Disruption City: Executive MBA MIS Class: "Innovation not litigation"

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

"Innovation not litigation"

Did I ever doubt you, Google?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2404038.html

6 comments:

Mad Cow Pepp said...: Unfortunately I don't have the financial soundness and I’m not wealthy enough to be accepted in the Sequoia Capital Investment... So the only way to make money would be to pull a great idea from the hat. In the article there is a mention to Silicon Valley and the fact that perhaps the sunny environment provides a good source of ideas; as a consequence I would say that dull Manchester would not make me rich then...; 10/18/2006 2:54 pm
Peter said...: Three centuries of innovation says you are wrong!! Kindly, P; 10/18/2006 7:35 pm
Anonymous said...: On the same theme, lack of sunshine never stopped the Scots who, it has to be said, have come up with an innovative idea or two over the years...television, the telephone, the steam engine, etc.

That said, given the choice between living in Los Altos or Livingstone (or Levenshulme...) I don't think I'd be alone in choosing Silicon Valley every time!

http://www.magicdragon.com/
Wallace/thingscot.html; 10/19/2006 11:23 am
Stevo said...: In my opinion the real and pertinent issue is that there is currently more money floating around Silicon Valley than anyone knows what to do with. It just cannot sit there idly earning interest for these listed companies. It has GOT to be invested or the shareholders will need it returning. Surely someone from our class can come up with an idea that will bring some of that money to Manchester and make the city famous for innovation again. It does not necessarily need to be a good idea or a new idea, it just needs to be well executed and give a return to the investors. I am thinking all the time but to date I have not thought of any viable idea, but how about harnessing the group power of the class, together we could find that idea - a bit like the way all those experts from Jimmy Surowiecki's podcast found Scorpion no less than 220 yards from where they guessed it to be.; 10/19/2006 9:34 pm
Peter said...: Very challenging Graham. In Manchester, we do have a recent history with Transitive.com and the Rosetta software used by Apple. But, aiming high, it would be nice to see an ongoing, growing track record of innovation in business models and technological applications around MBS. I do quite genuinely think that this is a great time to be an innovator ... the opportunities are out there.

Standing back from some of the things I've been saying (end of bureaucracy etc.), of course I push my position out there sometimes. I'm not certain of the future but I believe my responsibility at such a point in history is to stretch imagination, not to restrict or impale it.

And, in the end, it is a vote of confidence from me: I believe that we are capable of taking on these questions and of finding answers. And, yes, surely in and around MBS we are able to put up ideas that would intrigue the veterans of silicon valley.; 10/20/2006 8:17 am
Peter said...: John - good point.

I am a fan of Melvyn Bragg's 'In Our Time' series on R4. One recurring theme in the programme over the years has been to examine why societies (like Scotland in your case, Manchester in mine, or China in this week's show) enter and leave discrete eras of immense imagination, innovation and creativity.

What were the factors that made Victorian Britain the world's hub of innovation? What are the factors that have brought silicon vallet to prominence (is it just sunshine and wine??) And to where will the flame be passed? Shanghai? India?

Its not just Melvyn Bragg: there's a library of reading matter on these themes. I suspect, John, you know more than me.; 10/20/2006 8:24 am