The Best Articles in Innovation
The most useful articles and videos in Innovation from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Innovation Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved in Innovation by Refind users.
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
How to come up with good business ideas
This was recorded on Monday, February 7th for Cohort #3 of The Minimalist Entrepreneur Course.You can learn more about the book this content is based on here...
8 Sustainability ideas that will change the world
Diving into some of the most innovative ideas across retail, city planning, policy, technology and construction. Ideas that will truly change the way we thin...
Eric Ries on The Lean Startup, the law of sustainable growth, lessons learned, and looking ahead
It’s a special TWiST Live for Ep600! Jason sits down with Eric Ries, author of “The Lean Startup” and the upcoming, Kickstarter-backed, “The Leader’s Guide.”...
Are your fears giving you terrible advice?
From episode: (https://youtu.be/bCel0X2Ta7U) How to fire people with grace, work through fear, and nurture innovation | Matt Mochary (CEO coach)—Matt Mochary...
Rasmus Ankersen: How to outthink your competition
Does success come from luck or skill, and how do you tell the difference? One way to find an answer: think like a pro gambler does, says football executive Rasmus Ankersen. Using sports analytics to…
What is ...?
New to Innovation? These articles make an excellent introduction.
The Blockchain Economy: A beginner’s guide to institutional cryptoeconomics
Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson and Jason Potts are from the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub, the world’s first social science research centre…
What Is Disruptive Innovation?
Twenty years after the introduction of the theory, we revisit what it does—and doesn’t—explain.
How to ...?
How to build the city of the future, according to Ikea’s innovation lab
‘The Ideal City’ collects the most successful urban ideas from around the world, to serve as a sort of cookbook of best practices for city leaders.
How to build a breakthrough
…the secret of Backcasting
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds in Innovation on Refind.
It Is Always Time to Build
Interest rates do not equal innovation rates
«interest rates made highly risky»
Innovating in Uncertain Times: Lessons from 2022
Too many leaders succumb to fear of missing out (FOMO) when new tech trends emerge and demand that something — anything — using the new tech be implemented immediately. This leads to wasted…
Why The Next Decade Will Not Be Like The Previous 40 Years
The mainstream assumption is the status quo will continue on much as before. This isn't just unlikely, it's impossible if total energy produced and consumed declines.
The History of Play-Doh: Good, Clean Fun!
Chances are if you mention Play-Doh, your listener will know exactly to what you mean. Not only does the name elicit a mental image of the product in a small yellow can with a colorful lid, but it…
«Play-Doh was actually in homes for at least 20 years before being considered a “plaything.” In fact, it was marketed and sold solely for another purpose: wallpaper cleaner!»
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Innovation—all under 10 minutes.
Betting on Things That Never Change
Amazon launched 22 years ago this week. Its first web page shows its early days: What’s neat about this isn’t what’s changed. It’s what’s stayed the same. The line, “One million titles, consistently…
«Each iteration is a front-line battle where you’re exhausted from the last war but overconfident from its victory. So the odds keep stacking against you»
The World Is Run By People No Smarter Than You
Shared by 818, including Tracy Lee | ladyleet, Peter Herger, Ines Bieler
37 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Said the Best Managers Never Actually Want to Be a Manager. Science…
According to the Apple co-founder, the best leaders are great individual contributors, not 'professional managers.'
"Most important century" series: roadmap
This is an outline of how each piece in the "most important century series relates to the overall argument. I think it's useful to read through this before reading through the series, to get a sense…
«I believe the above possibility doesn't get enough attention, discussion, or investment, particularly from people whose goal is to make the world better. By writing about it, I'd like to either help change that, or gain more opportunities to get criticized and change my mind.»
World’s whitest paint is now thin enough for cars, planes
A new, thinner version of the world’s whitest paint could slash the need for climate-harming air conditioning in cars, airplanes, and more.
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Innovation.
Research vs Vision: the origin story of Sony Walkman, Mini Cooper, and the iPhone
It’s always interesting to watch how companies approach the building of their new products. During the market research phase, companies…
Why Do Most Ideas Fail to Scale?
In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the…
What if failure is the plan?
I’ve been thinking a lot about failure lately. Failure comes in many forms, but I’m especially interested in situations in which people…
Interview: Marc Andreessen, VC and tech pioneer
Shared by 575, including Michael (मुकेश), Marvin “Polymath but really Just Generalist” Liao, Chris Messina, Mathew Ingram, Arielle Pardes
«Don’t follow your passion. Seriously. Don’t follow your passion. Your passion is likely more dumb and useless than anything else. Your passion should be your hobby, not your work. Do it in your spare time.»
4 Types of Innovators Every Organization Needs
Every company strives to be innovative, but most are missing key ingredients. How can you identify which ingredients your organization needs — and which employee styles can fill in the gaps? The…
«Optimizers evaluate ideas and suggest solutions. They prefer to systematically examine all possible alternatives in order to implement the best solution among the known options.»
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Innovation, including:

Mariana Mazzucato
UCL Professor, Director of @IIPP_UCL. Books: Entrepreneurial State; Value of Everything; Mission Economy. 4 kids keep me smiling
Benedict Evans
Trying to work out what's going on, and what happens next. Mostly tech.

Alf Rehn
Professor of innovation, design, and management. In addition a writer, speechifier, and popular culture geek.
andrew chen
a16z GAMES FUND ONE
steve blank
Customer Development & Secret History, Teaching at Stanford and Columbia
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in Innovation, including:
steve blank
Customer Development & Secret History, Teaching at Stanford and Columbia
Freakonomics
Follow the Freakonomics Radio podcast for weekly episodes that explore the hidden side of everything — with host Stephen J. Dubner.
Fast Company
Inspiring readers to think beyond traditional boundaries & create the future of business. Subscribe to our daily newsletter: http://fastcompany.com/newsletters
Harvard Business Review
The best ideas in business and management to help people, organizations, and economies work better.
a16z
we invest in software eating the world http://a16z.com/portfolio/ http://a16z.com/podcasts/
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We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Which sources does Refind monitor in Innovation?
We monitor hundreds of sources in Innovation, including steve blank, Freakonomics, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, a16z, and many more.
Who are the thought leaders in Innovation?
We follow dozens of thought leaders in Innovation, including Mariana Mazzucato, Benedict Evans, Alf Rehn, andrew chen, steve blank.
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