While searching randomly on the web I came across my own interview by a blogger on Indian startups. That interview was done little more than a year ago. A couple of things I had said was pertinent to the post “Where Are the Innovators When You Need Them?” by Joe Panettieri of MSPmentor.
Here is the link to my interview: http://desistartups.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/interview-with-vembu-by-prabhu/
To quote myself from the interview:
“The truth is that I am not really an early adopter of anything….. Also, I would like to call myself more of an incremental innovator with a lot of common sense. So I am not sure if I can come up with a completely new world-changing idea or something like that…..I felt I could really contribute with my incrementally innovative ideas and…I felt I could get a product out and start generating revenues to support a boot-strapping model”.
To quote Joe Panettieri from the MSPmentor article:
“Throwing money at problems often isn’t the solution. True innovation — from large, nimble companies and small, hungry start-ups — will pull the US and other countries out of this economic mess. Led by innovators, the turnaround is coming. I just wish I knew when.”
And I had commented the following in response to Joe Panettieri:
“Considering all the excesses in the US economy driven by foreign debt in the last decade or so and considering all the excesses in the form of bailouts after bailouts, the only way for the US to come out of this crisis intact and as strong as ever is through some breakthrough inventions or innovations. One should not forget US achieved its status as a superpower through this process of innovation in the last century.
These innovations have to come from some field which will fundamentally improve human productivity by leaps and bounds. If US fails to deliver on this front in the next decade or so, then it is inevitable that the next generation of Americans will pay a heavy price for the excesses of this generation.
It is worth remembering the fundamental law of economics that “there is no such thing as a free lunch”.
“I want to clarify something about my previous comment so that there is no scope for misinterpretation. When I said US has to deliver on some breakthrough innovation, I actually mean that such innovations have to come from individual initiatives from people like us – who are pushed against the wall. I did not mean that it has to come from some centralized government initiative through some mega-government planning. I thought it is important to clarify this as these days lots of very smart people have started thinking as if the government has to do something.”
“If at all some true innovation happens because of a government initiative it will be more of an accident. True innovations happen through the efforts of millions of individuals – who innovate either in order to survive or because of some innate human curiosity. All that the government has to do is to step out of way and make sure these individuals have the fullest freedom to pursue their dreams and also not interfere in the way these true innovators are rewarded for their efforts.”
I am writing about this in my blog here to drive home the point that no individual starts with a world changing idea or world changing ideas do not present themselves to some gifted individuals. You always start with something which appear small and trivial. But when millions of individuals try millions of small and trivial innovations there is that one fundamental world changing idea that would emerge. And that one innovation would impact the whole of humanity for the better.
So all of us who are wondering about how we are going to get through this impending economic calamity, the time to take charge of our lives is now. Just take the plunge and contribute with your innovation however trivial it appears to be.
