Joe Wikert's DisruptorFest

Disrupting water

Anything under the sun can be disrupted, even water. Check out what's happening over at FreeWater if you don't believe me. Not only are they finding ways to give to those in need, they're creating a new paradigm which could be easily extended elsewhere.

Yes, we all suffer from some degree of advertising fatigue. I remember the first time I saw a hockey rink with ads along the boards as well as under the ice and thought, "this is crazy." Now it's pretty much the standard and I don't even notice; that probably means some number of those ads are just white noise now. With FreeWater, at least they're leveraging ads to help provide clean water as well as potentially lower the cost of water distribution in general.

Why stop with water though? If it makes sense in this use-case it's easy to envision a world where advertising becomes even more ubiquitous on all sorts of new, unexpected surfaces (again, think hockey rinks from 20 years ago vs. today). It's also easy to see a positive impact of this sort of advertising, so it's more feel-good and less about yet another in-your-face ad impression.

Disruption and free access to MITSloan Management Review

A former colleague of mine recently mentioned that her current employer, MITSloan Management Review (MMR), was offering a free 60-day pass to their entire site. I've read a number of articles since then and wanted to pass that link along to you as well.

More importantly, I also discovered that the MMR has assembled a collection of very timely articles about disruption that they're also offering as a free downloadable PDF (courtesy of Deloitte). If you click here you'll be asked to give your name and email address to Deloitte but I think you'll find the content well worth that personal info.

Secrets of Sand Hill Road

I decided to read Secrets of Sand Hill Road after hearing an author interview on one of my favorite podcasts. The VC market can be so mysterious and this book helped bring clarity to many aspects of the startup fundraising process. Here are just a few of the many excerpts I highlighted along the way:

Most VCs assume that the product that is initially conceived of and pitched is not likely the product that will ultimately prevail.

Max Planck, German scientist, put it best by saying "Science advances one funeral at a time." Simply put, it's hard to get people to adopt new technologies.

Products are either vitamins (nice to have) or aspirins (need to have); VCs want to fund aspirins.

How much money should you raise? The answer is to raise as much money as you can that enables you to safely achieve the key milestones you will need for the next fund-raising.

If you allow yourself or a VC to overvalue the company at the current round, then you have just raised the stakes for what it will take to clear that valuation bar for the next round and get paid for the progress you have made.

VCs love infinite learners.

Companies are definitely staying private longer, resulting in more of the appreciation of startups going to those investors in the private markets, at the expense of those in the public markets.

[Beware of becoming] the most advanced dinosaur, where you may think you look differentiated relative to others but are at risk of being the last generation in the evolutionary chain...

The importance of curiosity

Curiosity. It's the single most important characteristic I look for when interviewing someone. Does that mean I don't care about experience, character, etc.? Of course I do, but I believe a high level of curiosity is what distinguishes the top performers from the rest of the team.

That's why I was intrigued when reading this article from MIT Sloan Management Review. Yes, it feels overly academic at times, but it hits on the critical points. I also love a couple of phrases used in it. First, "incurably curious." Yes! That's what we need more of. Second, "catalytic learning capability", which sounds like part of your car's exhaust system.

How incurably curious are you? How about your team? There are countless indicators to show where someone is on this scale and I think a few of them are (1) being a voracious reader, (2) always asking "why?", and (3) being a great listener who's willing to alter their stance on a topic as they learn more.

Don't underestimate the importance of that third point, btw. Some would interpret that as a flip-flopper but I think it shows you're open-minded, not set in your ways and willing to learn.

Loonshots, by Safi Bahcall

Several smart people I follow have talked about reading a book called Loonshots, by Safi Bahcall, so I figured I better have a look. It's a great read that's loaded with interesting stories and provocative perspectives.

I still have about 60 pages to go but I've already learned about how radar was almost completely overlooked as a breakthrough technology, why Pan Am is no more and how Polaroid met its demise. You might think you already know most, if not all, of these stories but I promise you the author presents new information you probably never previously heard or considered.

The most intriguing part of the book is where he talks about The Moses Trap:

[The Moses Trap is] when ideas advance only at the pleasure of a holy leader -- rather than the balanced exchange of ideas and feedback between soldiers in the field and creatives at the bench selecting loonshots on merit -- that is exactly when teams and companies get trapped. The leader raises his staff and parts the seas to make way for the chosen loonshot. The dangerous virtuous cycle spins faster and faster: loonshot feeds franchise feeds bigger, faster, more. The all-powerful leader begins acting for love of loonshots rather than strength of strategy. And then the wheel turns one too many times.

Bahcall distinguishes between what he refers to as P-type and S-type loonshots. The former is product-based whereas the latter is strategy-based. The S-types are similar to the examples Clay Christensen refers to in my favorite business book, The Innovator's Dilemma, which is probably another reason why I've thoroughly enjoyed Loonshots.