3. Most Things Suck.
⢠But, Itâs Easy 2 Make Them Better.
â Especially Because of Technology.
â And Because of Tony Stark.
â They Make it Easy To Copy & Improve their Innovations
⢠TIP: DO NOT TRY TO BE TONY STARK.
⢠JUST COPY / USE THEIR STUFF. (and Make It Slightly Better)
⢠99% of the time -- Copy/Use Other Peopleâs Amazing Stuff.
⢠1% of the time -- Come Up With Your Own Innovative Stuff.
⢠Improve the Innovation by 1% Every Month.
4. Over Time, Things Sucks Less.
⢠Fire
⢠The Wheel
⢠Farming
⢠Pigs, Cows, Chickens
⢠Iron, Steel
⢠Ships
⢠Printing Press
⢠Textiles
⢠Steam Engine
⢠Electricity
⢠Cars, Airplanes
⢠Telephone
⢠Radio, TV
⢠Cable
⢠The Internet
⢠Social Networks
⢠FB, Twitter, YouTube
⢠Mobile Phones
5. Why No Flying Cars Yet?
(Teleportation? Sexy Robots?)
⢠Because That Stuff is Really Hard.
⢠Not So Many Tony Starks / Elon Musks Around.
⢠You Ainât All That Smart.
⢠Or That Rich.
⢠But, You Might Get To Use Their Stuff.
6. We Are Mental Midgets
Who Stand on Shoulders of Giant Geeks
⢠Da Vinci
⢠Sir Isaac Newton
⢠James Watt
⢠Nicola Tesla
⢠Marie Curie
⢠Gates
⢠Jobs
⢠Bezos
⢠Larry & Sergei
⢠Zuck
8. You Donât Have to be Tony Stark
⢠Just Copy/Use the Stuff that Tony Stark Makes.
â Tip: Since Most People Suck, They Wonât Notice U Arenât Tony Stark.
⢠Copy/Use 99% All The Amazing Stuff Out There.
⢠Innovate on the other 1%.
⢠Innovate 1% More Every Month.
⢠Then Kick Back and Have a Beer.
9. Most Businesses Suck @ Innovation.
⢠They Donât Know Technology.
⢠They Donât Know How to Code.
⢠They Donât Know SEO or SEM.
⢠They Donât Know Email Marketing.
⢠They Donât Know Social, Video, Local, Mobile.
⢠They Donât Know Good Design or UX.
⢠They Donât Know How to Cut & Paste.
⢠They Donât Know How to Use PayPal.
10. Most Things Are Not Amazing.
⢠But, We Can Easily Make Most Things Better.
⢠Tech + Web = Reduced Overhead Costs.
⢠Search + Social Platforms = Better Marketing.
⢠Copy Existing Business Model = Reduced Risk.
⢠FOCUS = Make ONEthing / SOMEthing Better.
12. Formula 4 Awesome:
Notice Things That Suck. Make Them Suck Less.
⢠Most Brick & Mortar Businesses Are Inefficient.
⢠Lots of Overhead, Shitty UX, Crappy Marketing.
⢠Copy Their Business Model (It Already Works).
⢠Reduce Overhead Cost (Go Online).
⢠Increase Marketing Efficiency (Go Online).
⢠Copy/Integrate 99% Awesome Stuff (aka Tech)
⢠Innovate on the Remaining 1%.
⢠Keep Innovating 1%. Every Month.
⢠Beat Them Like a Drum, Every Day & 2x on Sunday.
13. Ok, Letâs Try It.
⢠Find an existing, physical-world big dumb business
that makes money, but kinda sucks.
⢠Verify they have high overhead costs, inefficient
[offline] marketing, crappy service.
⢠Copy the business model, reduce overhead costs,
improve marketing.
⢠Add some awesome technology, and then innovate
on ONE important thing.
16. 3 Basic Types of Brands:
Virgin, Southwest, [Niche]
⢠Virgin = âMass Luxuryâ (+ sexy)
â High-End Look & Feel, priced just barely within reach of most
middle-class customers, who love the âred-carpetâ treatment ď
⢠Southwest = âConvenience & Valueâ (+ funny)
â Shit that just works, not very expensive, great value for
everybody. (Who doesnât like Southwest?)
⢠[Niche] = âJust for You & Meâ
â Designed for well-defined customer segments / attributes.
â Less competition, higher margins, better retention
â Ex: Gay, Old, Black, Short, Female, Moms, Left-Handed, Etc
20. 500 Startups: Global Seed Fund
Over 100+ startups outside US, in 35+ countries
⢠Q4/12 added: Germany, Korea, Peru; + Russia, Israel, Turkey in Q1/13
⢠Priorities in 2012: Brazil, Mexico, India
⢠Priorities In 2013: China, SE Asia, MENA, Eastern Europe