Connecting the Dots –

Your Path to the Next Level

Jeff Hoffman

ColorJar

Agenda

• It all starts with an idea

• Innovation (the process of birthing new ideas) is a

PROCESS, not an accident

• New ideas must be validated PROPERLY

• The path to the next level is the path from IDEA to

EXECUTION

• Tell me your ideas and I swear I won’t steal them

(OK, we call this part Q&A)

Is your mind really open for

business?

• Your mind is an idea filter

• Ideas flow through your mind all day long

• But some people have one of these for a filter:

Is your mind really open for

business?

• Your mind is an idea filter

• Ideas flow through your mind all day long

• But some people have one of these for a filter:

The power of WONDER

The power of WONDER

The power of WONDER

Exercise your mind

Wonder in action

• Why do you get a different answer every time you

call the airlines for a price?

• Airlines run yield management in real time

• Yield management runs around 2am

• New fares are released in response to yield

equations

Wonder in action

Wonder in action

Exercise your mind

Info-Sponging

Absorb the world around you

• Take 20 minutes at the start of your day

• No cell phones, email, text, etc.

• Let your mind wander – wonder, click, repeat

• Look for trends, convergence, disruptions

• Write down data points and stare at them

Now connect the dots…

Now connect the dots…

Ask yourself the billion dollar

question…

A real world example

• Distressed inventory

• Perishable commodity

• Dynamic pricing

• Soft goods fulfillment

• Online consumers

A multi-billion dollar idea

A great team exercise you can do

• Blue Sky sessions

• Comfortable setting

• NO editing

• Mutual respect

• Fully inclusive

• Clean slate start

• No rules, no gravity

The best sentences start with…

The fast food example…

The innovative solution

The innovative solution

OK, so now what?

• A good idea is step 1 – success is all in the

execution

• But first you need to VALIDATE your idea

Validating your product

Validating your product

So now it’s time to EXECUTE

• Get out of your conference room!

• The best companies design their products from the

customer in, not from their conference room out

• LAUNCH SOMETHING, and let the market adjust it

• The key to success is not having all the answers but

knowing all the QUESTIONS

• Adjust, collect data, analyze, and repeat

• Be the BEST at one thing, expand later

Connecting the Dots –

Your Path to the Next Level

Jeff Hoffman

ColorJar

Q&A