There's a general belief that failure is the friend of the innovator, but I've come to view it a different way.

The school at which you studied - design school, disruptive school, TRIZ school, user-centered innovation school, etc - determines the specific words you use.

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

Have a core concept, but wrap it in a full business model.

Almost every disruption starts at the perceived fringes of today's market.

In the face of uncertainty, many companies will default to asking their innovators to study and analyze, which can't actually ever provide a definitive answer.

When we are looking at ideas, we really are thinking of three things. Are you doing something that seems consistent with the patterns of success? Are there reasons to believe you have or can access the right people to make it happen? Can we play a unique role in enabling success? We all have our rules of thumb, I suppose.