The Soul of the Entrepreneur

Despite the plethora of degrees, honors and accolades, this month's guest is a down-to-earth guy. Andrew Csinger, Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of British Columbia, is an engineer at heart and a man with a wide variety of interests, some of which he shared with us in this month's interview.

His keen ability to look into the impact of technology on society marks him as not your typical computer science Ph.D. As such, he has a wide-range of projects in the works as diverse as his new book, Talent and Treasure, a look at the soul of an entrepreneur and expounding on the cross currents of miniaturization and mobilization.

It was this last that caught my eye. As cell phones become ubiquitous, nearing 100% in most developed and many developing nations, the opportunities for business as well as, personal use lag behind. We've only just begun to explore the mobile platform. As our guest notes:"... the impressive technology-based business advances of the last two decades (will) seem like antique slow motion."

Much of what will drive this trend is "miniaturization". This is, of course a trend that we should realize will drive growth in cell phone capability, as it has driven technological advances in everything form early radios to computers. Every new technology in this and the previous century has morphed from a room-sized apparatus to fit into your hand, each ever more rapidly.

Where does this take us with cell phone technology? It has taken 10 years or so to get from suitcase-sized "bag phones" to credit card sized "cell phones". Much of the focus has been on developing applications and... training users how to take advantage of all this new technology. Will it take a Mac type breakthrough to get us over that barrier in mobile technology, as the easy to use Apple interface revolutionized the PC in 1984? Only then, perhaps, miniaturization can take over and drive further growth.

We need only look back into Dr. Csinger's list of role models to see that he expects an big thinker to lead the way in this quest. His list is an eclectic group of inventors, businessmen and philosophers. He references Albert Camus (I’m not the weirdest person on the planet) as well as, Buckminster Fuller (If it can be imagined, it can be designed; if it can be designed, it can be built)

It is in this last statement that we find the kernel of an idea, one that is yet to manifest itself, except in laboratories and universities across the globe, as well as, in garages and increasingly in the new home of the entrepreneur - Starbucks.

This soul of the entrepreneur, which Andrew Csinger certainly has, makes his comments an interesting read. I'm sure you'll enjoy them as much as I did.


Q: Who were your early role models and what were the main things you learned from them?

A: Buckminster Fuller: if it can be imagined, it can be designed; if it can be designed, it can be built. Bertrand Russell: there must be a logical explanation. Albert Einstein: things are not what they seem. Bill Gates: it helps to be in the right place at the right time. Steve Jobs: It's not JUST about the money. Albert Camus: I'm not the weirdest person on the planet. Warren Buffet: Quality Counts. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Quality Counts All The Time. A mentor at IBM Labs during my early University days: "Winning isn't everything. It's Everything." One of my academic supervisors on the occasion of a conference trip: "Don't drink the water and bring plenty of toilet paper." Often repeated by great men over the centuries in all walks of life: "Stand on the shoulders of giants." This is how you learn. This is how you build great buildings, great people, great companies.


Q: What key trends do we need to be aware of?

A: Miniaturization has found its match in mobilization. The intersection of these trends will make the impressive technology-based business advances of the last two decades seem like antique slow motion. Huge personal empowerment is coming to a mobile platform near you, if we don’t screw it all up with trade embargoes and war, and that sort of thing.


Q: What inspired you to create Talent and Treasure?

A: The public is mystified by the entrepreneur. I'm an entrepreneur, working with entrepreneurs every day. Although I'm also still mystified, I'm in a good position to shed some informal but credible light on what makes them tick. There's lots you can read about the Entrepreneur, lots of academic theories and biographies, but nothing in the middle, nothing that speaks to the soul of the entrepreneur. This book tries to capture, mostly through portrait photography and short interviews, that which defines the entrepreneur. We all want to know. And in this tumultuous global economical roller coaster, we all need to know...


Q: What did you learn in the process of putting together this book?

A: That executing on a concept like this is an entrepreneurial undertaking. That I'm still an entrepreneur :-)


Q: List a few of your business sites.

www.mobioidentity.com
www.minesense.com
www.sparkintegration.com
www.crowdfanatic.com
www.plantiga.com


Andrew Csinger has held a variety of executive management roles and advises senior management on technology transfer, market and corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions in the high technology arena. He holds several patents.

