In today’s market, the phrase “Business Incubator” or “Tech Incubator” is so universally used it’s difficult to establish an exact definition. Do you know the origin of these idioms? As you may guess this is another Western New York innovation for which little credit is given. Recently, over coffee with Jon Spitz, the executive director of Z80 labs, a tech incubator located at The Innovation Center, powered by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., we were discussing the recent SmarTech event and our vision for building a regional community of marketing and technology leaders. An envisioned next step, would be to hold our…
Author: Sean Cahill
By the end of the 19th century, the Buffalo-based, Larkin Soap Company, had changed the world of sales and marketing thanks to the innovation of Larkin’s first salesman, Elbert Hubbard. The brother-in-law of owner, John D. Larkin, Hubbard functioned as the company’s de-facto “Chief Marketing Officer.” Hailed as creator of one of the most successful marketing strategies in history, Hubbard employed strategies like, giveaways, trading cards, direct to consumer model, and demand generation. His efforts enabled the Larkin company to expand greatly, and eventually rival Sears and Roebuck Co. Also known as founder of the Roycroft, Hubbard cemented his place…
What truly drives innovation? Most folk are aware of IBM’s Watson, the deep-thinking supercomputer that won jeopardy and launched an artificial intelligence bonanza. Watson is not the fastest supercomputer in the world, nor is it the largest or most powerful; but it is considered the smartest computer ever built. So much computing power devoted to simply understanding and responding to everyday human speech. Watson has pushed the envelope of how we are able to interact with software, and is truly a paramount achievement of human innovation; but do you know for whom this marvel is named? Most people don’t. Originally,…