Who Influences the "Idea" Conference Leaders?
On a whim, we decided to see who the leading "Idea" conferences pay attention to on Twitter. Rather than focusing on who follows TED, Davos, the Aspen Ideas Festival, etc. We took a look at who they follow.
Denting the Universe as a Solo Founder
Ryan Carson, the CEO and sole founder of Treehouse wrote a post over the weekend titled “You can do it alone.”
The current popular belief among the startup community is that it’s necessary to have a co-founder in order to succeed. In my experience, this has not been true.
I Am A Convert: The Next Industrial Revolution
The personal computer revolution was arguably started by a now-famous electronics tinkering group called the Homebrew Computer Club. The transformational effects of the personal computer can hardly be overstated now, but at the time, the idea of a computer in your home — let alone your pocket — was bizarre future fiction.
What Drove Steve Jobs to Make a "Dent?" An Essay From 1776 May Have the Answer
In a PBS special circa 1986, Steve Jobs and his fledgling Next organization were profiled. One brief segment sure to stand out to those who've studied economics appears when Jobs waxes poetic on specialization, e.g. division of labor. It appears in the context of the question
Your Customers' Vision, or Yours?
You don’t necessarily have to listen to what your customers tell you they want to run a customer-centric business. As Steve alludes to in his recent post about Mickey Drexler, there is a debate floating around about whether you should do as Steve Jobs did, and “ignore the customer,” or you should do as others, such as Drexler do, and center the entire business on the customer.
Long Term Innovation vs. Exponential Innovation
Ray Kurzweil is a famous author and futurist. One of his most widely reference works is a book that is now six years old, but which discusses a theory with startling ramifications. The book is called The Singularity is Near, and theory is actually fairly straightforward.
What is it like to work with Elon Musk?
There is a members-only Q&A site — for lack of a better classification — called Quora, which is a virtual treasure trove of experiential information and stories.
Why Steve Jobs Acolytes Should Focus on Mickey Drexler
Just ran across this piece by Tyler Brûlé in FT. In "Kylie, me and client focus," Brûlé punctuates what I've been saying to people lately about J Crew CEO (and Sun Valley denizen) Mickey Drexler -- that he'd make a great dean of a business school.
The Inertia of Normality
Nothing worthwhile is effortless. The leaders whose work and accomplishments we admire work every day on what Dustin Curtis calls “The Fight”:
But the truth is that, in order to make progress, you need to physically and mentally fight against the momentum of ordinary events.
Dent The Future: Introducing Our New Conference
Some leaders seem able to shape the world through sheer force of will and strength of vision. Some leaders seem immune to the forces of creative destruction, and carry their organizations successfully through decades of disruption and change.