Dr. Csinger is Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of British Columbia, and Adjunct Professor in the Cognitive Systems Group, where he divides his attention between fostering a culture of entrepreneurialism and lecturing on the subject of Digital Trust. He is advisor or director to a number of local startups including Cryptolex Trust Systems (www.cryptolex.com), Scalable Analytics (http://www.scalableanalytics.com), CrowdFanatic (www.crowdfanatic.com) and Spark Integration Technologies (www.sparkintegration.com). Andrew was recently EVP of Product Strategy and Development at Dategrity Corp., a spin-out from the Votehere Corporation, where strong privacy technology is being developed to meet rapidly emerging compliance needs and enablement opportunities.

Andrew was Senior VP and CIO of Group Telecom from 1998 to 2002. GT's successful initial public offering took place in March 1999. During this period, GT became Canada's most successful Competitive Local Exchange Carrier, with 400,000 kilometers of fibre, 1500 employees in offices from coast to coast, a quarter billion revenue run rate and over a billion dollars in financing.

In 1998, he developed and operated the first PKI Certification Authority and Repository to be licensed under Washington State Digital Signature legislation. This seminal work influenced the later adoption of federal U.S. law (the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000, or "E-Sign Act"), and was an early model for the adoption by other states of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).

In 1996, he founded Xcert Software Inc., a technology leader in the emerging business of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Xcert was acquired by RSA Technologies Inc.

Andrew received his Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Computer Science from UBC and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from McGill University. A Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Post-Doctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University, and a visiting scholar at the German Center for Artificial Intelligence in Saarbrucken, his work on artificial intelligence techniques has appeared in journals and conferences around the world. His research focused on user-modeling by computer in intelligent multimedia interfaces.

Dr. Csinger is regularly invited to speak at conferences and events, about technology and its effects on society and business.

Moving at the speed of molasses - Interview with Mike St. John

By Peter Roosen

Freight trains and toilet paper have a lot in common when looking from a marketing perspective. They are examples of products that have been around long before we were born that will still be around long after we are gone. They are among the 95% of the things we see and use that are considered established products and services from traditional industries. You won't see them featured in media because they are simply part of the landscape.

Marketers can easily lose sight of everyday products and the marketing opportunities related to them. This is especially the case for stove-pipe industries that produce the many industrial goods and services that form the backbone of our modern industrial economy. The highly popularized electronic gadgets that entertain and keep us in contact do not exist in a vacuum. Most of them are brought to market on the backs of those freight trains that trudge back and forth across the landscape virtually unnoticed. And let's face it, the only time anybody notices toilet paper is when there isn't any.

This month's newsletter takes a look at a great marketing and innovation example from the very traditional lumber industry. Marketers be warned. Making a big splash in a traditional industry isn't an easy thing to do. Last week, we traveled to Boise, Idaho to interview someone who has done just that - in spades - and who continues to do so. Former navy seal Mike St. John was the marketing man behind the shift to engineered structural residential building products from the basic sawn timber that has been used for centuries to hold our floors and roofs together.

Mike has over 32 years selling and producing these structural building products that involve efficiently using the whole tree rather than just the pieces sawn out from the middle to make our buildings. Introducing Trus Joist products was the highlight of his career. These products now have approximately 50% market share and are still growing. At the start, 1976 sales were less than $1 million, and today sales of over $2 billion are made annually. Mike is currently a board member for the APA (American Plywood Association) and he is chair of the EWS (Engineered Wood Systems) committee. He is also a director for Pacific Woodtech Corp. www.pacificwoodtech.com where he also serves as vice president of sales and marketing. Mike teaches courses on marketing and innovation to engineers while remaining keenly interested in these areas.

The road to successfully transforming an industry is not an easy one but Mike is someone who has traveled this road and is happy to share his insights for those of us who are undertaking a similar journey. You'll gather from our interview that there are some key ingredients that can be used to help transform any industry where a good idea's time has come.


Interview with Mike St. John.

Q. Who would you hold out as an inspirational leader?

A. Harold Thomas and Dick Hansen are two who spring to mind immediately. Harold is still alive while both were highly influential from our beginnings in the 1970s. I'll focus on Harold who is a salesman who started a company. He always believed and still believes that if you give salesmen an opportunity to make money, they will perform. The good ones will sort themselves from the rest. When I was vice president of sales, there were more than 300 salesmen of which 250 made more money than executives and managers. We celebrated that. We truly had an organization that the head of was a salesman's champion.

