Innovation Flow

My daughter's high school science book says that Edison is the Inventor of the Electric Bulb - but that's not true. When Edison started his research on the incandescent bulb, It was known for more than 60 years that passing a current through a filament will make it glow. It took a series of breakthrough inventions for Edison to demonstrate a bulb that could work for 100 hours. He applied for a patent as soon as he reached this milestone and got one. But he didn't stop here. A fter inventing the incandescent bulb, he asked what do my customers need to use this product - they need electricity - How do I generate and safely distribute Electricity (just like the way gas was distributed at that time) ? If he had not asked this critical question (though it may appear obvious now), the ecosystem would not have been ready to receive his innovation. Posterity would say that his innovation was ahead of its time. By thinking about the infrastructure that is needed for his inven...

The magical thing about 10 x is that it instantly moves us away from incremental thinking and dares us to think out-of-the-box. We are made to ask questions that we would have never asked before. What should we do to sell our product at 10 x the present price ? To answer this question, we need to understand why folks buy our product - what do they perceive as the value offered by this product - how can we enhance this perceived value ten fold ? What do the Customers buy this product for ? When will they be ready to pay 10 x more price willingly ? Coffee in the ordinary hotels in Bangalore is not more than Rs 10. A cup of coffee at Coffee Day costs ~ Rs 50 - let us understand why Customers are ready to 5 x higher price - are they paying for the coffee or for something else ? CCD - A lot can happen over coffee - CCD is seen more as a "fun" place where youngsters come in groups and have a good time chatting over coffee. It is a hangout zone for youth an...