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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
CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO
I really feel it's very important to pick an idea that really makes a difference in the world. That makes it harder for sure, but it also in some ways improves your chances of success. By challenging the status quo you're picking something that other people aren't doing right now. You're zigging where other people zag.
At first you might be ridiculed or even fail for having a great idea ahead of its time. But I really feel that all truth passes through three stages. This is a great quote by Arthur Schopenhauer. He says first an idea is ridiculed, then it's violently opposed, and 3rd is accepted as being self-evident.
When you first start out with your idea, if it is a bold new idea that challenges status quo, you could be ridiculed. You're only opposed when the idea starts getting some traction - when people start feeling threatened by it. But if you push through those first 2 phases, and people then look back at what you did as being self-evident, then you have truly changed the world. You have caused something to come into being that would not have happened otherwise.
I think that is super valuable, super exciting and a great basis to build business upon.
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
