Innovation Secrets: How to Build a Successful Business by Connecting with Customers

Table of Contents

• The Guest: John Cloud, Serial Innovator and Startup Expert
• Common Reasons for Business Failure and How to Avoid Them
• John's Top 3 Success Secrets for Entrepreneurs
• Ideal Clients and Building a Win-Win Business
• Rapid-Fire Questions
• Key Takeaways

John's Background as a Serial Innovator and Startup Expert

John Cloud currently lives in Silicon Valley, but is originally from France. He came to the US in the middle of his PhD, which was focused on speech recognition and AI more broadly. After working in an industrial AI lab, John became increasingly interested in applying technology to create new business opportunities.

Throughout his career, John has worked in Europe, Japan, and the US. In 2006, he started an innovation group at Panasonic in Silicon Valley aimed at collaborating with startups and universities. This sparked his interest in startups. He has since started a startup inside Panasonic and worked extensively with startups and new business creation across many industries.

John summarized his learnings and experience with innovation and startups in his book about innovation in corporations and startups.

John's Book on Innovation

John wrote his book because of the interesting intersection between innovation in large companies and startups. He believes much innovation today happens through collaboration between large companies and startups. His experience in both worlds allows him to bring a unique perspective.

Common Reasons for Business Failure and How to Avoid Them

Based on his experience, John shared the top 3 reasons he's seen businesses fail:

1. Building something people don't want and not focusing enough on customers early on. This was a common issue in corporate jobs.

2. Hiring the wrong people, especially detrimental for small teams.

3. Going to market too fast without solid product-market fit. Makes it hard to scale.

To avoid failure, John recommended focusing on customers from day one, carefully hiring your team, and taking the time to ensure product-market fit before attempting to scale.

John's Top 3 Success Secrets for Entrepreneurs

John shared his top 3 success secrets:

1. Manage uncertainty instead of avoiding it. Uncertainty always exists, but can be managed in various ways.

2. Focus on speed and learning rather than being 100% right. Large companies want to minimize risk, but this is slow. Favor speed and learning.

3. Network and collaborate. John's company name "CE to Innovate" focuses on Connect and Engage. Building your network is key for innovation and creating opportunities.

Identifying Ideal Clients and Building a Win-Win Business

Identifying the Ideal Customer

John's ideal clients are often companies who are unsure of their direction or positioning. He likes exploring to find the right fit rather than just executing operationally. He finds ideal clients through networking, referrals, and inbound inquiries. With broad experience, people seek him out for his expertise.

Delivering Value to Clients

John delivers a 5-star experience by being fully engaged in solving the client's problems as if they were his own. He aims to create a win-win situation. He doesn't use sales proposals to close business. Prospects come to him seeking help applying his experience to their unique problems and opportunities.

Rapid-Fire Questions

John's Morning Routine

John starts his day by walking his dog to get outside and get moving. He then checks emails and gets to work.

Overcoming Challenges

John handles angry clients with curiosity and listening to understand their "why". To overcome life's challenges, he persists and searches for the opportunities within each problem.

Key Takeaways

Some key themes from John's experience:

• Focus on people and building your network

• Solve problems and make an impact

• Embrace uncertainty and speed vs. perfection

• Don't give up - turn challenges into opportunities

FAQ

Q: Who is the guest being interviewed?
A: The guest is John Cloud, an author, innovator and startup expert who founded a company called CE to Innovate.

Q: What are some top reasons businesses fail?
A: Key reasons for failure are: building something people don't want, hiring the wrong team, and going to market too fast without product-market fit.

Q: What are John's top 3 success secrets?
A: Managing uncertainty instead of avoiding it, focusing on speed/learning over being 100% right, and networking to build connections.

Q: How does John deliver value to clients?
A: By deeply engaging with clients, listening to their problems, and solving challenges as if they were his own.

Q: How does John start his day?
A: By walking his dog outside first thing in the morning before checking emails and starting work.

Q: How does John overcome challenges in life?
A: By not giving up and continuing to seek opportunities within every problem.

Q: Who has impacted John's career the most?
A: Steve Blank, pioneer of the lean startup movement, shaped John's thinking on focusing on the customer from day one.

Q: What does John want to be remembered for?
A: For someone who explores, learns and cares about people.

Q: How can people support John?
A: By connecting him with interesting problems or business challenges where he can help explore new ideas and solutions.

Q: What were John's final words on the show?
A: His key message was that business is all about your customers, network and team - you need to put people first.