Innovation Uncensored San Francisco 2014
Join Fast Company editors and writers live from our conference in San Francisco on November 10th and 11th!
Join more than 500 executives, inventors, strategists, designers, marketers, visionaries, and creatives from the worlds of technology, business, and design on November 10th and 11th for a conversation on the power of innovation and disruption in business.
With talented speakers ranging from Biz Stone to Ed Catmull, Padmasree Warrior to Tristan Walker, Innovation Uncensored brings the best of Fast Company’s magazine and websites to life.
You can check out the full event agenda here.
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That’s a wrap!
Thanks for tuning in to our Innovation Uncensored San Francisco live blog. We hope you enjoyed the last two days as much as we did. Here are some highlights from Tuesday’s panels:
—10-year-old Vivienne Harr told us how she launched one lemonade stand into a global movement to combat child slavery. "You can't put a kid in slavery--you just can't." If you're looking for a powerful, moving, and inspiring reminder of the unprecedented ability of the web to help people do good, this was it.
—During her interview with Fast Company’s Danielle Sacks, Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario announced that Patagonia has made an investment in Yerdle, an app that lets people give away items and get redeemable credits in exchange, through the company's $20 Million & Change internal venture fund.
—After being featured in Fast Company’s December/January issue, Tristan Walker, founder and CEO of Walker & Company Brands, sat down with Fast Company’s J.J. McCorvey for a conversation about racial diversity in Silicon Valley. As Walker & Co. CEO, he’s aimed to make it a company whose employees look like America. “I’m not an idiot,” he said. “This diversity actually helps the bottom line.” See more notes from the conversation here.
—In conversation with Fast Company executive editor Noah Robischon, Lyft president John Zimmer revealed that his company, which has expanded from 15 to almost 65 cities in 12 months, has seen five-fold growth in both revenue and riders since the beginning of 2014.
"The space is massive, it's way bigger than people thought when we started," said Zimmer. "This year we've 5x'd our rides as well as revenue, and that's before some of our busiest periods like Thanksgiving."
—What's next for Google Ventures? More bets in health care startups, said Google Ventures managing partner Bill Maris in a conversation with Fast Company's executive editor Noah Robischon.
"Now we have no doubt that we have the tools to detect diseases and treat diseases," he said. "What you'll see over the next 15 to 20 years is a complete tidal change. ... It was probably unimaginable that in 1939 when penicillin came along that you could take a pill and instead of dying, could not die." Read more here.
—In conversation with Fast Company’s Bob Safian, Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, and author of the book Creativity Inc., said that Disney and Pixar movies—including Up, Frozen, and Big Hero 6—are often in terrible shape a year before they’re due to hit theaters. It’s always alarming. But it’s also part of the process. “If it didn’t suck,” Catmull said, “it would almost be done.” And there’s only so much you learn along the way: “When we go off the fails, it’s never in the way it happened before.”
Click here for more lessons from Catmull on how to run a creative business.
—Fast Company’s Danielle Sacks talked to Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless and president of content development Kent Alterman about the cross-platform strategy to engage their 18-34 year-old audience, and the opportunities and challenges in monetizing digital success.
"Good comedy has always been very truthful and relatable," said Alterman. "Comedy serves a purpose in society that is very human and relatable when it's good—telling some truth, exposing some hypocrisy. And comedy is very sharable, so as the internet exploded, comedy took on a significance in a way that maybe music did in a previous generation." Read more here.
—Fast Company's Mark Wilson held a panel with YouTube celebrities about how to own YouTube. "Here's the thing about getting on TV," said YouTube personality Grace Helbig. "There are a whole lot of gatekeepers that keep you from getting on TV." Read more here.
—Fast Company editor-in-chief Bob Safian closed a day of awesome panels by bringing on three generations of Generation Flux to discuss the importance of being mission-led in business. "Mission and purpose are the new competitive advantage," said Casey Gerald, cofounder and CEO of MBAs Across America.
As always, follow our Twitter and Instagram for more images and content to come from the event.
From everyone at Fast Company, thank you for joining us!
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Rajarshi Gupta, a Qualcomm researcher, is telling us about the company's thousand-person research arm, which focuses on challenges that may be five years out. He says that it's key to think about 10x improvements—the ten percent ones will tend to happen anyway.