Why and How to Create a Culture of Innovation

May 21, 2013

In a recent article for Wired Magazine, John Carter (co-inventor of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones, and a CEO and founder) argues that the key to growth in today’s struggling economy is innovation. Successful innovation, he says, requires a culture of innovation. As he asserts, “Without the right culture, no set of tools, methods, or people will be successful.”

Why the emphasis on culture? There has actually been academic research on the topic, which summarizes it nicely:

“Culture affects innovation because it shapes the patterns dealing with novelty, individual initiatives and collective actions, and understandings and behaviors in regard to risks as well as opportunities.”(1) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Innovation Tagged With:

Innovative Insights with Rafael Harutyunyan, Co-founder of TourBud

May 14, 2013

Rafael, TourBudIn March, Dubai hosted the regional SeedStars World startup competition, which was organized by Innovation 360 as a local partner. At the competition, 15 teams competed for cash prizes and a grand prize invitation to compete in the global SeedStars World competition next year in Switzerland.

The top prize winner from Dubai was local startup TourBud, an online platform that allows residents to register as guides and assist tourists during their stay by being a call away.

TourBud was co-founded by Rafael Harutyunyan, a software developer and currently a student at Masdar Institute of Technology, and Reem Ketait, currently a student at Masdar whose professional expertise includes Process Design, Reactor Design and Thermodynamics. They have recently been joined by a third team member, Ruben Nagoga, who specializes in web design and development.

As a young entrepreneur, Rafael has already experienced two unsuccessful startups, but has shown the persistence all entrepreneurs must have by entering and winning the regional SeedStars World competition. Following is a brief interview with him regarding TourBud and his experience in the competition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: , ,

Accelerating the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem with TURN8

May 3, 2013

I am very pleased to announce a new program to inspire and support innovative entrepreneurship in the UAE and beyond. DP World’s new TURN8 program has been launched to seek innovative start-up ideas and technologies from around the world, the best of which will be taken from “Idea to Market” in DP World’s own seed accelerator to be held in Dubai.

Innovation 360 is honored that DP World chose our i360accelerator model for their seed accelerator, and we will be working with them over the next year to make this program a success.

I believe this is a huge step for the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the UAE for several reasons. One, it will bring innovative ideas here from around the world. The program is hosting idea pitching competitions (Innov-a-thons) in 11 cities with active start-up communities, including Dubai, Cairo, Amman, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kiev, Minsk, Warsaw, Bucharest and San Francisco.

TURN8 is also accepting idea pitches online, which means that virtually anyone from anywhere in the world can pitch an idea and possibly be accepted to the TURN8 seed accelerator! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: , , ,

Regional Entrepreneurs Compete in Global Startup Competition

March 29, 2013

On March 20 in Dubai, 15 startup teams participated in the regional SeedStars World startup competition. The winners received cash prizes and the first place winner was awarded a ticket to Switzerland with the opportunity to compete for a USD 500,000 investment and perks in February 2014.

Seedstars World Dubai winner, TourBud
Part of a global competition across twenty countries, Seedstars World aims to find the best startups within emerging and fast growing startup scenes, such as the UAE. Participating teams were invited to compete by Innovation 360, a regional partner of Seedstars World.

The teams who pitched came from all over the region, including the UAE, Jordan and Egypt. The startups offered a variety of services, from e-commerce websites and mobile apps, to healthcare, fashion, and automotive offerings.

Each team had six minutes to pitch a jury panel with their idea, including the problem thee startup aims to address, the solution they provide, how it works, the business model, and a brief overview of the company’s financials and team. The judges also looked for the startup’s scalability, or its potential to appeal to a global audience.

The first place winner, TourBud, allows residents to register as guides and assist tourists during their stay by being a call away. Founder Rafael Harutyunyan explains the idea:

“When you go somewhere as a tourist, sometimes there are problems; for example, you are lost. You cannot tell the taxi driver where to go or you cannot communicate with local people… I’m giving a solution to that problem by providing a phone number of a local person for some reward, who will answer your calls and help you by phone.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: , , ,

Mastering the Art of Entrepreneurial Listening

March 12, 2013

by Guest Blogger Finney Thomas
People crave the company of a good listener because most people instead of spending more time evaluating what the speaker is saying, spend more time composing their responses.  Sometimes they choke poorly, I’ve been actively involved in many start-up events conducted locally in Dubai and I see these things happen more often than people would care to admit.

What is entrepreneurial listening?

It is the technique of listening mastered by the entrepreneur/early stage entrepreneur who has considerable amount of listening to do more. These are the six simple steps that we can take in order to add meaning and value into who we are, what we do and how we do it.

Step 1: Listen, Listen, Listen
The more you listen, the more you win, there’s more for you as an entrepreneur to listen to than for you to speak about because although you are a distinct individual, the rest of the world is speaking and you have to listen if you want to manage and essentially add value to the statements you address. Also, as the well-mannered listener, one should not impede and interrupt the speaker. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: , , ,

Enhancing Creativity Through Gamified Collaboration

March 8, 2013

It is true that everybody can be creative. The question is how well we can stimulate our innate creative ability especially in the increasingly complex environment of our workplaces. Breaking out of the norm is an art as well as a science, especially when it relates to creativity.

Life isn't as seriousBorrowing from a quote from Oscar Wilde: art is the only serious thing in the world and the artist is the only person who is never serious. If we substitute art here with creativity, we begin to see the connection between creative thinking and playing (i.e., not being serious).

We are all creative people, and it has been proven that by engaging in certain activities like creating a Customer Journey Map, we find it easier to finally connect the dots. Now imagine there are many dots generated by many people, it just gets all the better. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Methodologies and Tools Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts