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.
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"The technology that can be deployed to make the ass look great is stunning"--Paul Dillinger of @LEVIS #IUSF14 f-st.co/AsFJAJ8by Fast Company via twitter 11/10/2014 10:48:24 PM -
Thank you @FastCompany #IUSF14 for introducing us to @hintwater and @thumbtack . #ROSIESjobs #socialenterprise #passionintopaycheckby ROSIES Foundation via twitter 11/10/2014 10:52:50 PM -
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We are excited to be at #IUSF14 . What an incredible community @FastCompany has built! The future of print media is focused community!by Rohinni via twitter 11/10/2014 11:17:00 PM -
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Contrarian thinking is what got us here #innovation is against all odds #IUSF14by GusRazzetti via twitter 11/10/2014 11:21:15 PM
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Over at Dolby HQ in SoMa, we've been sampling the Atmos sound format in the theater, home theater, and on mobile (via headphones).
Atmos cinematic technology creates "3D sound" by allowing sound engineers to create with spatial and location accuracy--so if a bird is meant to fly around you on screen, you'll hear its flight path even if you don't see it. Sound technology research senior director Brett Crockett demonstrated how Dolby can beam sound from the ceiling without placing speakers there (his team had to invent a new kind of speaker that operates by reflecting sound off the ceiling). And while Atmos is currently a front-end tool for film sound mixers, Senior Product Marketing Manager Emmanuel Delorme said it's possible to retroactively outfit old films (think "Breakfast at Tiffany's") with the 3D sound, though it's not being done yet.
Delorme wouldn't confirm whether Dolby is working on Atmos technology for music, but he said it would be possible for Atmos to work on streaming services like Netflix or Spotify without introducing a bandwidth strain. The latest Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, released 3 weeks ago, is the first tablet to feature built-in Atmos. Delorme said Dolby is developing a turn-key version of Atmos for when other mobile manufacturers come knocking. -
Apparently hiring a plumber is more like going on a date than going out to dinner per startup thumbtack #IUSF14 #Ketchumprby Zia Mcknight via twitter 11/10/2014 11:22:43 PM -
by EvieN via twitter 11/10/2014 11:23:12 PM -
At the Levi Strauss Eureka Innovation Lab, we took a tour of a factory facility that puts denim through the wringer in an attempt to rapidly prototype new ideas—and quickly decide whether or not they should be shelved before being introduced to other parts of the company. The Lab does printing, patternmaking, sewing, apparel finishing, and plenty of physical testing. One machine in the facility mimics what happens to a pair of jeans after being washed 50 times. Another replicates the pH changes of perspiration. Determining the smelliness of a worn pair of jeans, however, is outsourced to Canada, where a panel of sniff testers makes the call.
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$20 billion venture fund: "Number one lens we look through is will this company have an environmental impact." One example: Yerdle.
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You think building an app is hard? Check out the UI/UX for this new navy sub. #IUSF14 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2LZMRjCMAAF6TJ.jpg
by Noah Robischon via twitter 11/11/2014 5:41:52 PM -
Cost of new US Navy submarine joystick? $24 or $28 if you bedazzle with your fav sports team logo. Who knew? #Ketchumpr #IUSF14by Suzanne Maloney via twitter 11/11/2014 5:48:21 PM -
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Fast Company senior writer Chuck Salter sat down with Josh Smith, director of Tactical Advantages for the Next Generation (TANG), who explained why the Navy's nuclear submarines are being fitted with an unlikely new user interface: Xbox controllers.
Smith described the contemporary sub's navigation as resembling the Matrix, with countless screens streaming esoteric information. And as for their handheld controller behind it all? It weighed 8lbs and cost $128,000. The worst part: "If you hand it to some kid off the street, they don't know how to use it," Smith said.
