Jan 29, 2019
Why do so many innovations fail? The most recent stat I read claims that 97% of new product ideas fail before they hit the one-year mark. Those are pretty low odds. But, not for Taylor Dawson, co-founder of GEs First Build Innovation Lab. They had a high rate of success, especially given they were operating inside a large system with lots of processes and bureaucracies. Taylor stopped by Inside LaunchStreet to share with us how to increase your success rates and drive innovation that sticks in the marketplace. Taylor's Innovator Archetype is Risk Taker Tweaker.
Key Takeaways:
[2:30] You might be surprised to know that Taylor loves to learn new ways to cook. He’s building an outside pizza oven on his deck.
[4:25] Taylor discusses how GE’s FirstBuild Appliances was born.
[7:16] The first refrigerator trial wasn’t successful. Listen in as Taylor shares some of the roadblocks they had to overcome.
[10:20] The key insight from the lean startup was that we need to get to the consumer interaction as quickly as possible.
[13:29] FirstBuild launched 12 products in 15 months. How was this possible? How did changing the way they looked at launch help accelerate the process?
[16:56] Tamara reminds listeners that launching means launched for testing. It’s not launched for the manageability and sustainability of the product. Taylor and Tamara discuss why focus groups fail.
[19:08] Taylor now applies the concepts he learned from GE and applies it to other situations. There are a lot of interesting projects going on. Only a small percentage get to the end product. Taylor discusses why this is the case. Taylor and team at Giddy, help get investors launched in a hundred days.
[23:27] What do the first ten days look like in the hundred-day plan? Tamara reminds listeners that the consumer is there from day one. Get introduced to the term, “customer discovery.”
[28:43] What happened if you get to the hundred days and it isn’t going to be a success? You congratulate yourself for doing something that was innovative and not spending $100,000.
[29:39] Tamara shares an experience when she was working with a consumer packing goods product. The company attached a milestone to a new product similar to their legacy products. Tamara asks Taylor where milestones fit in.
[33:55] Taylor talks about why he wrote an article called, “The Only Ideas Left are the Stupid Ones”. Why are the only ideas left the stupid ones? Tamara talks about the success of Tough Mudder.
[37:06] Taylor has learned to completely isolate his opinion of the success or failure from other people’s opinions. He discusses the launch of a $500 nugget ice maker on crowdfunding. You really don’t know until you get out there and try it.
[40:46] Taylor’s app, Giddy, is a design community to help develop products. The community can help you explore the solution space completely.
[43:53] Connect with Taylor on LinkedIn and get your product launched.
[44:20] Taylor’s final piece of advice for LaunchStreeters looking to excel their innovation efforts is to get an education. The only way to move forward is to stand on the shoulders of the people that have gone before you.
[45:22] What are you going to do to mimic some of Taylor’s success? Taylor’s innovator archetype is a risk taker tweaker. Tamara challenges listeners to take the IQE Assessment and identify your archetype.
If you are ready to:
get buy-in from key decision makers on your next big idea
be a high-impact, high-value member that ignites change
foster a culture of innovation where everyone on your team is bringing innovative ideas that tackle challenges and seize opportunities...
Join us on LaunchStreet — gotolaunchstreet.com
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