Andrew Razeghi

It's supposed to look like a hockey up and to the right. Growth curves of runaway hits are even more dramatic—akin to field hockey sticks—quick start, short dip, followed by an immediate near-vertical climb in a northeasterly direction. It’s a beautiful thing. The problem with growth curves is that they’re like footprints in the sand. You can only see them in hindsight. To make matters more difficult, innovation is a non-linear business. Success does not come in the form of a straight line. As Woody Allen suggests, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” In the world of innovation, there is no single path forward. The only road that all entrepreneurs share is the road less travelled by. But you can still learn from those who went before you—what to do and what not to do—in order to increase your odds of success. Bend the Curve is a book about how to get more out of your big idea from people who know—successful entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists who've funded them, and the experienced mentors of the world's leading new venture accelerator, Techstars.

While organizations claim to value creativity, they are often at a loss when attempting to conjure up novel ideas, particularly in a world where technology has made information readily available to everyone. As a result, leaders ask, "Where will the next big idea come from?" In response, they allocate significant resources for innovation; however the source of creative inspiration has remained a mystery. Science has shown that it's possible to create conditions under which the mind is more prepared to have insights, or "a-ha! moments." In this fascinating book, Andrew Razeghi examines the precursors to creative insight and offers clear-cut methods for making "Eureka moments" routine practice rather than lucky accidents. Combining the latest scientific research, interviews with current innovators, and studies of history’s most creative minds, he dissects the creative process and presents a practical approach for inspiring innovation.

In the world of innovation, there is no single path forward. The only road that all entrepreneurs share is the road less travelled by. But you can still learn from those who went before you—what to do and what not to do—in order to increase your odds of success.Bend the Curve is a book about how to get more out of your big idea from people who know—successful entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists who've funded them, and the experienced mentors of the world's leading new venture accelerator, Techstars.Visit bendthecurve.co to find out more.

Whether organizations face uncertainty or meet the challenge of the constant pressure to innovate, leaders must dig deep to keep their focus and stay effective. In this landmark book, Andrew Razeghi isolates the critical factor that is at the core of successful leadership in any climate. Hope is based on research from neuroscience and behavioral psychology and interwoven with real-world stories of entrepreneurs, elite athletes, political leaders, and groundbreaking scientists. Razeghi shows that hope is a proven tool for competitive advantage and clearly demonstrates how it can be nurtured and developed. Throughout the book, he outlines a proven strategy for honing leadership skills and shows how to apply this strategy to individuals, teams, and organizations.

Creativity is how you think. Innovation is how you act.This is the foundation of The Future of Innovation, a boldly written and meticulously researched manifesto on the challenges and opportunities present in the Social Economy. Razeghi tackles the need to change from linear to agile processes, to identify our changing global influences, to use the wealth of data available to us in our decision making, and to stop treating innovation as a happy accident (and start treating it like a discipline).Perhaps his greatest accomplishment in this SlimBook is to write something so intelligent and important, but to communicate it in such a way that everyone from the CEO in the corner office to the dreamer sharing a cubicle can understand and benefit from The Future of Innovation. #SlimBusiness

It's a fiscal cliff Christmas gift!There are plenty of reasons to complain and make excuses in today's world. Credit markets are tight, economy is floundering, vendors and customers are hurting, the political landscape and regulations are shifting, and on and on. Andrew Razeghi offers insights and best practices to not only surmount the obstacles in individual and corporate success, but to also use them to your advantage. This optimistic and relevant book will help you think beyond the headlines - and start discovering the upside of down. #SlimBusiness

Artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs thrive on their ability to be creative. New wealth flows to those who successfully introduce new ideas. While organizations claim to value creativity, they are often at a loss when attempting to conjure up novel ideas, particularly in a world where technology has made information readily available to everyone. As a result, leaders ask, “Where will the next big idea come from?” In response, they allocate significant resources for innovation; however the source of creative inspiration has remained a mystery. Science has shown that it’s possible to create conditions under which the mind is more prepared to have insights, or “aha! moments.” In this fascinating book, Andrew Razeghi examines the precursors to creative insight and offers clear-cut methods for making “Eureka moments” routine practice rather than lucky accidents. Combining the latest scientific research, interviews with current innovators, and studies of history’s most creative minds, he dissects the creative process and presents a practical approach for inspiring innovation. The Riddle illustrates how replicating these precursors - curiosity, constraints, connections, conventions, and codes - can increase your odds of success at innovation. For example, the author reveals how to inspire creativity through controllable and reproducible thoughts and behaviors such as altering your mood, changing the context in which you solve problems, creating metaphors, and even simply writing things down. He also explores the role of sleep, memory, and ethnicity as they pertain to creative insight. The Riddle takes the mystery out of the creative process and plants it squarely in the realm of the scientific. Using the techniques outlined in this book, innovators can draw on the “Eureka moment” again and again.

It's supposed to look like a hockey stick: up and to the right. Growth curves of runaway hits are even more dramatic—akin to field hockey sticks—quick start, short dip, followed by an immediate near-vertical climb in a northeasterly direction. It’s a beautiful thing. The problem with growth curves is that they’re like footprints in the sand. You can only see them in hindsight. To make matters more difficult, innovation is a non-linear business. Success does not come in the form of a straight line. As Woody Allen suggests, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” In the world of innovation, there is no single path forward. The only road that all entrepreneurs share is the road less travelled by. But you can still learn from those who went before you—what to do and what not to do—in order to increase your odds of success. Bend the Curve is a book about how to get more out of your big idea from people who know—successful entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists who've funded them, and the experienced mentors of the world's leading new venture accelerator, Techstars.

