Innocolumn

February 17, 2018

Can startups dance with grownups?

2nd Feb 2018, BUSINESS STANDARD

Nature teaches us that even a big herd of mighty elephants can be distracted and deranged by tiny bees which buzz around their flapping ears
December 8, 2017

Why do not ‘wow’ innovations become unicorns?

8th Dec 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

The two ends of the innovation journey are rich with literature: the early stage, associated with start-ups, emphasizes creativity and cleverness, and the late stage, associated with large companies, emphasizes scaling and discipline. The in-between pathway is scantier in literature-richness.
November 10, 2017

Start-ups should grow as per their nature

10th Nov 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

Every species has a natural growth rate, determined by its genetics, metabolism and its environment. Nature frowns on a species grown artificially except within certain limits. Fruit-flies don’t try to become as big as cows, and cows don’t try to become big like elephants.
October 23, 2017

A Biography of Innovations: How to develop a culture with creative failures

21st Oct 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

When an organization wants to be more accepting of failure and experimental, what are the barriers? Everyone agrees that breakthrough attempts are essential for innovation and, hence, the risk of failure must be accepted by organizations.
October 16, 2017

Start-ups: the good, the bad and the ugly

13th Oct 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

Businesses have been regenerative for centuries. Today’s established corporations were start-ups at some stage.
September 15, 2017

Can start-ups really impact the economy?

15st Sep 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

My answer is ‘No’ if we refer to e-commerce type of start-ups and the time horizon is 10 years. For sure, technology can and will impact, for example, India’s healthcare and education access issues in the long run.
July 31, 2017

Infatuation with cleverness more than impact

31st July 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

R. Gopalakrishnan, Author, Corporate Advisor and Distinguished Professor at IIT Kharagpur How do you assess the impact of an innovation? Consider which of these four innovations has made greatest impact on mankind - invention of anesthesia, synthesis of urea fertilizer, discovery of penicillin or internet / email. The answer depends on how greatly the innovation has been adopted and how much it has changed peoples’ lives.
July 7, 2017

Child-like Innovator-entrepreneur Mind-set

07th July 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

By R. Gopalakrishnan, Author, Corporate Advisor and Distinguished Professor of IIT Kharagpur, Email : rgopal@themindworks.me As I write my 50th Innocolumn for Business Standard, I reflect on the soft side of innovation and entrepreneurship. . Entrepreneurs are like the repeat Everest climber, George Mallory, who when asked why he persisted, replied, “Because it is there.”
June 9, 2017

The two ends of the innovation chain

09th June 2017, BUSINESS STANDARD

R. Gopalakrishnan, Corporate Advisor and Distinguished Professor at IIT Kharagpur rgopal@themindworks.me Perovskite is mineral calcium titanate, discovered in the Ural Mountains in 1839, the same year that Jamsetji Tata was born. 168 years later, perovskite is at the heart of a very exciting solar technology.