The document outlines 10 new rules for innovation and entrepreneurship. The rules encourage focusing on creating value rather than just making money, prioritizing building a strong team over a single brilliant founder, planning iteratively rather than sticking rigidly to a plan, embracing failure as a learning opportunity, bootstrapping businesses rather than relying on venture capital, incorporating global knowledge from the start, adapting quickly to changes, validating business ideas with customers before building products, recognizing that change takes time to be widely adopted, and understanding that people drive innovation more than technology. The document is a presentation by Bill Reichert of Garage Technology Ventures outlining new principles for unreasonable success in innovation.

1. The Art of Innovation
New Rules for the New Era
of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Finnish Business Angels Network
Sept. 20, 2012
Bill Reichert
Managing Director
Garage Technology Ventures

2. The Engine of Progress
“The reasonable man adapts himself to
the world;
the unreasonable one persists in trying to
adapt the world to himself.
Therefore, all progress depends on the
unreasonable man.” [ … or woman ]
-- George Bernard Shaw

3. Reasonable or Unreasonable?

4. The Art of Innovation
Top Ten New Rules
for Unreasonable Success

5. 1. Fundamental Objective
Old Rule:
n Make money
New Rule:
n Create value

6. 2. Getting Started
Old Rule:
n Brilliant founder
New Rule:
n Brilliant team

7. The Brilliant Team . . .
A Parable:
n The Optimist,
the Pessimist,
and the Engineer

8. 3. Management Style
Old Rule:
n Plan the work, work the plan
New Rule:
n Plan as you go

9. 3. Management Style . . .
Garage 24 Hour Rule:
n Only 24 hours to
develop your plan
before you go out and
start testing it

10. 4. Focus
Old Rule:
n Failure is not an option
New Rule:
n Failure is a requirement

11. 4. Focus . . .
. . . but you better hit your plan!!

12. 5. Business Model
Old Rule:
n Raise venture capital
New Rule:
n Bootstrap

13. 6. Foundation of Innovation
Old Rule:
n Good old Finnish know-how
New Rule:
n Good new Global know-how

14. 7. Competitive Advantage
Old Rule:
n First mover advantage
New Rule:
n Fast adaptor advantage

15. 8. Marketing Strategy
Old Rule:
n Build it and they will come
New Rule:
n If they come we will build it

16. 8. Marketing Strategy . . .
"We reversed the traditional development
process: design, build, and sell.
We sell, design, and build and that has
saved us from innumerable problems.”
─ VP Marketing, Seagate

17. 9. Pace of Change
Old Rule:
n The pace of change is
accelerating
New Rule:
n Change takes time

18. Pace of Change . . .
Progress is slower than we think:
n Energy
n Software
n Bandwidth
n Medicine
n Transportation
n Television.

19. 10. Source of Innovation
Old Rule:
n Technology drives innovation
New Rule:
n People trump technology

20. Bonus: Pitching to Investors
Old Rule:
n It’s about the ROI
New Rule:
n It’s about LOVE

21. Top Ten New Rules
1. Create value
2. It’s all about the team
3. Plan as you go
4. Fail early and often
5. Learn to bootstrap
6. Go global day one
7. Be a fast adaptor
8. Build your business outside in
9. Be realistic about pace of adoption
10. People trump technology

22. The Art of Innovation
Bill Reichert
Managing Director
Garage Technology Ventures