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    Solving Important Problems: Metaphor: A Ladder To Pick Well

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    Luke Constable
    The document discusses strategies for solving important problems, including positioning oneself in institutional blind spots and focusing on low-hanging fruit overlooked by others. It advocates combining disparate fields with moderate capital needs and little new technology. Additional readings cover procrastination, the future, and developing multiple competencies.

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    Solving Important Problems: Metaphor: A Ladder To Pick Well

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    Luke Constable
    35 views9 pages
    The document discusses strategies for solving important problems, including positioning oneself in institutional blind spots and focusing on low-hanging fruit overlooked by others. It advocates combining disparate fields with moderate capital needs and little new technology. Additional readings cover procrastination, the future, and developing multiple competencies.

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    The document discusses strategies for solving important problems, including positioning oneself in institutional blind spots and focusing on low-hanging fruit overlooked by others. It advocates combining disparate fields with moderate capital needs and little new technology. Additional readings cover procrastination, the future, and developing multiple competencies.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    35 views9 pages

    Solving Important Problems: Metaphor: A Ladder To Pick Well

    Uploaded by

    Luke Constable
    The document discusses strategies for solving important problems, including positioning oneself in institutional blind spots and focusing on low-hanging fruit overlooked by others. It advocates combining disparate fields with moderate capital needs and little new technology. Additional readings cover procrastination, the future, and developing multiple competencies.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 9

    Solving important problems

    Method: agnostic to
    definition of important.

    Focus: positioning oneself


    in current institutional blind
    spots.

    Metaphor: A ladder to pick welldeveloped, medium-hanging fruit


    all the low-hanging fruit
    opportunists missed.
    Sam Bhagwat
    CFO, Blueseed

    Solving important problems


    Solution is
    moderately
    capital-intensive

    Problem
    consider
    ed
    political

    Solution
    has little
    new tech

    Solution combines
    two disparate
    fields

    Sam Bhagwat
    CFO, Blueseed

    Capital intensivity
    Large Capex

    High Capital

    Corporate planning / real


    estate inv.

    Small business
    Banks,
    companies

    Blue-ocean
    Deep-pocketed eccentric /
    crafty pitch

    Lean Startup
    Typical Silicon
    Valley VC

    Low capital

    Old business
    model

    New business model

    Politics vs. technology


    Policy innovation

    Lobbying

    Political
    solution

    Engineering

    Radical pragmatism

    Technolo
    gy
    solution

    Problem
    considered
    technological

    Problem
    considered
    political

    Adjacency distance (X for


    Y)

    What are the core


    competencies required?

    And how far apart are they in


    skill-space?

    Adjacency distance (X for


    Y)

    Communications satellite (1960)


    Sola
    r
    large

    iPod (2001)

    Music
    distributi
    on

    Rocketr
    y
    small

    large

    Compute
    rs

    Communication
    tech

    Paypal (1998)
    Payment
    processi
    ng

    Blueseed (2011)
    Maritim
    e

    medium

    Electronic
    communicati
    on

    Silico
    n
    Valley

    small

    large

    Immigration
    law/politics

    Invention vs. repurposing


    Crazy sh*t

    Breakthrough improvement

    High

    Brillian
    t
    Crazy &
    loaded

    Technologi
    cal
    Incremental improvement
    innovation
    Skilled
    tinkerer

    Low

    Repurposing

    Clev
    er

    Small:
    Overlapping

    Large:
    Adjacency distance

    Disparate

    Solving important problems


    Solution is
    moderately
    capital-intensive
    Solution has
    little new tech

    Problem
    considered
    political

    Solution
    combines two
    disparate fields
    Sam Bhagwat
    CFO, Blueseed

    Additional reading

    Working on important problems:


    Good and Bad Procrastination, Paul Graham, http://
    www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html
    Working on important problems & capital-intensivity:
    What Happened To The Future?, Bruce Gibney, Founders
    Fund: http://www.foundersfund.com/the-future
    On multiple competencies: Career advice, Scott Adams,
    http://
    dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/07/career-advice.h
    tml

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