Entrepreneurship

Key Takeaways Heroic entrepreneurs are myths: Every "self-made" success story omits the infrastructure, institutions, and accumulated knowledge that made success possible. Innovation is collective: Even inventions attributed to individuals build on public research, shared knowledge, and supportive ecosystems. Government creates markets: The instant noodle industry emerged from US food aid, Japanese industrial policy, and public infrastructure—not just private vision. The myth serves interests: Attributing success to individuals justifies their rewards and obscures the social conditions of innovation. The Story They Tell Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Foods, is celebrated as the inventor of instant noodles—a global industry now worth over $45 billion. ...

The Unnatural Economy: Reclaiming Nature's 3.8 Billion Year Design Manual 1 The Unnatural Economy - Part 1: The One Percent Solution: Why 3.8 Billion Years of R&D Matters 2 The Unnatural Economy - Part 2: The Spiral Mandate: Why Nature Never Uses a Straight Line 3 The Unnatural Economy - Part 3: Dragging the Past: From Sharkskin to Supersonic Efficiency 4 The Unnatural Economy - Part 4: The Zero-Waste Blueprint: Fungi, Mussels, and Green Chemistry 5 The Unnatural Economy - Part 5: The Corporate Jungle: The High Cost of the "Not Invented Here" Syndrome ← Series Home Key Takeaways NIH syndrome: “Not Invented Here” resistance kills promising biomimetic innovations. Financial barriers: Venture capital demands unrealistic returns, while industrial timelines require patient capital. Institutional inertia: Government and military procurement can take 10+ years. Entrepreneurial adaptation: Success requires navigating corporate psychology and finding niche markets. The Dolphin Boat Breakthrough The path into the traditional boating world, an ultraconservative industry, began with a moment of validation: the radically curved, dolphin-modeled WildThing watercraft was so compelling that it forced the judges at an international boat show to award it a shared first prize over the massive, costly displays of industry giants like Yamaha. The boat’s organic shape, designed for minimal drag and maximal lift, was a direct application of biological streamlining. ...