The $1,000,000,000 Idea - kristianc http://blog.42floors.com/the-1000000000-idea/ ====== melling I just don't see how more innovation could make our society better off. I think innovation is important but only so much. What about infrastructure, education, healthcare, etc? And more people are needed to build a better economy, which is expensive. What's needed is a balance between innovation and other activities. If we were living in a bubble that would be one thing. I'm optimistic about the next generation of entrepreneurs though. ~~~ kristianc A lot of the things you mention come from government spending and investment. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. It might be that innovation is more important than things like healthcare, education, infrastructure etc. But if we need that spending to boost growth, wouldn't that be better spent on innovation, because that's the only thing which can drive long term growth and prosperity? And anyway, if we can find a way to have healthcare without spending nearly $6,000/year per person, that will be good. But if you can do it by using things like stem cell treatments, bionic limbs, better and more effective medications and drugs and surgery, it would be even better. ------ jey I was hoping for some practical suggestions on how to use technology to foster more innovation. But it's just fluff. Some platitudes about what we need to fix and why, references to some "weird" companies that are successful, and then a link to the book "The 1000000000 Idea". ------ wslh I didn't get what is missing to make more innovation. There is an abundance of technology, capital, etc. ~~~ kristianc What you mean by 'more innovation'? It's still a chicken-and-egg situation. Until you have an incentive for people to start businesses that might not be entirely rational. At the moment it is in fact rational - if you want to start a business in a field where there is a low chance of success (and lots of competition) you are better off saving or spending your money on a more 'sure thing'. The idea that the state could throw billions of dollars of tax money into 'doing good' is only going to get you so far. People don't innovate for the good of others - they do it because it's 'fun'. As long as you can get entrepreneurs excited about doing something to improve the world then I believe the private sector will do the rest. ~~~ wslh Sorry, the idea I missed is how to find some good innovations. The current state of technology allows the creation of a very large set of innovations and it is more difficult to find some of them. ~~~ kristianc What, and you think that some guy sitting in his parents garage trying to invent the next 'killer app' is going to come up with something really new? ------ kristianc So, it's a little different from the "The $10B Idea" but equally as interesting: _Why most of the new ventures don’t become big and create new jobs (or even fail)? That’s because most of the innovation takes place in areas where there are no existing jobs to be created. So, no jobs = no innovations._ ------ kristianc A lot of entrepreneurs seem to struggle with seeing the big picture and trying to get big, and I think there is a whole raft of ideas that can be tackled in the name of bringing the most people out of poverty. I've no doubt that it'll be met with criticism here and elsewhere, but there's something to be said for using some entrepreneurial imagination and vision. ~~~ wslh Well, the big problems to improve are health, education, transportation, and job. I can't see any business models to solve the challenges in a short time. You need to wait for the market to mature or the state to decide and then apply innovation. I think that the main reason to invest in innovation is to try to make more innovative people more comfortable with failure. I know that the real problems in the US are with job. There are a lot of innovative people with an innovation mindset, and they can't find a job. I want the government to put the money on innovation instead of spending for the poor, without creating businesses, just give money and leave us alone. I think that "how to become a successful entrepreneur" is a good idea. If someone starts the entrepreneur's path with a "bad" idea, he will be lost, but I am always interested in finding more entrepreneurial opportunities. ------ pak This is why I like the ideas of Eric von Hippel and the research he helped promote into the idea that a "platform economy" (and perhaps a "meta- platform") could better accommodate the new "economies of production" (knowledge production and exploitation). [http://www.designingthearchitecturespace.com/2012/11/economy...](http://www.designingthearchitecturespace.com/2012/11/economy- of-production-a-lesson-in-economics.html) I see ideas like this as a necessary evolution for a world of infinite resources and infinite technological possibility. The only limitation is the size of one's imagination. [http://www.designingthearchitecturespace.com/2012/07/is- the-...](http://www.designingthearchitecturespace.com/2012/07/is-the-future- of-engineering.html) ------ yarapavan Great blog post. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/08