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F2F #21: Innovation is a roadblock

Innovation is a roadblock. It prevents great people from doing stuff they most likely can't do.

F2F #21: Innovation is a roadblock
Photo by Erik Mclean / Unsplash

Innovation is one of the most overrated concepts to ever exist, and I'll die on this hill. In the name of innovation, we have seen aberrations like the case of Theranos.

Theranos, once valued at $9 billion, spectacularly failed in 2016 due to fraudulent claims about its blood-testing technology. The company manipulated lab results to appear more lucrative to investors and rushed unproven products to market. This scandal resulted in significant financial losses and legal consequences for those involved.

Hate the player, not the game? We'll see.

I cherry-picked that example because we're most familiar with startups and technology, but we can go darker than that:

  • The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972): Researchers withheld treatment from African American men with syphilis to study the disease's progression.
  • Guatemala STD experiments (1946-1948): U.S. researchers infected mental patients with sexually transmitted diseases without their consent.
  • And, of course, the nazis. But let's not give them free exposure. They're busy taking the US right now.

Other familiar scandals in the name of innovation include FTX, WeWork, Bored Apes and countless other frauds in history. So, innovation can also be used for evil deeds.

Besides all of the above, there are two more angles that fuck me off about innovation, or two. One, is that no one can really explain what innovation is, especially if their job title includes the word innovation. The second is something that clearly prevents a lot of people from innovating: we must not seek innovation just for the sake of innovating.

Let me put this more clearly: a lot of would-be entrepreneurs don't get started because they're waiting for their eureka moment. Somehow, a lightbulb will light up inside their minds and will light the way to an incredible breakthrough. Until that happens, they won't get started (i.e., analysis paralysis).

It seems as if there can't be entrepreneurship without breakthroughs: a new market, a new approach, a completely disruptive technology, and a long list of etceteras. No: innovation isn't binary, it's a gradient.

When I was getting into music, I found cover songs particularly interesting. I collected each punk cover I could find and my love for versions of famous songs became well-known and even a bit overwhelming among my friends. Today, I own the largest rock covers playlist in the entire Spotify universe.

Why is this relevant to this essay? Well, a lot of well-known artists have become popular mixing other people's songs. DJs, to a certain extent, are a great example, while some other bands became extremely notorious thanks to a cover song or two. In fact, there are artists like Anthony Vincent (3.6 million subscribers on YouTube) or Leo Moracchioli (4.9 million subscribers) who make a good living thanks to having made very popular cover songs.

They have also started writing their own music. Arguably, they would've gone unnoticed if they had started trying to make something truly disruptive. Instead, they focused on their craft and got to a large audience, one they can sell their new products and creations to.

This is, too, innovation.

Moral of the story: You can either sit and wait, or go out and take some action. More likely than not, the latter will bring you more success, because as - allegedly - Thomas Edison once said "luck found me working".

Go out. Meet people. Try things. Code for fun. Write for and to no one. Work on someone else's project. Try to improve something existing. Make your brain do some healthy exercise and inspiration will eventually come to you.

Recommended content

  • 🎙️ Founders podcast: Marcus Wallenberg Jr's impact on Swedish industry was so substantial that during the 1970s, Wallenberg family businesses employed about 40% of Sweden's industrial workforce and represented 40% of the total worth of the Stockholm stock market. The Wallenberg family is one of the most fascinating family dynasties you could learn about. Totally recommended.
  • 🎙️ Andrew Wilkinson (Tiny) shares how he uses AI as a CEO and founder of multiple businesses on the My First Million podcast.
  • 🎙️ The Talk Show with Kagi's founder, discussing the history of search engines and predictions about the future of search. Deeply nerd and interesting.
  • 📖 I've read Derek Sivers' Anything you want and it's very, very good. Short, straight to the point, honest and full of vulnerability. No false modesty. Wisdom nuggets on every page.
  • 📖 More famous innovation failures. Scary shit.
  • 📖 Read more about analysis paralysis.
  • 👩‍💻 For developers: How to beef up your Cursor Rules.

My projects

  • 🎙️ After too long of a (yet another) break, I've brought myself to re-launch the MarsBased podcast, Life on Mars, with a recap of our 2024 - why we've been so busy - and a forecast of 2025. In Spanish and in English.
    • In case you're wondering why I'm not using AI to record in one language and translate to the other... well, I'm trying, but the results aren't good.
    • Also, since I don't prepare much, I most of the times say different things, share different anecdotes and stories, so there's added value for the listeners of both episodes.
  • We're in the final stages of our search for a marketing role in the company, so you can expect a big push of content in the weeks to come. I'm excited!
  • We've launched the ticketing for our upcoming Corporate Innovation Summit event for March 4th. First speakers confirmed (you read it here first):
    • Dorit Dor (CTO @ CheckPoint software).
    • Sergio Gago (Managing Director AI & Quantum @ Moody's).
  • We discuss resistance to the tyrannical technofeudalist broligarchs on Foc a Terra (in Catalan).

Asks & gratitude