In my mind, so-called "cultures of innovation" really boil down to one word: curiosity.

Checklists are really helpful ways to remind people around how to manage complicated tasks.

The most important thing here is to largely ignore what customers say, and instead watch what they do or track where they spend money.

I think the most important thing to do is to recognize the fundamentally different circumstances of pursuing growth.

People who copy what exists copy a point-in-time artifact, and if you are managing the process correctly you are already hard at work on the next thing.

There is what Steve Blank calls the stage where you are searching for a scalable business model. Then, there is the stage when you have found that model and need to scale it. In the former stage you have to have a "beginner's mind," be in learning mode, and expect to learn things you didn't anticipate.

I think it is only in hindsight that you can determine whether something is a mistake or not.