A spreadsheet for an innovative idea reports the mathematical relationship between made up numbers. You can't cash a spreadsheet.

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

I'm not very good at sitting still.

Of course, it is worth it to take the time to think carefully through your assumptions, and ensure you at least have hypotheses around how you will create value. But use the analysis as a way to focus attention on the most critical assumptions, rather than spend a ton of time massaging the numbers.

Innovation is doubly hard inside big companies.

Companies get into grooves and they keep sharpening what they are doing, when in fact what they really need to do sometimes is to stop and do something completely differently.

Every great idea emerges out of a process of trial-and-error experimentation.