Getting innovation advice from actual innovators is invaluable. In this weeks, show, we hear from Tyler Reynolds, the CEO and Co-founder of Trinity Mobile Networks. Tyler and his co-founder, Stephen Hall, are innovators who were inspired to innovate a solution to a problem they themselves had.
During the show, Tyler shares how the idea behind Trinity started at the Harvard / Yale football game 5 years ago. During the game, Tyler and his co-founder found themselves in the same position most have – no wireless broadband because too many people were on their phones during the game.
Rather than just vent and complaint, they decided to solve the problem. What is interesting is the problem is well known but has been unsolved for decades. Many industry experts had declared that it was impossible to solve. Tyler and Stephen didn't know this and went about and solved this impossible problem.
Topics discussed on this weeks show:
- Inspiration can come from the strangest of places (Harvard / Yale football game)
- Get the idea right (salt & pepper prototype experiment)
- Keep your burn rate as low as possible
- Perseverance. It took 3 years to go from idea to launching the company and another 2 years to launch its first product.
- Be willing to change the idea based on what you learn as you go through the innovation process.
Tyler Reynolds' 3 Pieces of Innovation Advice
- Innovation takes longer than expected: In the case of Trinity, they started with a solution that was fully decentralized and over time proved themselves that in fact, the solution needed to fully centralized. A 180 degree change from where they started. They gave themselves the time to work the idea and get it right.
- Expect and want your idea to be attacked: If you share your idea and everyone “gets it” then you may not have such a great idea. Innovations should expect to be criticized and labeled as impossible.
- Focus on building a business not a technology: Academia is the only place where you can focus only on the idea/technology. Customers don't purchase technology, they purchase solutions and solutions are created by businesses
Background/Show Links:
About Tyler Reynolds
Tyler Reynolds designed the network architecture for Trinity Mobile Networks' software-defined networking platform, TrinitySDN, and leads the company in business development, marketing, enterprise sales, recruiting and fundraising. Connect with him via LinkedIn.
About Trinity Mobile Networks:
TrinitySDN is a multi-network overlay SDN platform with client-side software designed from the ground up for smartphones and other battery-constrained wireless devices. TrinitySDN allows every smartphone and handheld device to become a Wi-Fi extender. Wi-Fi Cellular and Wi-Fi networks appear to end users as a single network. Trinity also helps network operators provide the best QoS, regardless of connection type. Learn more at Trinity Mobile’s website.
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