Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos. Popular culture likes to cultivate the myth of the maverick entrepreneur, often attributing the innovation in a company to a lone genius. The reality is that innovative companies cannot and should not rely on singular flashes of genius, but instead should build a culture of innovation from the ground up.
You have to know the rules to win the game, especially when the rules change… often. In 2013, the movie Captain Philips told the true story of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. In April 2009, the Maersk Alabama cargo ship was attacked and captured by four Somali pirates less than 300 nautical miles off the Coast of Somalia. The Maersk Alabama recognized the threat yet had little ability to repel the assault.
Reflecting on his 27 years at Amazon from what he terms “Day 1” to his upcoming retirement as its CEO, Jeff Bezos recently sent a Letter to Shareholders recapping the 2020 year for Amazon. Although he discussed a number of thoughts, his principal point about why Amazon is so big and so popular rang through clearly.
The dreaded patent search. Typically, this is the last thing clients want to invest in when they are trying to get a patent or launch a new product or service. Many patent attorneys would avoid them if they could.
Martensen IP’s Jack Stuart is a highly decorated, retired USAF fighter pilot who has extensive experience at both Air Force Space Command Headquarters and the National Security Space Institute. Recently, he shared some thought-provoking insights in an article he wrote for The Space Report.
Innovation and new technology are often synonymous. Scientists, tech company founders, engineers, technologists and inventors alike all innovate. Each, in their own way, is a problem solver striving to address a technical problem with a technical solution.