Innovators in Focus: Spencer Rascoff, co-founder and former CEO, Zillow - Lorraine Marchand
Welcome to Innovators in Focus: a series of short video interviews I conducted with some of the creative, inventive and entrepreneurial individuals we profile in my book, The Innovation Mindset.
Our Innovator in Focus today is the man who wrote the foreword for my book — one of America’s most prolific founders and entrepreneurs: Spencer Rascoff, the co-founder and former CEO of Zillow, a co-founder of Hotwire, and current board member of Palantir. He’s now helping to launch all kinds of dynamic and innovative new companies (100 plus) through his Los Angeles startup studio “75 & Sunny.”
Spencer is a firm believer in the cardinal principle of innovation — or what I call in my book the fundamental Law of Innovation:
A successful innovation must offer a solution. Any would-be entrepreneur must ask themselves this question first: “What’s the problem I’m trying to solve?”
In the foreword to The Innovation Mindset and in our video, Spencer talks about this most vital — and often overlooked — aspect of the innovation process; and how would-be innovators and inventors can use that principle to help guide their thinking.
It’s one of many great insights he shares with us — and not only in the video. I’m going to have the pleasure of interviewing Spencer Rascoff for a live webinar hosted by the New York Alumni Club of Columbia University’s Business School. Elaborating on what he discusses in this video, Spencer will be offering his key to a successful start-up.
So, get your triple shot of Spencer’s wisdom: Watch and enjoy our video interview, watch the recording of the live interview — and don’t forget, that Spencer is a big part of my book, which you can pre-order now via this link.
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Lorraine Marchand is general manager of life sciences at IBM Watson Health and has three decades of experience in new product development. She is author of The Innovation Mindset: Eight Essential Steps to Transform Any Industry, available August 2022.
