Silicon Valley Innovation at Your Company

How do you get companies to start investing in future innovations, when their tendency is to finance past success? I read this article about Gary Hamel's observations on Silicon Valley dynamics and how these principles can foster innovation in a corporate setting:
  1. Requires a diversity of funding options.
  2. Creates an environment of emergent business planning
  3. Naturally aligns with "angel investors" (sponsors with direct interest and coaching capability)
Hamel suggests replicating this effect internally by creating a corporate wide network of "angel investors", allocating a portion of corporate budgets to these individuals, and encouraging innovators to "pitch" their ideas, competing for the attention and funding needed.

Read the full article, or Gary Hamel's book, The Future of Management, for more thought provoking ideas...

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