Pictures from IBM Smartcamp Bangalore 2011

Some pictures from the IBM Smartcamp's Bangalore leg on 27-Apr-2011. Here is a report in business standard.

IBM Smartcamp experience

I was in elite company as one of the mentors, in the Bangalore leg of IBM SmartCamp 2011. SmartCamp is an exclusive global program bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and experienced mentors who want to build a Smarter Planet.The finals was held yesterday (27-Apr). The Bangalore leg received a record 230 applications, which was pruned to 48 and then after interviewing, it was further shortlisted to the final 5.

Here are some observations:

• The buzzwords clearly were cloud technologies, mobile computing, green technologies (energy saving, remote monitoring etc.,) and to an extent social networking. Everyone we spoke to, had atleast two of these in their products.
• We saw companies that were just 1-2 (mainly founders) members, to about 15-20 and about 100+ is size. They were looking for funding from just about anything they can get ($250K) to about $8-10M.
• We saw passionate entrepreneurs that were so focused on their expertise, technologists that seem to have built a great technical product but struggling to market, companies with professional management that clearly know where they are going and what needs to be done to get there and folks that have created good traction but need funding to scale.
• One common theme was that they all have started by targeting the India market, but have clear global ambitions.
• Last but not the least - people seem to commit the same mistakes:

• Lack of focus - being everything to everyone
• Technology taking precedence over market - Latest and greatest? Yes. Hard to copy? Yes. Does the market need it? Not sure. Know how to market? No.
• Business model - too many untested assumptions on monetization and being too optimistic on scaling-up
• People - Not being able to attract the right talent
• The tyranny of competence - The I know all syndrome, which affects all the above four. Its so easy to see in others!

IBM has designed the format to make it very beneficial for the entrepreneurs. The mentors had diverse background - the Technologists, the VC community, Sales and Marketing and Academicians. Each panel had atleast one person from every category and the mentoring sessions were helpful because the mentors could build on each other's experience and no aspect of the business was left untouched for questioning and recommending possible solutions. We also were able to use our own network and help connect entrepreneurs to the right people.

The several carefully designed breaks allowed mentors to talk and network with each other. I had a chance to meet-up with several VCs and my pet question was what was their take on world class products coming out of India. Almost all the VCs that I met-up were emphatic and are expecting a sea-change in the next 3-4 years. They are very confident that some BIG products would come out of India. When I asked them what makes them think so, they pointed out a few things:

• Thanks to our economic growth, India is a big market. Product development is easier when you are sitting right next to the market. Indians can now buy.
• Spurt in entrepreneurial growth especially post the last recession. People returning from US and Europe helping know-how of product development
• Increased activity in the eco-system.  More and more VCs have started funding Indian companies, biggies such IBM, Intel etc., taking an active role and interest in the Indian entrepreneurial activities, increased collaboration b/w industry and academia etc.,
• Problems that are unique to India (energy management in towers is a classic example)

It was an enriching experience. Made several contacts, learnt a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.


Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp.ramp@gmail.com

Wharton's Top 30 innovations in the last 30 years

Knowledge@wharton recently published their list of Top 30 innovations, that have changed the life dramatically in the last 30 years.

The list is as follows, in order of importance:

1. Internet, broadband, WWW (browser and html)
2. PC/laptop computers
3. Mobile phones
4. E-mail
5. DNA testing and sequencing/Human genome mapping
6. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
7. Microprocessors
8. Fiber optics
9. Office software (spreadsheets, word processors)
10. Non-invasive laser/robotic surgery (laparoscopy)
11. Open source software and services (e.g., Linux, Wikipedia)
12. Light emitting diodes
13. Liquid crystal display (LCD)
14. GPS systems
15. Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay)
16. Media file compression (jpeg, mpeg, mp3)
17. Microfinance
18. Photovoltaic Solar Energy
19. Large scale wind turbines
20. Social networking via the Internet
21. Graphic user interface (GUI)
22. Digital photography/videography
23. RFID and applications (e.g., EZ Pass)
24. Genetically modified plants
25. Bio fuels
26. Bar codes and scanners
27. ATMs
28. Stents
29. SRAM flash memory
30. Anti retroviral treatment for AIDS

The elite panel of judges defined innovation as more than simply a new invention. "It's something new that creates new opportunities for growth and development". Another qualification the judges used to highlight the most sophisticated, powerful innovations was the problem-solving value.

Tom Peters on Innovation

One of my heroes and uber management guru Tom Peters, has come up with a list of 121 tactics, for/on innovation. Each tactic is a nugget in itself, in typical Tom Peters style. He says "recession or no recession, deep recession or not, the challenge to add more and more value grows, and the importance of innovation, and a culture of innovation grows exponentially. A "culture of innovation" covers everything. There is no half way". What more, the document also has 87 of TP's s favourite quotes on innovation, which itself is a treat to read.

The "culture of innovation" that TP covers falls under the following sections:

1. Trying Stuff. Screwing up Stuff. Fast.
2. Discipline. Accountablity. Execution.
3. We are What we Eat.
4. Diversity.
5. R & D
6. Role of Lead Customers. Loving Angry Customers.
7. Cross functional excellence.
8. Project teams
9. SkunkWorks. The invisible/shadow organizations
10. Decentralization
11. Commitment to Excellence in Innovation

Thank you very much,


RamP!

