Steven Hoffman - Make Elephants Fly: The Process of Radical Innovation

My goal in writing this book is to expose the process of innovation behind the worlds startup factory and its ability to reshape our lives and fortunes. Ive spent the past decade in San Francisco working with hundreds of startup founders, helping them understand the underlying methods, models, and mind-set of Silicon Valley and put those to use in coming up with breakthrough products and services. What I can tell you is that innovation isnt straightforward. Its not linear. Its an unpredictable, impractical, and incredibly difficult process, which is why so many people and companies fail at it. Its like trying to make an elephant fly. But its also responsible for most of the wealth creation today, and if you arent innovating, youre going to miss out.

Whether you work for yourself or someone else, in todays world you will need to innovate to stay competitive. It doesnt matter if youre a startup founder, corporate executive, small business owner, freelancer, or professional, theres a technology out there thats going to upend your industry. And if you arent able to harness it to your advantage, someone else will. Innovation is no longer an optionits the price of admission into the business world.

Almost every major company today has made innovation its number one priority. Yet fewer than one in four executives believe their organizations are effective innovators. The pressure to innovate and the price paid for failure keeps rising, while most companies havent progressed at all. They are still using the same antiquated techniques pioneered decades ago. This is why some of the biggest corporations in the world manage to lose entire markets to startups theyve never heard of.

As the Captain of Founders Space, one of the leading incubators and accelerators in the world, Ive been on the front lines of innovation. They call me Captain Hoff, and I work hands-on with startups in Silicon Valley, helping them develop their business models, create breakout products, raise capital, and scale their companies. Throughout this process, the founders are constantly experimenting, failing, and learning from their mistakes. As their teacher and mentor, Ive gained valuable insights into exactly how successful teams take rough, half-formed ideas and transform them into the next blockbusters.

In this book, Im going to show you the process by which successful startups and established corporations come up with new products and services, as well as answer the critical questions every innovator needs to know:

How do Silicon Valley entrepreneurs innovate?

Why do some of the smartest companies fail during the process of innovation?

Whats the best way to structure innovation teams?

Who should be on those teams and what skills should they possess?

How can innovation be put into practice inside larger organizations?

Which methodologies and processes yield lasting results?

How do you identify the next billion-dollar opportunity?

Finding answers to these questions isnt easy. Innovating is complex, messy, and often opaque. That said, Im going to explain this process step-by-step and show exactly what it takes to replicate it inside your company. Ill make clear how you can take these lessons and apply them to any established organization, from startups and family-owned businesses to multinational corporations.

The reason I believe Im a good teacher is because I have done the work myself. I cofounded three different venture-funded startups. Ive been in the trenches struggling to find the right path for my companies. I know how hard it can be. I witnessed the rise and collapse of the dot-com bubble. I lived through the 2008 financial crisis. I rode several of the biggest tech waves, and Ive taken all my experience, successes, and travails and used them as the foundation for my teaching.

Ive also worked for large, public companies, including Infospace and SEGA; coached managers from multinationals, like IBM, Fujitsu, and Huawei; and helped numerous family-owned companies across Asia. Because of my diverse background, Im able to look at innovation from both the perspective of a bootstrapped entrepreneur and a corporate executive. In this book, I approach innovation from both points of view. I show how innovation works in startups as well as in some of the worlds largest conglomerates.

So what is Founders Space? Founders Space is an incubator and accelerator for startup companies. Most people dont understand exactly what incubators and accelerators do, so I will explain.

Incubators, like Bill Grosss Idealab, typically begin with their own ideas and then put together the team, funding, resources, and relationships necessary to transform a concept into a successful business.

Accelerators dont form companies. Instead, they recruit already existing companies which are at an early stage in their development, and provide them with the mentoring, resources, relationships, training, and funding necessary to accelerate their growth.

How did I get started forming my own incubator and accelerator? Five years ago, after Id finished my third venture-funded startup, I was taking a break. At this time, many of my friends were launching their own startups in Silicon Valley, and they came to me for assistance. Steve, you have to help me! my friends would say. How do I get funded? How do you put together a business plan? Who should I have on my board of advisors?