Experimental Entrepreneurship

Piero Formica

Senior Research Fellow, Innovation Value Institute – National University of

Ireland

www.ivi.ieOpen Innovation 2.0: Sustainable Economy & Society – Stability. Jobs. Prosperity. Dublin Castle, May 20 - 21 2013

Incubator

ISOLATED TEAMS

EXECUTION

PRESCRIBED MILESTONES

RISKS ARE PROBABILISTICALLY

MEASUREABLE

RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

EXPERTS, CONSULTANTS

BUSINESS ANGELS, FORMAL INVESTORS

COLLABORATIVE TEAMS – SHARING x MULTIPLYING

ABILITY TO CHANGE DIRECTION – CHANGING TO AN ADJACENT DIRECTION

RISKS ARE NOT PROBABILISTICALLY

MEASUREABLE UNCERTAIN EXPECTATIONS

EXPERIMENTERS, CROWDFUNDING

INCUBATION EXPERIMENTATION

E = MC3

Experimental labs are about experiments in entrepreneurial energy

ENTREPRENEURIAL FORMULA

E = MC3

E stands for Ken-EnergyKEN (verb) : to have understandingKEN (noun) : a range of vision

Experimental labs are about experiments in entrepreneurial energy

ENTREPRENEURIAL FORMULA

E = MC3

M stands for entrepreneurial mass made up of attributes and motivations

ENTREPRENEURIAL FORMULA

Experimental labs are about experiments in entrepreneurial energy

E = MC3Akio Morita’s (Sony’s founder) Cs:• Creativity in technology (creation)• Creativity in process (conversion)• Creativity in marketing (commercialization)

CT x CP x CM

ENTREPRENEURIAL FORMULA

What difference does it make how fantastic and innovative your technology is if you do not have the ability to design a useful, attractive, user-friendly product ? (Akio Morita)

CT x CP x CM Interactive conversation

Markets are conversation Watson and Crick vs Linus PaulingWatson and Crick vs Linus Pauling

Links in human networks: affinity groups - small pieces loosely joined

Lunar Society: “The best preceptor is the conversation Lunar Society: “The best preceptor is the conversation of eminent men”of eminent men”

ENTREPRENEURIAL FORMULA

Conversation = cum versare: To turn or to dance together

In labs, participants learn the language of the “extremes”, of the “extraordinary”Large deviations make the difference. Events supposed not happening, happen

“normal” is the focus

“extremes” are the focus

“extremes” are the focus

Feedback loopsCumulative, snowballs, arbitraryand unpredictable effects

You don’t tame uncertaintylooking at extraordinary events

We rewardacts of preventionrather than treatment

Productive analogies between different specialized fields

Community of Innovators: PeopleResolve.com

Power relations: creative power that emerges when different disciplines collide.

Interactionist identity (“innovation is a body contact sport”): – search for adjacent ideas (“one door leading to another door”), – which ignites a process of accretion (“accretive development”).

• “I-shaped” individual – his/her experience is profound,

one mile deep, but his range of vision is one centimetre width.

• “T-shaped” individual who adds to a deep expertise a wide range of knowledge and interests.

Pre

se

nta

tion

/ Dis

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an

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Alertness Coaches Mentors

Project

Project

Project

ProjectOD

OD

OD

OD

Jury

Seniors

Jury

Juniors(startup

founders)

Awards

OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Teams of OS

Opportunity presentation

OPPORTUNITYDISCOVER

Facilitate, question, listen, challenge, build, inspire

Instruct, direct, engage with transformation

EX

PER

IMEN

TA

LLA

B

A vibrant community: Opportunity Seekers (OS) and Opportunity Developers (OD)

Alertness

Teams of OS

Opportunity presentation

OPPORTUNITYDISCOVER

CONTEXT• Establishment of a micro-ecosystem of aspiring entrepreneur in a spirit of open innovation.• “Experiencing Experiments” – How the Experimental Lab works: a step-wise process of

creatingprobing, testing and scrutinising business idea opportunities and

thinking.• Relevance, practicability and profitability of the business idea under experimental investigation.

TRENDS• Technology and Business Trends in top geo-economic areas of innovation.

EX

PER

IMEN

TA

LLA

B

A vibrant community: Opportunity Seekers (OS) and Opportunity Developers (OD)

Alertness

Teams of OS

Opportunity presentation

OPPORTUNITYDISCOVER

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

• Making and deriving meanings about relevance, practicability and profitability of the business idea under experimental investigation.

CHOICE OF THE BUSINESS IDEA AND GROUPING

• Learning weather and how the same idea could be used in different fields.

• Take advantage from the multiplier effect of sharing – “I am going to use my idea in my field of use, and you are welcome to use it in your own field”.

EX

PER

IMEN

TA

LLA

B

A vibrant community: Opportunity Seekers (OS) and Opportunity Developers (OD)

Pre

se

nta

tion

/ Dis

cu

ss

an

ts

A vibrant community: Opportunity Seekers (OS) and Opportunity Developers (OD)

Project

Project

Project

ProjectOD

OD

OD

OD

JurySenior

(non national)

JuryJunior

(startup founders)

Awards

OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

OPPORTUNITYDISCOVER

Facilitate, question, listen, challenge, build, inspire

Instruct, direct, engage with transformation

1.Concept Description 2. Value Proposition

To Customer To Company

3.Commercial Potential:Estimated Market Size & Revenues

4.Competitive Advantage 5. Feasibility

6. Governance Coaches Mentors

Creative Spaces The Idea Market open space, where experimenters (aspiring entrepreneurs and their mentors and coaches) can meet, communicate, share and exchange business ideas.

A web meeting place between Research and Entrepreneurship, filled with cutting-edge proposals and new ideas, and enriched with a collection of curiosity-driven websites.

The Gym for Creative Experiments, a room withthe shape of a round square (“agora”), which is the space where aspiring entrepreneurs and their coaches & mentors make experiments and exercise their ability to process business ideas.

Creative Spaces The Technology Showcase, a space for demonstration projects in IT, Life Sciences, et cetera.

The Amphitheatre, a formal learning space for lectures, conferences, seminars, workshops.

There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomesRichard Buckminster US engineer and architect, 1895-1983

It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrongRichard FeynmanAmerican theoretical physicist, 1918-1988

Finale