A Compound of Alchymie

Knowledge and Innovation

Back in February I spoke at a London Knowledge Network event which ran in parallel with the British Women Inventors and Innovators Conference at the University of Greenwich. My presentation focussed on the links between effective information, knowledge and learning processes, and innovation. Innovation is currently high on many organisation's 'to do' lists but of course it's actually very difficult to be innovative. Innovation needs a special set of conditions to thrive and those conditions rarely exist in many of our industrial age organisations. A knowledge focussed approach can however be enormously useful in supporting innovation and I believe that some of the KM techniques can be particularly useful when used specifically to foster innovation. And they are certainly more useful than sending people on creativity workshops.

In addition to the conference there was also an exhibition of  new innovations by British women. One that particularly stood out was a new ergonomic approach to cookware - Celia Gates' sensual curvy handles have been attracting lots of coverage recently. She spoke before me at the LKN event and it was great to hear how she overcame much resistance to bring her idea to fruition. A theme that surfaced more than one during the day was that men make great inventors while women are better innovators.  I guess it depends on how you define invention and innovation?

ExLink: Handl Cookware

Wonderland - Last of Dragon's Den

The last episode of the current series (implication is that there might be another) was aired last night (Tuesday 9 Feb).  Usual theme of fledgling entrepreneurs massively overvaluing their business idea. One pair valued their business at £1.5M even though they currently had no actual customers for their folding rubbish bins. The amount of equity that entrepreneurs are prepared to give up for the Dragon's cash is also laughable - literally because the Dragons often do laugh when they are told they will only get 10% (which for some reason seems to be the standard 'offer'). In the end if they get any of the Dragon's cash they usually end up giving much more. This may seem like  sheep to the slaughter but in practice most of the Dragon's  offer to play the role of 'business angel' not only investing cash but also providing tactical and strategic advice. A good idea is one thing - turning it into a successful business requires a lot more - and especially so in today's ultra competitive world market.

Two ideas got the Dragon's support  this week:

Snowbone - A device that turns your snowboard into a 'snow scooter'.
Wonderland - A surprising choice for the Dragon's - a new ultra lifestyle magazine aimed at men and women (along the lines of the ultra cool but still pretentious Wallpaper).

I'm still guessing that the Beeb will follow-up the successful (and possibly the unsuccessful) entrepreneurs at some point in the future. If so, I will be booking the front row seat in my lounge!

Dragons Den Again

Tonight's entrepreneurs were a little more interesting/entertaining. Watch out for:

Le Beanock  - A sort of upmarket cross between a bean bag and a hammock (www.lebeanock.com)
3D Visualiser - A combination of laser measuring device and digital camera.

Both these products got the Dragon's backing - the first an investment of £54k for a 49% equity stake - the latter £50k for a 30% equity stake. 

It will be interesting to see how these and all the other Dragon's Den fledgling businesses do in the future - I'm sure the beeb have this in mind too - and we will see programmes in 2006 looking at how these companies are getting on. It will be interesting viewing. Investors place your bets. Now which would I choose?

More Dragon's Den

Dragon's Den wasn't quite so interesting this week - primarily because the entrepreneurs had such poor business ideas. Some to keep an eye on:

StableTable  - a device to stop your table wobbling in a restaurant
Music Control - a web site that enables musicians to sell their work via downloads
Flower Quiver - packaging that enables you to carry flowers over your shoulder
Personal Air Vehicle - a plane that you keep on your driveway.

Only one entrepreneur got the cash she needed - missed the name - but she effectively ran a style consultancy for high powered women - you know, the ones that are too busy to go shopping (sounds like most 'men' to me). She, or one of her consultants, pitch up at the office, suck-up a lot and go away (hopefully) with an order for a £600 sharp business suit. She wanted £120,00 and was prepared to give away 20% equity. She got the cash but had to give up 40% equity - she also had to commit to cutting her proposed salary from £70k to £35k.

I hate this sort of 'premium' service business - the basic aim is to charge customers as much as possible to buy into an illusion - it's not unlike buying seats in First Class when flying to Paris - a complete waste of money unless you are suffering from 'status anxiety'. It won't work - customers are too well informed these days - give them quality not the illusion of quality.

If this programme represents the pinnacle of UK innovation - I'm going to get seriously depressed. Let's hope for better things next week.

Entering the Dragons Den

If you're interested in innovation, entrepreneurship or just running a business then a new series on BBC2 called ' Dragon's Den' is simply unmissable. The first episode was aired tonight (Tuesday 4th Jan) at 8pm and placed a variety of entrepreneurs in front of five investors - all very successful and very rich business owners themselves - and got them to 'pitch' their business idea. The entrepreneurs have to have a sound business plan and must request a specific amount of cash - there's no limit on how much they can ask for but the more they ask for the more convincing they have to be in persuading the 'dragons' to take the risk.

Only one entrepreneur was successful tonight - his umbrella vending business idea got an investment of £150,000 in exchange for a 40% equity stake (though he planned to give away only 20%). And that raises one of the most interesting facets of the programme - the amount of equity or ownership that entrepreneurs are prepared to trade in order to get their business off the ground. The partners of one other start-up showed a product that rocked babies to sleep while still in their pram - the 'dragons' were clearly interested but the failure of the partners to give away more than 5% equity meant that they lost any hope of a deal. Why wouldn't they give away more than 5%? Probably because they thought that since they had the original idea and had put in all the work so far it felt wrong to give away any more. But in practice the 'dragons' weren't just offering cash but also a whole stack of expertise, enthusiasm and commitment in helping get the business off to a flying start. An innovative product or business idea is the essence of intellectual capital, but the ability to take that idea to market successfully needs bags of know-how in other areas too. 60% of a successful business is clearly more desirable than 95% of a neat idea. Talent and capital dancing together. Don't forget to catch next week's episode - it's compelling viewing for all business people.

ExLink: Preview in the Guardian TV Guide

ExLink: A Short History of Umbrella Vending

The Dyson Warning

I watched the Richard Dimbleby Lecture on good old BBC1 on Wednesday 8th December. Delivered in an informal but eloquent and sometimes direct style by James Dyson, the inventor and entrepreneur who "mucked about with a vacuum cleaner for ages" before coming up with a design that literally blew away the competition, he made a strong case for the return to design and innovation that puts function ahead of form. Amazingly, he is the first engineer to deliver the lecture, but his message to Britain was seriously and worryingly clear – we have to stop resting on our laurels and leverage our know-how to invent, design and make new products – products that make full use of today’s technologies. Britain as a nation is falling behind in the know-how stakes – especially when it comes to advanced products – products that have substantial know-how engineered into them and which can be successfully commercialised under the protection of patents or other intellectual property rights. A telling statistic from a couple of years ago puts the UK behind Luxembourg and just ahead of Monaco in the number of patents awarded. I agree with James – we have to get better at knowledge work – we have to make our knowledge work harder for us and capitalise on our know-how potential before it leaks away taking our wealth and influence with it. OK it won’t happen overnight but the warning signs are all around us - it’s time to drop our golden industrial age mentality and embrace the knowledge economy.

Think about it...
Percentage of turnover invested in R&D by Dyson - 12%
Percentage of turnover invested in R&D (Global average) - 4.3%
Percentage of turnover invested in R&D (UK) - 2.1%

ExLink: Full Text of Lecture