From a rational point of view, innovators must be the most unrational among us.

‍

As an entrepreneur the risk of failing is significantly higher than making it. The odds undeniably disfavor founders. Merely one in ten startups succeeds beyond the ten year mark. The majority of founders earn way less than they would do in corporate. Small, unknown companies face far intense struggles than established ones. The pressure and workload that comes with being a founder are immense.

‍

Intrapreneurs, their corporate counterparts, continuously fight against restraining cultures, deal with downslowing corporate politics and keep getting stretched between bringing up innovations and not being allowed to fail. In most companies, the economic pressure is so high that innovation management reduces to finding low-risk-instant-cash cows only. All the while, leadership insists on creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and radically novel business opportunities.

‍

If this was a job description, I doubt, any sane soul would respond. Nevertheless, our society keeps spawninng highly motivated and optimistic humans who go out and found companies, push the frontiers of their organizations and invest to invent new products, services and infrastructure.

‍

So, who are these people that pick up finding new business opportunities despite the overwhelming drawbacks of doing innovation work? This collection features thoughts on people who innovate, their skills, needs, and challenges. I write about their role in organizations and society, larger developments and trends as well as remarkable observations about innovators in journalism, sports, and the restaurant industry.