Trus Joist would not be alive today had it not been for the sales guys. The products were very expensive compared to traditional methods.

Q. How were you able to get such expensive products into the market?

A. I had an important accomplishment back in the early days. It was in Colorado at a time when there were fancy ski resorts being built that needed very large roof trusses that if made using conventional materials and methods were too big and difficult to truck through the highway tunnels. At the time, we were just making floor joists. I figured that since we could make these engineered pieces in any length, they could make great trusses while being relatively easy to transport. It worked.

Q. What drove you and your team?

A. We were and still are on a mission to build better homes.

Q. What do you see as the success drivers for successful innovation in a traditional industry such as yours?

A. You need to be truly committed to the idea. Beyond that, execution is important. In my experience, the long term follow up gets bound up in financial performance numbers. So many underestimate the time and cost of doing the execution - even in a traditional lumber business which is like watching molasses flow. It took 30 years to get 50% market share. Sometimes great ideas take that long. A $2 billion market is all it is in our case. Initially we were 5 people going after this market.

In some industries some great ideas, no matter how great, have very slow traditional speed. This is unlike ipods, cell phones and other tech products that move at the speed of light. The backbone of all commerce in the world are still ugly traditional products like sheet rock, timber, steel, petroleum and rubber. These are traditional businesses or products that just don't move as fast.

I've always been envious of the computer and software guys who build extinction into their model. If you buy a computer today, it will be gone in a couple years. If you buy an I-joist today, it will still be around and you'll be able to buy one 25 years later just like the one 25 years before. I've had three Blackberries in two years because they keep advancing. Take the two by fours in my house. I could have bought the same ones in the mid 1800s.

The big lessons are having great patience, deep pockets and making sure the traditional products and industries evolve so that we don't lose our planet. Today we plant 23% more trees worldwide than we take. But not all countries are on side. Hardwood from southeast jungles are an exception as they are stripped for cash - as our northern lands not so long ago. The lumber business can outgrow demand but we have to do it right. Switzerland, Finland and New Zealand have been doing a good job and are able to grow more than they demand. The lumber business takes a huge amount of carbon out of the atmosphere.

The innovation gets down to using every bit of the wood fiber from the tree. Today, in North America, we don't waste a single ounce of wood fiber. The forest products group as a whole has really figured out how to preserve itself through sustainable practices.

The Network Insider: Dialogue with a Dragon - W. Brett Wilson

Our newsletter this month focuses on an industry that more often than not, gives investors a wild ride. W. Brett Wilson, one of the founding partners of Calgary's FirstEnergy Capital Corp takes us on that journey (while he journeys in Africa) and shares some insights with us.

Brett has been a leader in the energy investing and well known in Calgary circles as both an astute businessman and a philanthropist and has holdings well beyond energy in fields as diverse as entertainment, sports and agriculture.

Brett is perhaps best known for his role on the popular venture capital raising show, Dragons Den.

A successful entrepreneur by anyone's standards, Brett has another side, that of philanthropist. Brett talks to us a bit about how he changed his priorities after becoming wildly successful. This has included his jumping wholeheartedly into a number of charitable concerns, including kids with cancer and organ donation.

The drive that propelled him to the top in investment banking shows in his dedication to the causes he supports.

While some of our other guests, when asked about business mistakes have focused on financial and marketing mistakes, Brett takes us to the world of people. This is a particularly timely topic as people issues are on the forefront of many managers' minds as we weather the worst recession in several generations.

Recruiting and retaining good people looms large as a task in good times. In tough times managers have two tasks. One is to handle potential layoffs, furloughs and other bad news well. The second is to set the stage for an economic upturn, where a reputation for heartlessness could make hiring good people difficult.

Innovative companies, especially those just starting out, must be innovative with their people as well as their products. We talk a lot in our book about managing innovation across functions and that means managing the people who staff these areas effectively. While it's tempting to be product focused, people make up the core of the company and the heart of the company culture.

