"Whether or not we enter the digital age is not a choice anymore. Once man invented the sail, he could not go back to just using the oar. Once man invented the steam engine, he could not pretend that horses were the only way to travel. And once man discovered atomic energy, he had to come to grips with the benefits and risks of his new innovation - from power plants to bombs. Digital technology resides in the same realm as these transformational technologies, and we cannot undo what has been done. This is our digital destiny. This is not what might happen if we choose this road over another. This is what will happen regardless of which road we take." [Gary Shapiro]
Even if the point is not on startups, I find some interesting parallelism.
During the past three years I have been professionally involved in coaching startups, something that has progressively become more than a hobby.
Mutually exchanging the daily experience in an established company and the agility of startups has provided me pretty much enlarged views.
Any time I attend to a new pitch, I am provided with a valuable marketing drill down, for free. These wannabe entrepreneurs get very close to their potential customers and give me hands on insight on their needs.
Apart from that, they struggle to satisfy those needs, with creativity and keen concreteness. They find new solutions to newly discovered problems, trying to make peoples' desires come true.
Well, if you work in an established company, doesn't it sound familiar to you?
This might sound quite granted for anybody having had a touch of Silicon Valley culture. But one month ago I attended a conference where, according to a survey submitted to a thousand managers, investing energy (not necessarily and only money) in startups is the ultimate driver.
After seven years of global economic crisis, who can afford old style, monolithic investment in research and innovation?
There's much talk about the opportunity, the vital need to listen to and possibly disclose in advance customers' needs to gain competitive advantage through innovative market value proposition.
And many companies appreciate appearing in articles related to startups contests as well. Looking related to startups sounds so cutting-edge.
But what's the real investment companies are making on such innovation opportunity?
I believe startups are the most concrete possibility to invest in innovation in a sustainable, scalable, affordable way. That means becoming able to capitalize internal assets and competence to raise the odds of startups to make their project successful ... and to turn that into new enterprise, valuable business.
Innovations from startups maybe won't save the world, but radical innovation will happen, whether established companies will recognize it or not. The digital revolution is in progress and startups are proving their sensitivity to its potential. They really are more than an opportunity.
I think developing the ability to give value to startups and gain from their innovative potential is no more an opportunity, but a necessary lever any manager should mature and have as a monkey wrench in their tool case.
Let's contribute to create new bridges among established companies and startups.
