The Innovation Map™ helped us decide what needs to happen next. Sometimes that next step needs funding. But before asking: How much money can we raise? There is another question worth asking: Does anybody actually want what we are building? That is the thinking behind Crowdfunding Navigator™. Crowdfunding can raise money. But used at the right moment, it can do something equally valuable: validate demand before serious investment. Put an idea in front of the crowd and the res

The Innovation Clock™ helped us think about timing. Now we need some direction. Because recognising what needs attention is useful. Knowing what to do next is better. That is the thinking behind Innovation Map™. Start with a simple question: What are the three most important things that need to happen next? Then narrow it further. What can you take on yourself? Where do you need support? What still needs proving before you invest more time, money or resource? And what might t

The Lens gave our innovation colour. The Web gave it shape. Now we add timing. Because knowing that something may be worth protecting is one thing. Knowing when to protect it is another. That is the thinking behind Innovation Clock™. There is an understandable temptation with a new idea to rush towards a patent. Get it filed. Get it protected. Then get on with developing it. But filing does something else. It starts a clock. And sometimes there is still important work to do b

The Innovation Lens™ gave our thinking colour. Now let’s give it shape. Because a strong idea does not necessarily make a strong innovation. You might have a great product but little idea how to manufacture it. The numbers might stack up, but the IP position is unclear. The business opportunity could be compelling, but you may not yet have the personal capability or support around you to deliver it. That is the thinking behind Innovation Web™. It looks across six connected ca

Once we can talk about an idea with confidence, we can start looking at it differently. And that can be harder than it sounds. When an idea is yours, you have probably spent more time thinking about it than anyone else. So sometimes the most useful thing we can do is pause for pace. Step back, capture where the thinking is today and look at it from a different perspective. That is the thinking behind Innovation Lens™. Instead of asking whether an idea is good or bad, the Lens

The moment you share an idea, you are making a decision about its future. Hold too much back and it cannot be tested, challenged or developed. Release too much, too soon or too widely, and you may compromise an opportunity before you fully understand what you have. The answer is not secrecy. It is deliberate disclosure. That is why this principle sits first in the Resource Hub. Most people know NDA as shorthand for a non-disclosure agreement. I use the same initials different

Last week I launched the incub8ideas Resource Hub. Eleven practical resources, built to help founders, entrepreneurs and SMEs explore ideas, challenge assumptions and make better innovation decisions. Someone developing an idea for the first time should be able to enter the Hub without already knowing all the questions they ought to be asking. The resources introduce those questions in a practical, straightforward way and, importantly, in an order that helps make sense of wha

I’ve been building something at incub8ideas. The Resource Hub brings together practical tools and insights developed from real client workshops and innovation projects. This article explains why I built it, what sits behind it, and why so much of successful innovation happens in the thinking you don’t always see. Now I’d like people to get their hands on it. The Resource Hub brings together 12 different ways to explore an idea, challenge your thinking and support better conve