3. Most Things Suck.
• But, It’s Easy 2 Make Them Better.
– Especially Because of Technology.
– And Because of Tony Stark.
– They Make it Easy To Copy & Improve their Innovations
• TIP: DO NOT TRY TO BE TONY STARK.
• JUST COPY / USE THEIR STUFF. (and Make It Slightly Better)
• 99% of the time -- Copy/Use Other People’s Amazing Stuff.
• 1% of the time -- Come Up With Your Own Innovative Stuff.
• Improve the Innovation by 1% Every Month.
4. Over Time, Things Sucks Less.
• Fire
• The Wheel
• Farming
• Pigs, Cows, Chickens
• Iron, Steel
• Ships
• Printing Press
• Textiles
• Steam Engine
• Electricity
• Cars, Airplanes
• Telephone
• Radio, TV
• Cable
• The Internet
• Social Networks
• FB, Twitter, YouTube
• Mobile Phones
5. Why No Flying Cars Yet?
(Teleportation? Sexy Robots?)
• Because That Stuff is Really Hard.
• Not So Many Tony Starks / Elon Musks Around.
• You Ain’t All That Smart.
• Or That Rich.
• But, You Might Get To Use Their Stuff.
6. We Are Mental Midgets
Who Stand on Shoulders of Giant Geeks
• Da Vinci
• Sir Isaac Newton
• James Watt
• Nicola Tesla
• Marie Curie
• Gates
• Jobs
• Bezos
• Larry & Sergei
• Zuck
8. You Don’t Have to be Tony Stark
• Just Copy/Use the Stuff that Tony Stark Makes.
– Tip: Since Most People Suck, They Won’t Notice U Aren’t Tony Stark.
• Copy/Use 99% All The Amazing Stuff Out There.
• Innovate on the other 1%.
• Innovate 1% More Every Month.
• Then Kick Back and Have a Beer.
9. Most Businesses Suck @ Innovation.
• They Don’t Know Technology.
• They Don’t Know How to Code.
• They Don’t Know SEO or SEM.
• They Don’t Know Email Marketing.
• They Don’t Know Social, Video, Local, Mobile.
• They Don’t Know Good Design or UX.
• They Don’t Know How to Cut & Paste.
• They Don’t Know How to Use PayPal.
10. Most Things Are Not Amazing.
• But, We Can Easily Make Most Things Better.
• Tech + Web = Reduced Overhead Costs.
• Search + Social Platforms = Better Marketing.
• Copy Existing Business Model = Reduced Risk.
• FOCUS = Make ONEthing / SOMEthing Better.
12. Formula 4 Awesome:
Notice Things That Suck. Make Them Suck Less.
• Most Brick & Mortar Businesses Are Inefficient.
• Lots of Overhead, Shitty UX, Crappy Marketing.
• Copy Their Business Model (It Already Works).
• Reduce Overhead Cost (Go Online).
• Increase Marketing Efficiency (Go Online).
• Copy/Integrate 99% Awesome Stuff (aka Tech)
• Innovate on the Remaining 1%.
• Keep Innovating 1%. Every Month.
• Beat Them Like a Drum, Every Day & 2x on Sunday.
13. Ok, Let’s Try It.
• Find an existing, physical-world big dumb business
that makes money, but kinda sucks.
• Verify they have high overhead costs, inefficient
[offline] marketing, crappy service.
• Copy the business model, reduce overhead costs,
improve marketing.
• Add some awesome technology, and then innovate
on ONE important thing.
16. 3 Basic Types of Brands:
Virgin, Southwest, [Niche]
• Virgin = “Mass Luxury” (+ sexy)
– High-End Look & Feel, priced just barely within reach of most
middle-class customers, who love the “red-carpet” treatment
• Southwest = “Convenience & Value” (+ funny)
– Shit that just works, not very expensive, great value for
everybody. (Who doesn’t like Southwest?)
• [Niche] = “Just for You & Me”
– Designed for well-defined customer segments / attributes.
– Less competition, higher margins, better retention
– Ex: Gay, Old, Black, Short, Female, Moms, Left-Handed, Etc
20. 500 Startups: Global Seed Fund
Over 100+ startups outside US, in 35+ countries
• Q4/12 added: Germany, Korea, Peru; + Russia, Israel, Turkey in Q1/13
• Priorities in 2012: Brazil, Mexico, India
• Priorities In 2013: China, SE Asia, MENA, Eastern Europe