need to build the innovative product, or can
it partner or buy another player with right technology? Is this the right
time to innovate and get this product out? What kind of financials should the
company expect? What is the right time frame for innovative business to be
profitable?
Many such strategic questions need to be answered by innovative leaders. And
many leaders rely on strategy frameworks to help them answer these questions.
When it comes to strategy frameworks there is no one size that fits all, and
hence I would like to share my op... (more)
Like most summers in Silicon Valley, CA this summer had a few weeks of really
hot temperatures that required use of air conditioner. But what was different
this year was that I did not crank up my air conditioner to cool my living
area. I managed to keep the AC off by implementing quite a few energy saving
tips and one of them is the solar attic fan that I installed at the beginning
of summer. For those who do not know much about solar attic fans, these are
fans used to cool attic temperature and they run using the electricity
generated by the solar panels. They have one small pa... (more)
Recently I had the opportunity to review the final manuscript of Elton B.
Sherwin’s forthcoming book “Addicted to Energy: A Venture Capitalist’s
Perspective on How to Save Our Economy and Our Climate”. While the book is
scheduled to be published in the spring of 2010, a pre-release edition is
available at Amazon.com this month. I [...]
... (more)
Recently I attended the “State of Green Business Forum 2010″ organized by
Greenbiz.com in San Francisco.
There were a lot of Good and Not So Good discussions during the forum and I
would like to share a few of them with you.
Overall, I think it was a good event to attend and to learn from others in
the cleantech industry.
Moreover, I got an opportunity to connect with some cleantech gurus like Marc
Gunther and Andrew Winston.
The Good Zero Waste Upgrade of Empire State Building Windows: Serious
Materials CEO Kevin Surace talked about energy efficiency retrofitting of
Empire St... (more)
During my management consulting years, I had the good fortune of working on
some key operational and strategy issues. I also had a good fortune of
working for Deloitte Center for the Edge as a research fellow, where I
learned about Li & Fung and their operational process networks. This topic is
covered well in the forthcoming book by John Seely Brown, John Hagel and Lang
Davison called “The Power of Pull”, a book which I would recommend to all
business leaders.
To give you a brief background about Li & Fung, it operates in many
industries managing supply chains for major brands ... (more)
“Business Executive who is passionate about discovering innovative concepts and converting them to revenue earning businesses. Happily married to a beautiful woman, and has two lovely kids. Avid skier, photographer and story-teller”
I have spent about 5+ years in management consulting industry focused on “Growth Strategy” challenges. During those years, I have helped many clients devise some innovative strategies. Through the execution of those strategies, I have learned that Innovation is more of an Art than Science. And there is a lot more effort that goes into developing a successful business than just an innovative idea (ideas really a dime a dozen). So I have decided to share my learning through this blog. Hopefully you would enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy writing it.
David Lucas
Cathy Lopez
Shaul Efraim
Terence Martin Breslin
Cory Marchand
David Hughes
James Carlini
John Iffert
Dan Stolts
Joe Zeto
