Citroen
Cyclical innovation
Tuesday - August 29, 2006 Filed in: Strategy
| Venture
Capital
To stay in the automotive realm, I often liken the traction achieved by cars on a dirt road (the entrepreneurial path to success) with the need for the driving weels to rotate at similar speeds. If the left wheel represents innovation and the right wheel represents market demand, it is easy to imagine how innovation pays off when both wheels move a the same or rapidly alternating speeds (client-server technology was one of those examples where the wheel of technology innovation was turning much faster than the wheel representing market demand). That uniform cadence provides a fair amount of certainty that the car will follow the entrepreneurial track you intend to pursue.
My point is the following: to investors, I urge you to look at technology and no matter how old, understand how its benefits apply to a changed market (yes, we need more economist VCs). To entrepreneurs, I urge you to look at markets and adjust the innovation (in most cases downplay it) to meet that demand. All of us in the Silicon Valley could use more macro-economic insight to make innovation work. Lets not just drive for short term exit appeal or stuff our own pockets, but create innovation that has a lasting impact on society.
In the interest of full-disclosure, the Citroën DS21 was my first car...