solarship Posts

A Lesson in Problem Solving: Ntangoraneurs

01 Jan , 2016 No Comments

Go to most of the places in the world that have problems and you will hear certain people repeatedly say there is “no problem”:

Pas de problème (French)

Mei Wenti (Mandarin)

Tsy manine (Malagasy)

Ntangorané (Kirundi)

Hakuna Matata (Swahili)

The reason why certain people say there is no problem is partly because of their perspective and attitude toward problems and partly because extreme conditions create people who develop unique problem solving skills.

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Inventing the Future

23 Dec , 2015 No Comments

It has become common to use the term “disruptive” when referring to innovation and entrepreneurs.

As if this is a good thing.

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Stronger than Steel

20 Nov , 2015 No Comments

Investors spend time with analysts. Analysts ask the question “what?”

If all great new ventures answer the question “why?”, all the naysayer-right-hand-man-shoeshine-analysts ask the question “what?”

They sputter things like, “money has no smell,” and recount the times that “snake oil salesmen” have come into their office seeking money and then the money disappears.

They want numbers. They want certainty.

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Startup 101: Explaining Your Why

15 Nov , 2015 No Comments

Innovators spend time with kids aged four to six.

They must.

Four to six year-olds ask “why?”

Studies show that  great advances in the world are driven by the question “why.” Progress is not achieved by people who can say what they are doing, but rather by people who can express why they are doing it. 

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