Driving the company culture across disciplines means also recognizing the personalities which tend to dominate each department; handling conflict appropriately and motivating individuals in the various ways that different personality types require. Like product innovation, people management takes creativity and compromise.
Good people management means recognizing what drives both potential customers and current employees. We'll see in our interview that Brett Wilson finds both of these important.


Q & A with W. Brett Wilson

Q. What are the key trends effecting your industry?


A. Oil and gas Industry. Investing in growth oriented start-ups (Dragons Den related)

Key trends impacting Oil and Gas is the down turn in the economy

There is a challenge in creating opportunities where none existed before.

The downturn has created an abundance of labour, materials and office space. The challenge is always cash flow - cash is king - and in this economy this is the biggest challenge.

Q. What is a biggest pitfall that impedes successful commercialization?


A. Misunderstanding your target market both as the product your delivering and the desirability in that market but that all ties to the bottom line of understanding your market.

Q. What is your biggest business mistake and what did you learn from it?

Not dealing with people issues when they are apparent and should be dealt with. Conflict avoider. People issues should be dealt with through open communication and immediate action.

Q. What do you consider your biggest personal or business achievement?


A. Reprioritizing my life after years as a workaholic to the success of FirstEnergy. The result was I was able to connect with my own children and open the door to other experiences and opportunities. My biggest most successful business is FirstEnergy - in the creation, building development of that business.

Q. What is an example of an innovative company that people have never heard of?


A. The Bolt Supply House... A company I invested in 10 yrs. Ago. They stayed thru lean times, are innovative and have done well. They are a dominant provider of fasteners in Western Canada. (www.boltsupply.com)




W. Brett Wilson


W. Brett Wilson is one of Canada's most successful businessmen and respected philanthropists. A high profile Calgarian who proudly wears the label "maverick", Brett is one of the founding partners of Calgary's FirstEnergy Capital Corp. He helped turn an intrepid start-up into the energy industry's leading investment bank, which has brokered thousands of financings and M&A deals worth over $150 billion. Brett's instincts for investing in the right people have also translated into major holdings in the energy, agriculture, real estate, sports, and entertainment industries, financed through his private investment bank, Prairie Merchant.

His personal charisma and small-town charm have gained him a national audience, a platform he uses to inspire his brand of "prairie ethics" - focused on personal integrity, a commitment to community, and work/life balance. Brett uses his own larger-than-life story to illustrate what he has learned about the real meaning of success.

A self-described "capitalist with a heart", Brett spends almost as much time giving money away as he does earning it. With an innovative approach to philanthropy, he has given - and engaged others to give - tens of millions to non-profit initiatives.

According to Alberta Venture Magazine, who named Brett Business Person of the Year in 2009, "he is single-handedly redefining the meaning of success in work-and wealth-obsessed Calgary." His commitment to excellence and innovation has not only revolutionized the business sector in which he operates, but the community in which he lives, inspiring others to see how they can leave an equally unique mark on the world.

Fight or Flight: Battling it out in the travel industry

Summer is travel season, so it makes sense for us to explore innovation in the travel industry. Hard hit by a variety of technological inventions that have transformed the way people book travel and whether they travel at all; an economy that discourages any type of expenditure and the miscellaneous impact of oil prices, terrorism and accidents, this is an industry that needs to innovate to survive.

Our guest this month, Ryan Phillips of Flight Centre Business Travel, brings not only his insights about the travel industry, but also some interesting observations about how marketing and sales have changed... and stayed the same.

Even in this low touch era where deals are as likely to close over the web as they are in person, effective sales people understand that personal contact can make all the difference in whether the deal gets signed or not. The rise of social media sites have been a boon to those companies that recognize the consumer need for personal contact and travel industry companies have been some of the first to understand their value.

JetBlue and Southwest Airlines have both harnessed the power of social networking on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites and brought a new level of transparency to the industry. They have been some of the leaders in using social media and find new ways of using these technological innovations to increase customer satisfaction every day.

As the hassle factor and the economy together strive to make leaving home an unpleasant experience, those who truly understand the nature of innovation stay one step ahead. Our guest Ryan Phillips, when asked to name an innovative company, chose Nine Inch Nails and their strategic use of free distribution and selected copyrights.

Of course, my immediate thought was, "wow what a leap from travel to music!" But in reality, it's often innovations in a field far removed from the one in which an individual works that drives creativity. The Post-it Note, famously it is said was inspired when the inventor was singing in the choir. Maybe it's something about music.

