We would all like a formula, but good, innovative products are firstly a response to some personal problem or need. Someone gets an itch - from bad taxi service

We would all like a formula, but good, innovative products are firstly a response to some personal problem or need. Someone gets an itch - from bad taxi service, or high hotel prices or wanting to know what their college friends are up to - and they scratch it. Note the crucial step: not accepting things as they are. The second step is to think outside the box. There are problems that cannot be solved, problems that can be solved in conventional ways and there are the ones in between. It is the ones in between that are ripe for innovation. We all have conceptual buckets, things like "AI" or "on demand software" but conceptual buckets are deadly to innovation. They become the reasons things can't be done or should be done in some conventional way. Certainly, being aware of AI is good, being aware of blockchains is good. Thinking they are the "answer" is not good. Remember the Zune! Follow the path. Innovations have a logic and truth of their own. Airbnb started with the idea of air mattresses, but they adapted and followed the path inherent in their idea. Have the tenacity to follow where your innovation leads (but try not to be stupid about it). Be lucky, as in make yourself some luck. Success happens when you are in the right place, at the right time, with the right innovation. (And being early can be as bad as being late). Success may not come the first time, or second or ..., but factoring in multiple attempts improves your chances and you gain experience to boot.