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I started Idealab with a dream to make something like a modern version of Thomas Edison’s Lab where we could test ideas under one roof and then spin them off into separate companies. These companies would have their own management teams and their own equity pools, while at the same time benefitting from shared experiences and resources.
With lots of help from so many great people, my dream became a reality. We have come up with more than 5,000 ideas, started more than 150 companies, and had more than 50 successful IPO’s and acquisitions. We are most proud that we created more than 10,000 jobs and thousands of new entrepreneurs.
We learned lots of lessons - some great and some painful - and it’s my honor to share them with you here. If even one tiny bit of one of these lessons can help you be more successful, that would make me so happy. I love entrepreneurship, and hope that our lessons can help more companies and entrepreneurs to be successful and change the world in a positive way.
I am so grateful to all the people who helped me make the Idealab “experiment” work for these 25 years.
Sincerely,
Chairman and Founder,
Idealab
BE TRANSPARENT
I have found that transparency wins but it comes at a cost of extra care.
By sharing more about your successes and failures internally, by being more open book about your finances and really about everything, you will have a team that can make better decisions and you can scale your organization beyond yourself.
The price you pay is that you have to earn the trust of others, and you have to take the time to explain all the ramifications to everybody, that takes more effort. But the ROI on that effort is high. As now you have people who know the facts, and can act more smartly on their own, and also feel more empowered, and more like owners.
The more every person in your company feels like an owner, the more you can unlock human potential from every corner of your organization and that leads to dramatically higher success.
Bill Gross discusses his entrepreneurial journey to solve climate change
SALT Voices: Bill Gross | Founder & Chairman, Idealab
Ground-breaking solar technologies and why clean technology is a trillion dollar opportunity
Bill's talk on the single biggest reason why startups succeed
Bill speaks about regulation designed to foster technology-driven growth
An informative and inspiring talk on innovation and starting companies
I started Idealab with a dream to make something like a modern version of Thomas Edison’s Lab where we could test ideas under one roof and then spin them off into separate companies. These companies would have their own management teams and their own equity pools, while at the same time benefitting from shared experiences and resources.
With lots of help from so many great people, my dream became a reality. We have come up with more than 5,000 ideas, started more than 150 companies, and had more than 50 successful IPO’s and acquisitions. We are most proud that we created more than 10,000 jobs and thousands of new entrepreneurs.
We learned lots of lessons - some great and some painful - and it’s my honor to share them with you here. If even one tiny bit of one of these lessons can help you be more successful, that would make me so happy. I love entrepreneurship, and hope that our lessons can help more companies and entrepreneurs to be successful and change the world in a positive way.
I am so grateful to all the people who helped me make the Idealab “experiment” work for these 25 years.
Sincerely,
Chairman and Founder,
Idealab