Whether or not music has anything to do with it, we all know that we live in an era when consumers' access to information is unparalleled, so the old rules of first mover advantage are falling by the wayside. In a matter of moments any concept, promotion, advertisement or idea can be copied and disseminated to the target audience. Which make the ongoing relationship that much more important.

Relationship is key in the low touch century. Ryan understands that and shares his ideas on how his company strives to develop strong ones with their customers.

What is your role at Flight Centre?

Business Development Manager with Flight Centre Business Travel (FCBT) which specializes in corporate executive and employee travel. Essentially I work with companies to identify ways that FCBT Travel Consultants can help streamline processes while offering a personalized service, 24 hours a day.

I frequently talk to my clients and the most common feedback regarding their experience with FCBT is how our travel consultants are very responsive, friendly and knowledgeable. I would love to take all the credit for that, but I really do owe it to the team I work with.

In your opinion what are the key trends affecting the travel industry?

The current economic climate is definitely affecting the travel industry both in terms of personal and business travel. On the leisure side, people are trying to get the most value for their travel dollar in terms of inclusions and options. In terms of corporate travel, a large majority of companies have much stricter travel policies, which is another reason we are seeing an increase in business. We have an excellent process in place which allows for simple, yet effective, ways of tracking company travel policies.

What is the greatest marketing or sales advice you've ever received?

As an extremely ambitious new young sales representative very early in my career, I can remember meeting with a client to do a sales pitch. After the pitch the client looked at me and told that he was interested and that I should call him back in two weeks. Feeling pretty proud of myself I sat back and waited and after two weeks made the call and asked him if he would like to go ahead. His response was "sorry we went with the competition." My manager asked me why they decided that way and I couldn't answer him so he asked me to call the client back and ask why. With a damaged ego I picked up the telephone and called the client and explained to him that I was new to sales and I wanted to learn what I could have done differently. The client explained to me that the competition had come in to talk to him on several occasions during the 2 week period and every time he met that person it made more sense to work with him. Approximately one year later that same client was looking to replace another piece of office equipment and I was given the opportunity to present a proposal. Recalling the conversation we had one year earlier, I followed all his rules and ended up winning him as a long standing client who still currently works with my previous employer and stays in touch with me.

If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?

I have always been a true believer that all that has happened in my past has been a big contributing factor to my success today. Although we never want to forget our past, we never want to live in it. Live in the present with an eye on the future. The short answer to your question is nothing.

What is an example of an innovative company that people have never heard of?

This may seem like a strange answer, but Nine Inch Nails (NIN), yes the music group! Many people know of them but not many know them as an innovative company. Their marketing tactics have been a true inspiration for me in thinking outside the box. They are almost single handedly changing the music industry. Trent Reznor the mastermind and front man of NIN is paving the way for new and old bands to connect with fans. Taking tactics like this and applying it to a corporate business environment would allow us to connect with clients on a whole new level.

Who in their right mind would think that by giving away an album for free would end up leading to it being the bestselling album on Amazon in 2008 and generate $750,000usd in three days? http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/01/free-nine-inch-nails-albums-top-2008-amazon-mp3-sales-charts.ars

List a few of your favourite business sites.

Stockhouse Is a great took for looking at market trends and learning about new and upcoming business.

http://www.stockhouse.com/index.aspx

CNW Group is a good resource to find out what is happening in the Canadian business market.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/

The Flight Centre blog always provides up to date travel information and advice.

http://www.flightcentre.ca/blog/

iGoogle is an amazing tool which allows you to create your very own customized page with 100's of different widget options. It's the first place I start every morning!

http://www.igoogle.com

Linked in has always been a great place to keep a database of contacts I have connected with along the way.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryphillips

BIO:

Ryan Phillips joined Flight Centre Business Travel as a Business Development Manager after more than 10 years of working in Business Development with a range of companies from those in its infant stages to Fortune 500. His extensive experience in all ranges of companies allows him to appreciate the importance of creating long lasting relationships while developing effective strategies for increasing profitability.

Ryan attributes his success as a Business Development Manager with Flight Centre to his passion for understanding that each of his client's travel needs are different. As a frequent business and vacation traveler himself, Ryan strives to ensure that his clients are provided with the unbeatable service of Flight Centre's Corporate Travel Consultants.

