Kodak and Polaroid, the two most famous camera companies of the 20th century, had a great partnership for 20+ years. Then in an inexplicable turnabout Kodak decided to destroy Polaroid’s business. To this day, every story of why Kodak went to w

The Secret History of Polaroid CEO Edwin Land

5 days ago 9m 6s

The connections between the world of national security and commercial companies still has surprises.

Founders Need to Be Ruthless When Chasing Deals

Apr 17th, 2024 8m 44s

One of the most exciting things a startup CEO in a business-to-business market can hear from a potential customer is, “We’re excited. When can you come back and show us a prototype?”This can be the beginning of a profitable customer relations

Is a $100 Million Enough?

Mar 5th, 2024 3m 24s

Capitalism has been good to me. After serving in the military during Vietnam, I came home and had a career in eight startups. I got to retire when I was 45. Over the last quarter century, in my third career, I helped create the methods entrepre

Apple Vision Pro – Tech in the Search of a Market

Feb 24th, 2024 7m 43s

If you haven’t been paying attention Apple has started shipping its Apple Vision Pro, its take on a headset that combines Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). The product is an amazing technical tour de force. But the product/market

Technology, Innovation, and Great Power Competition – 2023 Wrap Up

Feb 9th, 2024 11m 34s

We just wrapped up the third year of our Technology, Innovation, and Great Power Competition class –part of Stanford’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.Joe Felter, Mike Brown and I teach the class to:Give our students an a

The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates

Jan 17th, 2024 28m 48s

Silicon Valley emerged from work in World War II led by Stanford professor Fred Terman developing microwave and electronics for Electronic Warfare systems. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, spurred on by Terman, Silicon Valley was selling microwave com

The Department of Defense Is Getting Its Innovation Act Together – But More Can Be Done

Jan 17th, 2024 8m 26s

Despite the clear and present danger of threats from China and elsewhere, there’s no agreement on what types of adversaries we’ll face; how we’ll fight, organize, and train; and what weapons or systems we’ll need for future fights. Instead, dev

Even the Smartest VCs Sometimes Get it Wrong – Bill Gurley and Regulated Markets

Nov 9th, 2023 16m 44s

Bill Gurley was one of Silicon Valley’s smartest and most successful VCs. He recently gave a talk at the All-In Summit that was really two talks in one. The first part was railing against the consequences of regulatory capture on innovation and

Leaving Government for the Private Sector – Part 2

Oct 30th, 2023 14m 20s

Laura Thomas is a former CIA operations officer. Reading how she moved in 2021 from CIA ops to a quantum technology company offered insightful career transition advice for those leaving her agency. Most of her lessons were applicable to any gov

Leaving Government for the Private Sector – Part 1

Oct 13th, 2023 11m 55s

Laura Thomas is a former CIA operations officer. Reading how she moved in 2021 from CIA ops into a quantum technology company offered insightful career transition advice for those leaving her agency. Most of her lessons were applicable to any g

Profound Beliefs

Sep 8th, 2023 8m 16s

In the early stages of a startup your hypotheses about all the parts of your business model are your profound beliefs. Think of profound beliefs as “strong opinions loosely held.” You can’t be an effective founder or in the C-suite of a startup

Before there was Oppenheimer there was Vannevar Bush

Aug 31st, 2023 17m 55s

I just saw the movie Oppenheimer. A wonderful movie on multiple levels.But the Atomic Bomb story that starts at Los Alamos with Oppenheimer and General Grove misses the fact that from mid-1940 to mid-1942 it was Vannevar Bush (and his number

Lean Meets Wicked Problems

Jul 30th, 2023 11m 9s

I just spent a month and a half at Imperial College London co-teaching a “Wicked” Entrepreneurship class. In this case Wicked doesn’t mean morally evil, but refers to really complex problems, ones with multiple moving parts, where the solution

Reorganizing the DoD to Deter China and Win in the Ukraine – A Road Map for Congress

Apr 30th, 2023 8m 40s

Today, the U.S. is supporting a proxy war with Russia while simultaneously attempting to deter a China cross-strait invasion of Taiwan. Both are wakeup calls that victory and deterrence in modern war will be determined by a state’s ability to b

Playing With Fire – ChatGPT

Apr 4th, 2023 11m 26s

Artificial Intelligence has been the technology right around the corner for at least 50 years. Last year a set of specific AI apps caught everyone’s attention as AI finally crossed from the era of niche applications to the delivery of transform

Startups that Have Employees In Offices Grow 3½ Times Faster

Feb 16th, 2023 6m 53s

Data shows that pre-seed and seed startups with employees showing up in a physical office have 3½ times higher revenue growth than those that are solely remote. Let the discussion begin. During the pandemic, companies engaged in one of the larg

Is a Venture Studio Right for You?

Jan 19th, 2023 11m 16s

Three types of organizations – Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Studios – have emerged to reduce the risk of early-stage startup failure by helping teams find product/market fit and raise initial capital. Venture Studios are an “idea factor

Be Where Your Business Is

Jan 14th, 2023 8m 52s

A CEO running a B-to-B startup in needs to live in the city where their business is – or else they’ll never scale.

Technology, Innovation, and Great Power Competition – 2022 Wrap Up

Jan 10th, 2023 15m 27s

We just wrapped up the second year of our Technology, Innovation, and Great Power Competition class – now part of our Stanford Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.Joe Felter, Raj Shah and I designed the class to 1) give our s

Why The Pentagon Can’t Count: It’s Time to Reinvent the Audit

Dec 5th, 2022 10m 23s

In the past, headlines about the Pentagon failing its financial audit again would never have caught my attention. But having been in the middle of this conversation when I served on one of the Defense Department’s advisory boards, I understand

The 6th Lean Innovation Educators Summit – Education & Innovation in the Age of Chaos and Disruption

Nov 15th, 2022 4m

Join Jerry Engel, Pete Newell, and Steve Weinstein for the sixth edition of the Lean Innovation Educators Summit December 14, 1-4 pm Eastern Time, 10 am-1 pm Pacific Time. This virtual gathering will bring together entrepreneurship educators fr

The Three Pillars of World-class Corporate Innovation

Nov 12th, 2022 5m 11s

My good friend Alexander Osterwalder, the inventor of the business model canvas (one of foundations of the Lean Methodology) has written a playbook (along with his associate partner Tendayi Viki,) From Innovation Theater to Growth Engine to exp

A Simple Map for Innovation at Scale

Oct 29th, 2022 11m 38s

I spent last week at a global Fortune 50 company offsite watching them grapple with disruption. This 100+-year-old company has seven major product divisions, each with hundreds of products. Currently a market leader, they’re watching a new and

Mapping the Unknown – The Ten Steps to Map Any Industry

Oct 1st, 2022 8m 29s

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lǎozi 老子I just had lunch with Shenwei, one of my ex-students who had just taken a job in a mid-sized consulting firm. After a bit of catching up I offered he was looking a bit lost. “I