The Big Idea

Rating:
Summary: The Big Idea
Review: The Big Idea is a great view into the world of great business innovation. The Big Idea looks in detail at some of the great innovative products of our time such as: the remote control, Teflon, liquid paper, Velcro, Microwave oven, USA today, Silly Putty, post-it notes and many other innovative products.

The Big Idea is good at is getting to the story behind the story. I was amazed that many of these innovations where thought of in a flash of inspiration, but took many, many years to be realized as products (Xerox, Polaroid and Barbie). I was also reminded of the personal and financial hardship that many of the entrepreneurial innovators faced. Many innovators had several (many) failures among the way to reaching their success.

The Big Idea also impresses the need to copyright, patent and trademark your creation so that you can reap the rewards from the creation. There are also a couple of interesting examples of innovation within a corporate setting.

If you want to innovate you need the commitment and persistence to stay with it for the long term. The Big Idea closes with the following lessons from innovators The Big Idea covers.

1. Think of things that never were and ask, "why Not" - innovations is doing what others don't see
2. The Power of One - Behind every great innovation there is typically a single individual driving it forward
3. Keep It Simple, Stupid - complexity kills innovations
4. First is best - own the consumers mind by being first
5. Try, try again - when you fail... try again
6. Risk Business - to hit homeruns you have to swing for the fence
7. Synergy is necessary - know you strengths and weaknesses and let other's strengths offset your weaknesses

The Big Idea builds these lessons out with a good level of detail and it worth the purchase price.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and fun!
Review: This book is perfect for any entrepreneur who would like a dose of inspiration and a quick read. Strauss describes the design process and marketing of many of our favorite products (Palm Pilots, Barbie dolls, Tupperware, cell phones) along with the difficulties these entrepreneurs encountered. Although the word "visionary" is overused in today's business world, these men and women were truly visionaries who marched to the beat of a different drummer. Strauss focuses on different rules of innovation in each chapter, and the book becomes a cohesive (although certainly not exhaustive) lesson on building a business.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is a different sort of business book. Most are boring or self-important. This book was neither. Rather, it was a very enjoyable read while still being very useful. The stories were informative and entertaining, and, I thought, drove home the salient points. As an entrepreneur, it was helpful to see how others created great companies.