Ryan is an avid supporter of the community and the people around him. Outside of work he enjoys volunteering for a local children's charity, as well as being involved in regional and community projects.

Ryan Phillips

610 Robson St.

Vancouver BC

604-374-2200

Real Estate 2.0? Understanding the basics with Ben Smith

It's great this month to get some perspective on innovation from a leader in the real estate, an industry that's been hit so hard in recent year, they are ripe for innovation. Beyond the obvious financial hit, real estate, like travel has been dramatically impacted by the web.

New sites to short cut the house hunting process have replaced part of the traditional role of an agent. An astounding 80% of home buyers use the web as part of their home shopping process and real estate agents are scrambling to adapt to the newest tools available on Web 2.0.

If ever it was time to consider revamping the industry, the time is now.

Fortunately our guest this month, Ben Smith is a web savvy social media pioneer in the industry. Ben, as VP Marketing of Polygon homes has a catbird seat for theses changes, yet unlike many who embrace social media, Ben brings a solid marketing perspective to the adoption of social media.

He still measures success the old fashioned way, in terms of sales and referrals. But he understand the power of Web 2.0 as a marketing tool to drive those key metrics forward. Ben tweets at @bensmithinc and @polygonhomes. He manages Polygon Homes Facebook Page and he has an eagle eye on the trends impacting his industry.

Though many of us might say, "Who would want to be in the real estate industry in these times", these are exactly the times when great innovation takes place. We know that from history. Every recession has been followed by a boom in innovation and entrepreneurship, those on the leading edge of the new innovations arising from a recession lead the way out of it.

Ben understands Web 2.0 and what it brings to the real estate industry. I was impressed with his insight into how the social networking tools now available rather than replace word of mouth marketing simply move it online. The power of these new sites enables home shoppers to move beyond relying on friends and neighbors for recommendations and opens them up to opinions from around the world.

And though real estate is a local business, new tools arise every day that increasingly make it a powerful tool for local business as well. Now home shoppers can connect with more than just their immediate network of contacts in their community to more or less everyone in their community - at least those that are on the web.

Ben's is a story of adapting to the innovation in one field and using it to drive innovation in another. HOW the real estate uses these Web 2.0 innovations to bring about change in their own industry will be the interesting story as we come out of this recession.

What is your role at Polygon Homes?

VP Marketing.

In your opinion what are the key trends affecting your industry?

As it relates to the Real Estate Industry: the obvious trend or "state of being" is the current economic situation. Currently prices have fallen, interest rates are at historic lows and we are seeing a lot of activity in the market right now. The suggestion is that we are at the bottom... only time will tell. Let's hope that this increased traffic and sales are the "trend" ; ) The other trend is the end of presale and a launch style of marketing and a movement to selling from finished product and a steady tempo approach to sales and marketing.

As it relates to the Marketing Industry in general: let me say first that the fundamentals have not changed despite what all the self-proclaimed "experts" will tell you. Marketing remains about developing one-to-one relationships that grow in to one-to-many referrals, which become huge successes when they transcend to many-to-many conversations. The trend is that the tools we now have to foster this are getting better with Social Media etc. and the trend of "transparency", social responsibility, info sharing, are all just results of customers using these tools and gaining power and a level voice with the companies they support. Don't be fooled, people have always wanted transparency, have been assembling into tribes that multiply since before Jesus and the 12 tribes of Israel, and have always cared about social issues, there has just been a shift in power and share of voice that has elevated these concepts more recently and made marketers pay attention to them. This is grossly oversimplified but you get the general direction.

How do you measure innovation or marketing success?

1. With money. Did it make and / or save any?

2. By leads / traffic. Did we draw anymore to our website and / or to our sales offices.

3. By education. Did we learn anything?

4. Anecdotally. Was anyone talking about it?

5. Emotionally. Did it encourage / motivate / empower the team to move forward, be better, keep going.

6. By speed / simplicity. Did it do any of the above faster or make it any easier?

If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?

I would be a lot more humble about all the things I didn't know anything about and a lot less opinionated about all the things I thought I knew a lot about. Having said that, youthful arrogance breeds passion and passion allows you to risk.. and I likely would not have pushed myself and my career had I not been passionate and willing to risk, so maybe these were all great experiences and lessons. I suppose it's not about "good" or "bad" experiences, but what you make of them ; ) But now I am getting too philosophical, next question...

