Marcus Hollinger is a modern day renaissance man. A steady gig as SVP of Reach Records didn’t keep him from starting coffee company on the side. Far from sapping him of creative energy, the side-hustle fuels fresh thinking.

Legendary Stanford professor Bob McKim had a simple, standard response to any student seeking his feedback on a new project. Google X’s Astro Teller does something similar today.

Innovation is a numbers game. Knowing prior probabilities helps founders calibrate their efforts. Some simple math can improve your speed of learning dramatically.

Your company’s next product might be hiding in plain sight: where you’re already servicing your own needs. Thinking about yourself as the first customer among many, instead of the total addressable market, is a game-changer.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then constraints are invention’s crazy uncle. Stories as varied as the origins of Wikipedia, Dyson Vacuums, and the ice industry illuminate.

Perhaps the greatest thing we can do to establish trust, is to address the elephant in the room — “Is this person safe?” — head on, straight out of the gate. Inspired by Ise Lyfe.

A recent experience in a Stanford classroom reminded me of one of the most dangerous myths we can believe about knowledge.

Putting things into our own words turns information into knowledge. And sharing has the potential crystallize that knowledge, not just for others, but even more importantly, for ourselves.

Philippe Barreaud, Head of Michelin’s Customer Labs, has a hard-won portfolio of insights from leading global innovation for 20+ years. Here, he revels in the paradoxes of prototyping as a toolkit.

One of the most trajectory-shifting inputs for Phoebe Yao’s start-up came when she least expected it: not during a mind-blowing mentor meeting arranged by a VC, but in a chance encounter with a friend in the park. 

I had the privilege of thinking alongside the brilliant Kim Scott, and shared some insights on her “Radical Candor” blog. Re-posting here with her permission. Feedback welcome!

The definition of “genius” changes as teams shift between convergent and divergent modes — and what gets rewarded should, too.

Rick Rubin is one of the most successful music producers of all time, in any genre. His has more in common with technology innovators like Steve Jobs than some fans might suspect.

Early stage founder gets devastating feedback on a rough concept pitch. What should she do? Don’t give up quickly! Make small tweaks before making big pivots.

What if eliminating failure reduces the likelihood of a breakthrough? There’s lots of research that suggests that’s the case.

Charles Darwin wrote an astounding 15,000 letters to over 230 collaborators across more than 10 different scientific fields. He understood the value of sharing partially-formulated ideas.

Some of the most creative people I know — from Lin Manuel-Miranda to Whitney Burks — share a common, creative secret: “obscene, ostentatious deadlines.”

One of the most famous studies of creativity was conducted by a former spy-master. The insights he pioneered about productive, effective creativity never cease to surprise…

B.F. Skinner’s strict working habits reveal not only how he became such a prodigious writer, but also how he became such an inventive researcher: he made the most of his nights!

How do you increase the velocity of experimentation? According to Thomas Edison, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”