RamCharan's thoughts on Innovation

RamCharan, author of some of the popular management books like Execution, Know-how, What the CEO wants you to know, etc., is one of the most influential corporate consultants. Along with A.G. Lafley, chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, lay out a process for systematic innovation -- the very thing that has turned P&G into an innovation powerhouse, in their new book titled The Game-Changer: How you Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth.

In an interview to the fastcompany, RamCharan talks about his thoughts on innovation. Here are the three key points :

1. Innovation is a social process: The conversion of an idea (invention) into a product (innovation) often involves more than one person/department and therefore it is a social process and has to be treated that way.
2. Work simultaneously, not linearly: Since many departments are involved, it is important that they sit together right from the beginning to see the complete picture, identify hurdles and solve the problems together. RamCharan believes breakthroughs can happen only by working simultaneously.
3. Kill the ideas: Companies will have bucketfull of ideas and no company would have infinite resources to fund them all. RamCharan emphasizes the need to kill a few ideas, so that the ones that are prioritized would get all the resources and attention to succeed. He emphasizes the need to review a portfolio of ideas and not a single idea in isolation.

While you are here, you may want to watch a video clipping of RamCharan's lecture on Execution.

Thank you very much,

RamP!

Nurturing Innovation

From the last couple of days, I'm having a fascinating discussion on "innovation" with my friend and consultant Vinay Dabholkar. Here are some questions that I'm trying to find answers for:

1. Does "ability to think" an essential skill needed for innovation?
2. How is "creativity" different from "innovation"?
3. Does "innovation" mean only generating ideas or even seemingly mundane things like writing a better/elegant implementation of an algorithm could also be called innovation. (note that some application, especially in the domain of Electronic Design Automation (EDA), competitive edge would come from being say 10times faster than a product that does the same thing. An elegant implementation may give that edge).
4. How should innovation be led (I hate the word driven) in an organization? Should it be nurtured as a part of building the culture or is it yet another initiative driven by a senior person?
5. What are the metrics that should be used to measure innovation? Does #patents filed or #ideas pushed to roadmap is a good measure?
6. Why many organizations have all the structure (idea logging tools, idea selection process, rewards etc.,), but still cannot be counted in for great ideas?

Any answers, thoughts, questions?

Have a great day,

RamP!

10 rules for Strategic Innovators

Started reading this book titled “10 Rules for Strategic Innovators: From Idea to Execution”, by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble of Center for Global Leadership at Darmouth Univ and is published by HBS press. Within reading few pages understood that its highly relevant to my immediate work, where we are trying to create a new BU within the established organization. The book talks about NewCo – which is a breakaway group from the parent CoreCo and is created to achieve breakthrough growth. Here are some highlights (verbatim)

1. Our research shows that strategic experiments face their stiffest resistance once they are showing signs of success, consuming more resources and clashing with CoreCo at multiple levels.
2. Research has called for appointment of a senior executive as a champion – someone who actively musters support for NewCo and breaks down barriers in CoreCo.
3. The leaders of any ground breaking new business must (apart from identifying the idea(s)):

· Attract funding

· Learn quickly from success and failure

· Rally people around a fuzzy view of the future

· Re-organize to leverage the lessons learned and

· Manage the expectations of the performance amid chaos

4. Tendencies within the established organization also present additional barriers, apart from the 5 challenges just mentioned, the leader must also:

· Protect funding of NewCo regardless of the performance of CoreCo

· Establish new organizational norms and policies that make sense for NewCo

· Overcome tensions between NewCo and CoreCo when those norms and policies conflict

· Effect changes in the existing power structure required to support NewCo

· Engage CoreCo employees in supporting NewCo and

· Recruit talented managers from CoreCo to work within NewCo

5. [Authors talk of two cultures Code A (efficiency) and Code B (creativity) and tells that CoreCo wants to embrace Code A and NewCo Code B and argues that the NewCo has to undergo transition from creativity to efficiency over time and talks of Code X, that happens in the transition phase] – my paraphrasing to avoid typing the entire book.
6. Code X must address the three unique challenges that arise from the unnatural coexistence of a new and a mature business within the same corporation:

· The Forgetting challenge (forget some of what made CoreCo successful) – a. Forget CoreCo’s business definition, b. Different business model require different competencies and c. forget Coreco’s exploitation of a proven business model and shift to exploration of new possibilities

· The Borrowing challenge (borrow CoreCo’s assets) – NewCo can complete effectively against start-ups only by borrowing CoreCo’s assets: existing customer relationships, distribution channels, brands, expertise in a variety of technologies etc.,

· The Learning challenge (the most important one being prediction of its business performance)

7. Note the important difference between forgetting and borrowing. NewCo must forget assumptions, mind-sets and biases and must borrow assets. That is, forgetting is about what goes on in your head. Borrowing is gaining access to resources with concrete value.
8. All the four elements of NewCo’s DNA must differ from CoreCo’s

· Staff - from Operational expert’s (CoreCo) to Creators, Inspireres

· Structure – from Hierarchy to Flat

· System – from focus on accountability and fixed compensation to focus on learning and variable compensation

· Culture – from risk averse to risk tolerant

The above was from the first chapter “Why strategic innovators need a different approach for execution”. The rest of the book covers in great detail each of the above points with real examples.