What is an example of an innovative company that people have never heard of?

Great question. I saw a company at LPV6 called Mobify.me... they allow you to take your existing website and "mobify" it for your mobile phone - thought that was pretty innovative. www.mobify.me

Also, my friend has a company in San Francisco called Brain Park that is doing some pretty exciting things to connect people, knowledge, and resource in organizations by building an enterprise solution that incorporates many social media type tools. www.brainpark.com

List a few of your favourite sites on marketing or innovation.

Don't really have any "favourites" in particular. Been caught up in twitter lately and follow a bunch of people who tend to pass around good stuff on these topics from a plethora of sources. I do read Seth Godin's blog fairly frequently, and watch TED for ideas, I also get fired up to watch and learn from Apple keynotes.

For a complete list of my bookmarks check out my del.icio.us account www.delicious.com/bensmithinc

www.twitter.com/bensmithinc

www.linkedin.com/in/bensmithinc

www.delicious.com/bensmithinc

About Ben Smith

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Ben faces the world with the work ethic of a steel worker, creativity of his interior designer mom, and rational science of his dad... he is the guy in the MAC ads standing between MAC and PC facilitating the conversation.

By age 30, he had been the Managing Director of a leading boutique creative agency, the VP Marketing for a leading Vancouver Real Estate Developer (current), got married and had four kids. He's worked for brands both large and small and everyone in between. Credentials aside, it is an insatiable curiosity that fuels him to innovate and pursue excellence in marketing.

Incremental vs Radical Innovation - Do Consumers Care

I was reading yet another article on innovation on the web when a short sentence caught my eye:

Do consumers sincerely differentiate between incremental and radical innovation?

The author went on to describe the difference between the two

As I see it, incremental innovation... is most times, short-term and more profit-oriented. Furthermore, incremental innovation is used by larger corporations who might not have the right tools, creativity or knowledge to create new original cutting-edge products/services yet have the financial capabilities to execute and implement them!

It's true that most radical innovations are actually discrete accumulations of much smaller improvements yet they have the ability to be life changing, and those seem to have seized to exist these days!

In a nutshell, it seems in his view, radical innovation is what happens when you do a lot of incremental innovation. Sooner or later you reach a Tipping Point, where the next iteration is a radically new idea. (For further discussion of Tipping Points read Malcolm Gladwell's fascinating book of the same name.)

In some sense I would have to agree. Often radically new ideas are iterations of ideas already being explored, but aren't seen by the general public. And this is where I would diverge form the author's opinion.

I actually DO believe that big corporations have the " .. right tools, creativity or knowledge to create new original cutting-edge products/services... ". They also have the financial wherewithal to launch them. What they don't have is the ability to take a huge risk.

Large companies are risk adverse by nature (unless you are a financial institution apparently given how we've been watching them implode over the last year.) Large companies often come up with radical new innovative products but for one reason or another choose not to launch.

Sometimes this is due to how destabilizing the innovation would be to current products. Sometimes it is because of entrenched political positions against this type of innovation. Sometimes it's just that the champion is not well connected. (He or she has been known to leave said big company and go out on his or her own for just that reason and successfully launch the radical new idea.

But back to the question: Do consumers care if a new idea is radical or just an incremental innovation? No, I don't think so. Consumers are motivated by products and services that meet their needs. If that need can be met by making a small change - great. If it requires a radical change- that's fine too.

True consumers get a lot more excited about a radical innovation, but there's a place for both in any well run business. Why, because radical innovation is much riskier. For every success there are hordes of failures.

A well run company pursues both strategies. Incremental innovation builds the infrastructure for radical innovation and provides the fall back when things don't turn out quite like planned.

Which happens rather more often that one would wish.

Tackling Telecom: Innovation at Telus

This month we're featuring an interview with Bob Petrovic, Director of Services Planning at Telus. In his role at one of Canada's leading telecommunication companies, Bob has been closely involved with managing innovation and sheparding new communication products through the new product process.