Andrew Razeghi explica como os momentos que antecedem aos estalos criativos podem ser explorados para que as pessoas aprendam a se tornar cada vez mais inovadoras e criativas. Um belo manual sobre como aprender mais, armazenar mais informações e ter novas idéias, sem a pretensão de ser um estudo acadêmico sobre o tema. Há, ainda, curiosidades sobre nosso cérebro, a história das grandes invenções e referências sobre como os antigos filósofos encaravam a questão da criatividade

All large and successful companies were built on a great idea. Over time however, companies tend to rest on their laurels, new entrants emerge, margins shrink, and yesterday's great idea becomes commoditized. Growth slows, often it stops. The rise and fall of businesses from launch through growth, maturity, and decline has repeated itself for as long as businesses have existed. Why not try to bend the curve before decline happens? It is possible to reinvent a mature company. But it requires a deliberate plan of attack. BEND THE CURVE offers such a plan by following the experiences of a fictional company, Wellington Worldwide, and the two brothers, Jack and Sam Eastwood, who take their turn leading it. At Wellington Worldwide, tradition trumps innovation and risk is, literally and figuratively, a four-letter word. Sam Eastwood, Wellington's founder and CEO, personifies the culture of a mature company: pursue perfection, celebrate tradition, and protect the status quo at all costs. He is a steward of the past. Wellington's growth curve has flattened and its new product pipeline is, to quote Sam's twin brother Jack, "drier than Extra Brut champagne." Jack is everything Wellington is not. He is a serial entrepreneur and self-made billionaire. He personifies the voice of creative destruction: challenge assumptions, celebrate failure, and create new market space. He is an agent of the future. When Jack loses a bet to Sam, the twins switch lives. Jack moves to Chicago to run Wellington Worldwide while Sam takes the year off.As an entrepreneur who has built several companies from scratch, Jack soon realizes that innovating inside of a mature company is nothing like starting a company from the ground up. Unlike the cultures of the companies Jack had started with great success, Wellington is not an innovator. In fact, everything Wellington does runs contrary to innovation. As Jack and Sam struggle to turn Wellington's growth stall around, they learn they must first transform Wellington's culture from one that is beholden to the past into one positioned to create the future, one that values both operational excellence and innovation simultaneously. Companies that fail to bend the curve typically decline because they attempt to trade one for the other. But the pursuit of operational excellence cannot sustain itself in the absence of the pursuit of continuous innovation, and vice versa. This moral is ultimately delivered through the brothers' experiences as they learn that neither of them alone is right but together they can restore growth and ultimately bend the growth curve at Wellington.Chapter-by-chapter, through the experiences of the Eastwood brothers, BEND THE CURVE offers readers practical, entertaining, and inspiring lessons in how to re-ignite growth through cultural transformation and continuous innovation.

All large and successful companies were built on a great idea. Over time however, companies tend to rest on their laurels, new entrants emerge, margins shrink, and yesterday's great idea becomes commoditized. Growth slows, often it stops. The rise and fall of businesses from launch through growth, maturity, and decline has repeated itself for as long as businesses have existed. Why not try to bend the curve before decline happens? It is possible to reinvent a mature company. But it requires a deliberate plan of attack. BEND THE CURVE offers such a plan by following the experiences of a fictional company, Wellington Worldwide, and the two brothers, Jack and Sam Eastwood, who take their turn leading it. At Wellington Worldwide, tradition trumps innovation and risk is, literally and figuratively, a four-letter word. Sam Eastwood, Wellington's founder and CEO, personifies the culture of a mature pursue perfection, celebrate tradition, and protect the status quo at all costs. He is a steward of the past. Wellington's growth curve has flattened and its new product pipeline is, to quote Sam's twin brother Jack, "drier than Extra Brut champagne." Jack is everything Wellington is not. He is a serial entrepreneur and self-made billionaire. He personifies the voice of creative challenge assumptions, celebrate failure, and create new market space. He is an agent of the future. When Jack loses a bet to Sam, the twins switch lives. Jack moves to Chicago to run Wellington Worldwide while Sam takes the year off.As an entrepreneur who has built several companies from scratch, Jack soon realizes that innovating inside of a mature company is nothing like starting a company from the ground up. Unlike the cultures of the companies Jack had started with great success, Wellington is not an innovator. In fact, everything Wellington does runs contrary to innovation. As Jack and Sam struggle to turn Wellington's growth stall around, they learn they must first transform Wellington's culture from one that is beholden to the past into one positioned to create the future, one that values both operational excellence and innovation simultaneously. Companies that fail to bend the curve typically decline because they attempt to trade one for the other. But the pursuit of operational excellence cannot sustain itself in the absence of the pursuit of continuous innovation, and vice versa. This moral is ultimately delivered through the brothers' experiences as they learn that neither of them alone is right but together they can restore growth and ultimately bend the growth curve at Wellington.Chapter-by-chapter, through the experiences of the Eastwood brothers, BEND THE CURVE offers readers practical, entertaining, and inspiring lessons in how to re-ignite growth through cultural transformation and continuous innovation.