This document presents 11 profound facts about innovation for 2015. Some key points include: by 2020, over 3/4 of S&P 500 companies will be companies we have not heard of yet; 93% of executives are looking to innovation to drive growth but 81% do not believe their organizations know how to lead innovation; over the last 10 years, 40 different billion-dollar startups were founded showing the potential of new companies; and the cost to build the next Twitter is low at $160 for a course on building websites plus free hosting, showing barriers to entry are reducing.

1. 11 Profound Facts
About Innovation
for 2015
Presented by LeanEnterprise.co

2. “By 2020, more than three-quarters
of the S&P 500 will be companies
we have not heard of yet.”
!
-Professor Richard Foster, Yale University
1

4. 93% of executives are
looking to innovation
to drive growth
-PwC study with 1,757 corporate executives
2

5. 81% of executives do NOT
believe their
organizations know
how to lead innovation
-PwC study with 1,757 corporate executives
2

6. “Over the last ten years, 40 different
billion-dollar startups were
founded.”
!
-Aileen Lee, Cowboy Ventures
3

8. “Facebook is now worth more than
Disney, Coca-Cola, and Intel.”
!
-Matt Phillips, QZ.com July 2014
4

10. “A gigabyte of storage in 1993 cost
over $9,000. Now it’s a mere 4
cents.”
!
-Julie Bort, Business Insider 2013
5

11. “The cost is almost nothing to build
the next Twitter. Assume $160 for a
Ruby on Rails course plus free
hosting on Heroku.”
!
-Courtney Boyd Myers, The Next Web
6

12. The Startup Curve
Initial
Enthusiasm
Reality
Sets In
TROUGH OF
SORROW
Before
Startup
Scale
Product/
Market Fit!
Starts
Working
Experimenting
& Pivoting Source: Paul Graham; avc.com
Time
Happiness

13. “The application of disruptive
technologies at the time of
development were not only
unknown, but unknowable.”
!
-Clay Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma
7

14. “Our findings support the idea a
firm’s scope for strategic change is
bound by external entities (i.e.
existing customers).”
!
-Clay Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma
8

15. 9
“Despite the popular conception of
entrepreneurs as risk takers, risk
aversion does not seem to affect
the decision to become an
entrepreneur.”
!
-Noam Wasserman, The Founder’s Dilemmas

16. 10
“The founders of Twitter, Instagram,
Pinterest, Foursquare, Asana, and
others were Google employees who
found it easier to start their
ventures on their own.”
!
-Trevor Owens, The Lean Enterprise

17. “The average entrepreneur has
fourteen years of work experience
and many of the most successful
worked in large corporations.”
!
-Trevor Owens, The Lean Enterprise
11