Cryptocurrencies recently drew a lot of attention due to Elon Musk personally investing heavily, while having Tesla also invest. Subsequently some CEOs (mostly of tech companies) began saying companies should hold cryptocurrencies instead of dollars, euros or other government backed currencies. Thus, the price of the major ones, like Bitcoin, skyrocketed.

What separates the winners in innovation from the tinkerers, idea generators, and inventors you never heard of? Great innovators keep focused on developing solutions people will buy. Great innovators put the market needs first, and then start innovating. Jeff Bezos and his development of Amazon is a case study in innovating for customer needs.

Over Time the Super Bowl has become the premier location for launching advertising related to emerging products. Super Bowl LV was no different. There were of course traditional ads for mass market products from companies with ad budgets over $100million. But between those were advertisers using the event for first time ads, and other advertisers promoting new features or applications. These ads were wholly aligned with the 4 Big Trends Spark Partners has outlined for revenue growth in the 2020 decade.

GameStop stock was recently manipulated by stock traders into wild price volatility. But this was a fad – with many losers and some winners. This was not based on long-term trends for the retailer’s business, nor was this buying and selling of stock based on long-term valuation. Although news making, the story was due to a short-term squeeze, not business fundamentals driven by trends.

IBM is well on its way to becoming the next Sun Microsystems, Wang or Digital Equipment Corp (DEC.) Despite an incredible legacy, today IBM is irrelevant in the marketplace, and its sales have been declining for nearly a decade. Since 2000 the value of Apple has risen 14,900%, while IBM’s value has risen 5.7%.

This week’s podcast is an interview with Doug Hockstad, Assistant VP at the University of Arizona’s Tech Launch Arizona. Doug discusses how the university undertakes initial efforts to commercialize inventions for its labs and how he focuses resources on moving inventions from paper to license. Universities and research organizations typically focus on inventing new things, without much concern for commercialization. Thus university commercialization is more concentrated on invention protection and preparing for licensing, than figuring out how to turn the invention into high value commercial products.

From storming the Capitol to running a business, failing to plan is a common reason for failure. During the pandemic, individuals and business failed to plan well. Restaurants made the temporary changes of enforcing healthy guidelines in line with COVID-19, but what more are they doing? Without investing time in organizing your business goals and understanding market trends, your business will fall victim to competitors and disruption

It’s 2021 and Spark Partners continue to discuss how business leaders can strategically prepare for the future ahead. This episode Adam and Manny focus on planning for disruption, rather than business as usual. We’re almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, but not everyone seems to have fully grasped the extent of its effects.

The new year is right around the corner, and Spark Partners are wrapping it up with a conversation to prepare you for 2021. What tools do you need to have handy to make the upcoming year a success? This episode, Manny and Adam go over the four trends that helped top companies thrive through 2020, and remain relevant tools to help your business prosper going forward.

In a continued exploration of important innovators, Adam and Manny launch a conversation from a troubling phenomenon -- unused real estate in the US. What’s left of once bustling shopping malls, busy workplaces, and thriving communities are now empty and run-down buildings. The pandemic accelerated so many trends, from demographic to technological, that point to changing American landscapes and business expectations. When things go south it’s hard to see how things can get better. But it’s crucial to remember that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.