As Bob is at the forefront of one the fastest growing segments in virtual communication, mobile services, I was interested in his take on managing innovation. Huge capital expenditures are common in the telecommunications industry, so Bob has a common challenge on a bigger scale, in these economic times - trying to manage long-term investment with short term risk.

In times of financial crisis where companies of all sizes are challenged with funding projects, innovation tends to come from those smaller, more nimble and less capital intensive companies. However, on the telecommunications front, where building the infrastructure takes massive amounts of money, larger companies with legacy systems have the advantage.

In my interview with Bob I was particularly struck by his comments regarding the disconnect that often occurs between Marketing and R&D. In a technology company, in particular where new product development tends to reside with those involved in technology development, this

communication gap can mean the difference between being first to market with an innovative and successful product and time spent developing products that don't meet consumers' needs.

I've talked before about how crucial I believe it is to develop strong working relationships between Marketing and Product Development. Cross-training and working groups comprised of members of both departments tend to improve communication and prevent "orphan" products. I've seen this time and time again, where a great technology product lacks a champion in marketing and so languishes in development stage or the reverse, when marketing research uncovers a consumer need but, without R&D support never moves beyond the idea stage.

In the fast moving and competitive telecommunications marketplace, this type of disconnect can mean the difference between being first to market, and obtaining critically important patents and scrambling to play catch-up as the industry moves forward. Marketing is tasked with correcting identifying the drivers that rule the market is critical and communicating that to those responsible for developing products to meet those needs. When this type of communication breaks down, the result is lost time and lost opportunities.

Bob points out in our interview how critical it is for those of us on the forefront of innovation to reach out beyond out own industries for new ideas and expand beyond our computer screens for ideas on managing innovation. I know you'll enjoy reading his thoughts on managing innovation in this critically important time.

What is your role at Telus?

My primary responsibility at TELUS is for consumer services planning. The scope of the role is broad, ranging from development of product strategies through to incubation of new mobile and broadband services. The goal for these activities is to align activities across the organization & assess emerging opportunities.

In your opinion what are the key trends affecting your industry?

Economic conditions are obviously a key consideration for network operators, impacting a range of decisions from market planning to capital spending. This will be an ongoing consideration for mobile and wireline service providers for the foreseeable future.

In terms of technology trends, it's fair to say that the rise of 3G adoption, driven by smartphones and mobile applications, is a key mobile trend. Video continues to be a key theme in the home with an increasing number of options for time & placeshifted viewing. As with any trend, there are opportunities and risks that need to be understood and acted upon.

How do you measure innovation success?

Commercial endeavors are ultimately measured by profitability and I don't think innovation can be treated differently. Successful innovations will be those that drive usage and adoption in a sustainable way - they have to fulfill a need and be convenient so that people will want to use them. While forecasting commercial success for new initiatives can be tricky, convenience, as measured across economic (price, cost) and esthetic (ease of use) dimensions, is usually a pretty good indicator of future performance.

What is a biggest pitfall that impedes successful innovation?

In any industry, a disconnect between technology and marketing organizations is probably the greatest hindrance to innovation. Opportunities that arise in one area may not be fully appreciated in the other. Maintaining an on-going conversation across these groups goes a long way to realizing opportunities appropriately by managing priorities & expectations.

What is an example of an innovative company that people have never heard of?

In my industry (and hometown), Teradici stands out as a company that's using technology to solve some real problems today with a great vision for the future. They develop thin client solutions that push computing power into the cloud efficiently and transparently.

Outside my industry, I really like what folks like HippoRoller and Kyoto Energy are doing by creating low-cost, simple solutions to real-world problems for emerging nations. Both are applying innovation in a way that increases convenience for the basic needs of life.

List a few of your favourite sites on innovation.

I find myself gravitating to books more than websites for understanding the art & science of developing ideas - I really liked Blue Ocean Strategy and find myself going back to it often.

Lightreading.com is a great site for telecom developments and they do a great job of covering startups which helps me keep a pulse across a wide range of my industry's topics.

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Bob Petrovic is the Director of Services Planning for TELUS Consumer Solutions. In his decade with TELUS he product managed the mobile computing services portfolio from early telemetry to mobile broadband. Prior to joining TELUS, he launched a number of industry-first solutions for Internet developers. Bob has a Bachelor of Mathematics (Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo. He lives in Vancouver with his wife, 2 kids, and some fish.