Each week I scour articles, wading through the dogs, and bringing you the best insights to help product managers, developers, and innovators be heroes.

The leaders who inspired Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and other visionaries. “Having a mentor is an invaluable asset for personal and professional development. The symbiotic relationship between mentors and their proteges reinforces continued business success, as knowledge is passed from one leader to the next.” Read more at Inc http://www.inc.com/kelsey-libert/who-are-your-favorite-leaders-inspired-by.html

 

Woot Woot – Made top-10 (again) of innovation articles of the month at Innovation Excellence. “6 Processes for Generating Ideas for Radical Innovations–Design Thinking Series – by Chad McAllister.” Read more at http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/10/01/top-20-innovation-articles-of-september-2015/

The worlds most innovative companies. Top –10… Switzerland, Finland, Israel, United States, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Singapore, Denmark. Read more at https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/10/most-innovative-countries-in-world-2/

Entrepreneurs would do it different if they could – survey results. “Over 86% of the entrepreneurs responded that they would invest their time and money differently, with more focus on sales, strategic planning and marketing. Which is exactly what I would have guessed: 80% of respondents concluded customer development strategies were more important to success than product development strategies for long term success. And, 54% would have created a better plan to increase leads out of the gate.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgedeeb/2015/10/08/what-would-entrepreneurs-have-done-differently/

Key takeaways from the Chief Innovation Officer Summit in Sydney. “Although there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to innovation, common themes emerged as speakers talked through their unique challenges. Here are our five key pointers to how Australian organisations are bringing innovation to bear.” Read more at Innovation Excellence http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/10/07/5-key-takeaways-from-the-chief-innovation-officer-summit-sydney/

How Coke purchases innovation. “Coke’s differentiating strategy is not to try to integrate or big-foot these start-ups. It maintains them as separate, independent entities. Coke provides seed funding, becomes the first customer, and then takes a minority share if and when the business becomes viable.” Read more at Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2015/10/08/how-coca-cola-uses-entrepreneurs-and-keurig-to-jump-start-innovation/

How to assess product profitability. “As you focus on product profitability, don’t underestimate the importance of well-designed data reporting. Use an ‘item master” to organ’ze data and sort it through the categories you selected during documentation. Such disciplined analysis helps you avoid an overly cumbersome reporting process and risks of inconsistency.” Read more at http://ww2.cfo.com/financial-planning-analysis/2015/10/four-steps-assessing-product-profitability/