Econovation: The Red, White, and Blue Pill for Arousing Innovation

Praise for Econovation

"What do China, RFID food,¿¿libertines, and micropreneurs have in common? It′s all in Econovation, a fast, fun innovation ride packed with practical advice for those who will make a difference in the next decade. Made so many notes, my pen ran out." Brandon Rowberry, Vice President, Innovation Development, UnitedHealth Group

"Econovation is that rare gem, an analysis and prescription for our economic problems done with both insight and humor! A must–read for both policymakers and executives." Sheldon Laube, former Chief Innovation Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers

"Econovation is a brilliant read and right on the money. Steve′s strategic vision is absolutely cutting–edge . . . I′m going to assign it for my executive entrepreneurship class." Prof. Alex "Sandy" Pentland, founder and Director, Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program, MIT

"In the past, many looked to the government to help spur innovation. But as Steve Faktor so eloquently points out, the winners in the long run will be those who innovate in spite of the government. This fun and easy read provides brilliant insights on how to keep your organization from becoming irrelevant." Stephen Shapiro, author of Best Practices Are Stupid

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction What Is Econovation? 1

Why Me? Why Now? 3

The Next 100 Years 5

Coming Up in Econovation 7

Chapter 1 Indulgence in an Age of Constraint 9

The Way We Were 10

Right Now 16

Chapter 2 Tawdry Tales of a Service Economy 25

Botox and Other Services 25

Haves versus Have–Nots 33

Fossils and Fledglings 38

The Power of Intangibles 41

Chapter 3 The Next Decade 45

A Rebalancing: What s Likely, Possible, and Remote 46

A Shift in Power, Capital, and Priorities 68

Chapter 4 Sell Actualization 73

The Seven Economic Identities 73

Get Your Free Labor Here! 74

What Minimum Wage? Tiny Jobs for Tiny Pay 80

Social Identity as Economic Leverage 82

Secure Future 85

Chapter 5 Build a Capital Magnet 89

Sell to China, India, and Brazil 90

Change the Model 99

Become a Foreign Capital Magnet 103

What U.S. Companies Can Make in the Next Decade 108

Chapter 6 Make Makers 119

Education Complications 120

Fix the Core 125

Automate: Rise of the Machines 130

Repair School Financing 134

Empower Makers 136

Chapter 7 Liberate Micropreneurs 145

Splice Entrepreneurship into Education 147

Gain Access to Capital 151

Close the Confi dence and Knowledge Gaps 155

Disneyfi cation for Micropreneurs 157

Chapter 8 Build an Incentive Nation 161

Touched by the Hand of Go . . . vernment 162

Price, Love, and Understanding 164

Pricing and Incentive Models with a Future 176

The End of Money 185

Chapter 9 Unfinished Business 189

The Missing Link 189

Nobody s Bitch 191

Appendix Applying Econovation 195

Approach 195

Hindsight to Foresight 195

All Together Now 198

About the Author 201

Index 203

STEVE FAKTOR is the former Vice President of Growth and Innovation and head of the Chairman′s Innovation Fund at American Express. There, he developed and incubated numerous growth ventures including Zync, Loyalty Edge, and Private Sales, a joint venture with Vente Privée. Steve is the founder of Blue Beacon Partners, LLC, which helps start–ups and corporations innovate new products and services, think big, and build a sustainable growth pipeline. In his career, Steve has created several $100–million–plus businesses, generated billions in sales volume, and deployed three enterprise–level innovation programs. Previously, Steve was a senior innovation and strategy executive at Citi and MasterCard. As a management consultant at Arthur Andersen, Steve led strategy, marketing, and technology projects for clients like WPP (Ogilvy), Samsung, JVC, Bombardier, Boise Cascade, Omnicom Group, and PSEG.

As a futurist, innovator, and digital payments expert, Steve is a popular global keynote speaker on future growth opportunities. Steve also leads innovation workshops, ideation, and training sessions based on his proprietary 4C′s of Innovation methodology. An author with a satirical touch, his latest musings on trends in business can be read at ideafaktory.com.