iMedia

"Shoot for the Moon, not the tops of trees"

The new book Googled: The End of the World as We Know it, demonstrates that innovation is by its nature unpredictable and powerful. Christian Science Monitor :

Ken Auletta, an author and a longtime columnist for the The New Yorker, documents the meteoric rise of Google from its humble beginnings through its multibillion-dollar profits in his latest book, Googled: The End of the World as We Know It. As the latter half of the title suggests, Auletta’s work is more than just a history of Google and a biography of its principals. It is rather a tripartite inspection of modern technological innovation, the decline of traditional media (print journalism, music CDs, etc.) and its revenue stream (advertising sales), and the ways in which Google serves as a flash point for many of the successes and controversies surrounding the Digital Age.

The unofficial motto of the organization known for its unorthodox workplace and tens of billions in revenue is "shoot for the moon, not the tops of trees." Just as Google rose to challenge Microsoft and its business, the company's ambition and size doesn't make it invincible either, but it does show just how one well executed breakthrough innovation can change everything.

Paul Saffo: U.S. entering "creator economy"

In the latest BusinessWeek innovation podcast, futurist Paul Saffo describes the emerging creator economy and traces its origins to the crushing success of the consumer economy. It's brief, so have a listen.

Steinbeck's economic theory

What would John Steinbeck have to do with the current economic malaise? Plenty, if Justin Wolfers is be believed. From agency theory to behavioral economics, economics is finally coming to grips with human desire.        

Wayne

Kentucky Innovation: Commercializing 3D Scanning and Nanotechnologies

From visualization technologies to nano-templates, participants at the April 2009 Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference describe the technologies that they hope to commercialize.

Serious games manufacture great experiences

In this brief iMedia Kentucky interview, game designer Jane McGonigal describes the explosion of opportunities in games designed and carried out in real life, not on-screen.

Like smokestacks of another age, such games signal the 21st production of another valuable resource, good experiences. Experience design is valuable to schools, manufacturing, health care, tourism and travel or any industry, really, where happy clients and customers are needed.

Collaborating via games can also help develop new scenarios and contribute in general to the knowing enterprise. And, finally, software derived from good game design, as she points out, is used in businesses to improve teamwork.

Jane McGonigal recently spoke a the 2008 IdeaFestival in Louisville, where she described alternate reality games as "happiness engines".

"Permission-based" innovation

Seth Godin famously came up with the phrase "permission-based marketing" to capture how the business dialog had become a two-way street. Businesses and organizations could no longer simply flood individuals with information and expect a significant return in an attention-challenged word.

Similarly, having successfully captured a significant share of the browser market from Microsoft, the open source organization Mozilla has an idea about how to make innovation a participatory process. In a "best of" McKinsey quarterly interview (free registration required) Mozilla Foundation chairman and former CEO Mitchell Baker had this to say about innovation:

The Quarterly: How do you think about your role in enabling innovation in the communities?

Mitchell Baker: Sometimes, just giving people permission does wonders. Consider our quality control process. We have a public process for finding, tracking, and correcting bugs in the code we’re developing, and thousands of people are involved. When several people within the community began to take leadership in that effort, someone who worked with me said, 'All we need to do is tell these people it’s OK.' So that’s what we did. We said to the leader, 'You’re awesome; keep doing what you’re doing.' And after that, he became our release driver. There are more people like that than you would expect.

Baker also describes how up to 40 percent of the code that makes its way into the browser comes from volunteer community.

Wayne

Recession: How will it affect consumerism?

How will consumerism change as a result of the recession? Using data collected from four cities, one of which is Lexington, one firm specializing in "consumer anthropology" believes that the current economic stress will be culturally redefining as well, leading to the "grounded consumer." For the right business this difficult transition goes by another name, "opportunity." Hat tip: Experientia

Kentucky BioAlliance: Biotech thriving in Commonwealth

Kentucky BioAlliance held its annual event yesterday in Lexington, KY, featured Joel Ivers from the Drug Enhancement Company of America (DECA), located in Union, KY. DECA is a privately held pharmaceutical development organization dedicated to the creation of innovative healthcare technologies and products. The Kentucky BioAlliance is a gateway for increased collaboration and knowledge exchange among bioscience industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and institutions across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Following Ivers' presentation, Ben Keeton, the Executive Director of the Kentucky BioAlliance described the alliance in an audio clip that has been added to the right side of iMedia Kentucky under "radio." 

If you're interested in learning more about biotechnology in Kentucky, Keeton is also the subject of an iMedia Kentucky video.

Forge Louisville

Organized by Matt Winn of Chrysalis Ventures to foster entrepreneurship in the city and surrounding region, Forge Louisville took place at Proof on Main/21C in downtown Louisville on Wednesday night. 

Sean O'Leary and Sterling Lapinski, co-founders of Genscape, gave a presentation on starting a business and raising capital in difficult economic times. Over 75 people attended the event, and this was made up of mostly entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers.

Ben Jennings, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation

Better credit markets in New Year?

More from the Dealmaking in Healthcare Forum in New York City.

Markets driven by fear will hopefully end in early 2009. The garbage is being flushed. Jim Fuller, VP, Siemens Financial Services, does not expect a loosening of credit markets until after the first of the year. They will begin to loosen if year-end earnings reports are no worse than expected. Pamela Levy, Managing Director, Bank of America Securities, expects that markets will open in 2009 but debt ratios will be lower and bank debt will have more covenants to help reduce risk.

Reported by Matt McGarvey, VP, KSTC