Xbox controllers are cheaper (just $24!), lighter, and inherently familiar for young sailors. Better still, they allow the Navy to leverage part of Microsoft's $9.8 billion R&D budget. Or as Smith put it, "that's three submarines!" -
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Fast Company senior writer Danielle Sacks spoke with Rose Marcario, the CEO of Patagonia--the outdoor clothing company known for its creative approach to environmental responsibility as much as for its clothing-- about balancing sustainability with business. During the interview, 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.
According to Marcario, the primary lens that Patagonia evaluates companies through is a simple one: "Will this company be able to influence and change what's going on with the environmental crisis?" -
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.@johnzimmer: After 2 mos, 1/3 of rides in SF are Lyft Line (carpooling). Prev story: fastcompany.com/3033991/most-i… #IUSF14 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2Lp9TxCQAAGwUJ.jpg
by Alice Truong via twitter 11/11/2014 6:57:41 PM -
"Huge social opportunity for ride sharing" says @johnzimmer of Lyft. Such as a Tinder rideshare! #IUSF14 @FastCompanyby Bill Shapiro via twitter 11/11/2014 7:06:53 PM -
LOL "We had lunch in Palo Alto and doubled the black population there. It was historic". — @baratunde on lunch with @tristanwalker #iusf14by KD via twitter 11/11/2014 7:08:58 PM -
"I want my son to grow up in a country where he's treated like he's a consumer who matters," says @tristanwalker at #IUSF14 @jjmccorveyby Bill Shapiro via twitter 11/11/2014 7:31:23 PM
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When Tristan Walker was growing up in Queens, he decided he wanted to get “as wealthy as possible as quickly as possible.” That eventually led him to Silicon Valley, where he attended Stanford and spent time at Twitter and venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Then he did business development at Foursquare.
Now Walker runs his own company, Walker & Company Brands, the creator of Bevel, a line of health and beauty products for African American consumers with course and curly hair—the kind of people, he says, who have had to hunt for products which fit their needs “in aisle 17, the ethnic aisle—but it’s not really an aisle, it’s a shelf.” He says that the products are about education and service; after getting $9 million in funding and launching earlier this year, they’re growing at 50 percent a month.
As an African American in the Valley, Walker stands out. In order to help bring about the day when that’s no longer true, he’s started Code2040, an organization devoted to breaking down barriers and helping black and latino engineers get a start in the tech industry. And as Walker & Co. has hired, 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.”
Read J.J. McCorvey's feature on Walker this issue of Fast Company: "Tristan Walker: The Visible Man" -
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"Why learn user behavior if not to mess with people a little bit?" IUSF emcee and Onion alum Baratunde Thurston moved to the presenters' couch with his Cultivated Wit cofounder Brian Janosch to talk about using humor to advance a mission. Case studies included a restaurant that rebelled against Yelp by asking customers to leave one star reviews; Mailchimp's focus on virtual high fives and a "weirdo" company culture; Zendesk's fake grunge band "Zendesk Alternative" to mess with competitors' SEO. The secret to humor's effectiveness, say Thurston and Janosch, is empathy—you're letting users know there are humans on the other side.
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Dennis Miloseski is vice president and head of design for Samsung. And he’s based not at corporate headquarters in Seoul but in San Francisco, a strategy that lets the South Korean electronics giant inject some Silicon Valley sensibility into products which it sells around the world. “You can’t really bottle up our people,” said Miloseski of the talent he’s able to draw upon on in the U.S.
Miloseski’s team is charged with coming up with big bets—new products in new categories which have a shot at being, in a phrase often used in Samsung ads, the next big thing. “There’s something really special about designing the physical things of our lives,” he said.
Among the wearable devices he’s overseen are Samsung’s Gear Fit (a smartwatch focused on fitness, with a curved screen), Gear S (a smartwatch with built-in cellular connectivity), and Gear Circle (wireless headphones which can be worn like a necklace). None are in established categories which are proven winners with consumers, but Miloseski said that’s kind of the point. He quotes Henry Ford, who famously said that if he’d asked his customers what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse.
