EVERYDAY INVENTIVENESS™

In January, Michael Mandal’s Progressive Policy Institute research study speculated that big corporations were more innovative than startups. The study suggested that big companies do better in global marketplaces, that they alone have the resources to find/hire the best talent, that they alone have the scale to address big problems. An online debate ensued about startup innovation.

Many folks — RE:INVENTION included — declared that startups can indeed be as innovative as corporations (if not more so). And pointed to numerous exceptionally innovative startups as examples.

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Paul Singh, an esteemed partner at 500 startups, has a great blog. He tweets prolifically. We’re sure he’s a good guy (though we’ve never met him). Who doesn’t like someone who boldly declares, “I can rock your business” in his bio? Still….we’re troubled (tossing, turning, up all night taxed) by the following 85% theory proposed on Singh’s provocative website home page:

“85% of every business is exactly the same. At their core, businesses have customers, hire people, create a product or service, pay bills, and collect invoices. It is the remaining 15% that makes each business different and unique.”

Hmm. Is 85% of EVERY business really the same? Just 15% unique? We can’t seem to make Singh’s math work. Let’s start from the false assumption that 100% of all companies are the same….

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