I just published episode #24 of my podcast, which explores the story behind ONE FUKUOKA BUILDING, one of the largest buildings in the central business district of the largest city in southern Japan. The building came about when the region's largest private railway company, Nishitetsu, decided to replace their aging headquarters with a "creativity" focused building. Its hotel, which occupies the top floors, recently won the "best luxury art boutique hotel" award. Below it is CIC Fukuoka. In this episode, I sat down with the executive behind the project to learn the backstory. You might find this episode interesting for one other reason: I used ElevenLabs to clone our original Japanese into English. Let me know what you think! YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=csjx7EhG… ⠀ Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2Rp… ⠀ Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… #WhereInnovationHappens #CICNow #Fukuoka #Innovation #Nishitetsu

During a visit to the Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) in Bangkok last week, I came across a podcast room and decided to record some thoughts that became Episode 23 of my podcast, Where Innovation Happens. ⠀ It’s a short reflection on exceptional design choices, questionable design choices, product innovation, customer experience, and why we need to seek out people who will give us frank feedback about our products. ⠀ Customers may keep coming back because we do something exceptionally well. That doesn’t mean everything we do is perfect. I open with some shots of the TCDC, which you should visit next time you are in Bangkok, if you are a design person. ⠀ YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=_z955u9X… Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4ch… Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… ⠀ #WhereInnovationHappens #ProductInnovation #CustomerExperience #CICNow

13 years ago I gave a TEDx talk on a question I still work on: how do we create more innovation—and the communities that make it possible? 13,000 people thought it was worth watching. Episode 22 of my podcast is that 14-minute time machine ride, brought back for you! YouTube: youtu.be/ieRQKdOhcZ4 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1TV… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

Smart engineer leaves startups, gets elected to Cambridge City Council (and becomes Vice Mayor), and starts changing the rules that make cities harder to build. I had a fun conversation with Burhan Azeem about housing, transit, AI, and what he has learned trying to make government actually work better. YouTube: youtu.be/xaBcubeFL3c Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2vI… #WhereInnovationHappens #CICNow

Recently I interviewed @sethmoulton about what government can do to make innovation work better — from housing and regional rail to AI, SBIR, fusion, defense innovation, immigration, and 988. I came away convinced he’s the right person for U.S. Senate. Watch: youtu.be/_0kwYp3rrCI

Happy birthday, America! As many here know. I founded a company in America, Cambridge Innovation Center, that supports entrepreneurs and innovators to turn their ideas into successful companies that make the world better. I have found that America is a remarkable place to do this. We are confident that we can come up with a better mousetrap (light bulb, cure for cancer...), we are willing to risk everything to pursue our dreams, we are willing to support others to do the same. We are willing to take a risk and buy a crazy new product, sometimes even before it has been made (thank you for that idea, Kickstarter!) and this, in the words of the great American poet Robert Frost... this willingness to take a different path and support others to do so, has made all the difference. We are the engine of the world's innovation. The standard-bearer for how this is done. This American ethos has worked out in a breathtaking way. Nine of the the world's ten most valuable companies are American innovation companies. And these are not ancient companies built on extracting natural resources or old money. They are startups... built in my lifetime purely on the back of great ideas. Our creative ingenuity has become an inspiration to the world, and consequently proud and capable countries as far as China are embracing our ways and are following in our footsteps. There are many keys to our success. At the top of that list is our openness to allow everyone to follow the American dream, no matter who they are, what they look like, what beliefs they hold, or what country they were born in. Bravo America, and happy birthday. I am proud to be an American on this 250th anniversary of our great nation.

Also, this Japanese TV show about Aya came out today. It follows her life, and includes a sentimental and beautiful retelling of her reconnecting with her father 10 years after her parents' divorce. Amongst other things, it features our cat Løve!

My wife founded a company called Aya's Culture Kitchen that makes Japanese fermented soybeans here in the US (natto and miso). Recently her story has really blown up in Japan, and she there have been a number of TV and print articles about her. Two big ones came out today. If you understand Japanese, the post here has the links to articles on Shukan Bunshun Online, a pretty big weekly that usually focuses on celebrities.

After the amazing Pebble watch was discontinued at the end of 2016, I kept wearing it. It was simple and I found it better than the over-engineered smart watches that followed. I'm excited today that, with the company coming back to life, I was able to replace my legacy Pebble with... a new Pebble!

What could government do if more elected leaders understood what it takes to build new innovation businesses? To begin to explore this topic, I spoke with Daniel Koh, candidate for Congress in MA-6, about startups, AI, housing, talent, and what innovation policy looks like beyond big legislation. Watch: lnkd.in/eKHWuznY #WhereInnovationHappens #Innovation #Startups

Founders often fall in love with their idea before they really understand the customer’s real problem. That idea stayed with me from my conversation with Marvin Göldner of Startup Incubator Berlin at CIC Berlin. In the below episode of my podcast, we talked about “zero to one,” UX testing, Berlin’s startup ecosystem, and why innovation needs places where people can keep showing up, testing ideas, and building trust. Watch: youtu.be/H20pRFhfqqM #WhereInnovationHappens #Startups #Berlin

I’m catching up on a few episodes of Where Innovation Happens that I recorded earlier this year but didn’t get a chance to edit. So I’ll be releasing an episode a day or so for a few days. In this episode, I talk with Berlin-based entrepreneur Jorge Ferreira, founder of LIQUIDLOOP GmbH. He is an expert at (actually) creating things out of thin air. With the right catalysts, electricity, and reaction conditions, it is possible to take elements found in the air, like CO₂ and hydrogen, and convert them into molecules such as ethylene. From ethylene, you can make polyethylene polymers such as HDPE, the basic material used in plastic milk jugs, water pipes, picnic tables, and many other everyday products. This is pretty crazy. Jorge and his team are building tools that help scientists see what is happening inside complex chemical reactions in real time. We also talk about Berlin, his move from Portugal, and how Berlin’s energy helped lead him to build a company around a fulfilling scientific challenge with wide-ranging applications. Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/TzRt8M12t70 Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3L8… Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

What if the most important thing an innovation hub does is create trust between people? I just published an episode of Where Innovation Happens where I talk with Ewa Geresz, Director of Venture Café Berlin, about how innovation communities are built. Youtube: youtu.be/WaT_1LLDHTA Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/09L… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

I just posted my latest episode of Where Innovation Happens. This is a conversation with German innovation ecosystem leader and my colleague, Timon Rupp. We talk about how innovation is changing around the world, CIC Berlin, mobility innovation, building ecosystems, and how people can participate in the next wave of innovation. YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=WhObqIGB… Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3RP… Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… #WhereInnovationHappens #CICnow #CICBerlin #TheDrivery #InnovationHubs #GermanyInnovation #MobilityInnovation

Given CIC’s launch this week of our third site in Japan — O-Nexus in Osaka — the timing feels right to release my first of several episodes focused on innovation in Japan. I spoke with Tak Umezawa, a national innovation leader and Chair of CIC Japan, about Japan’s strengths, its modest VC investment relative to other innovation economies, and what it would take for more Japanese innovation to reach the world. Tak is also an old friend: we were classmates at MIT Sloan 33 years ago. Watch or listen here (or on Spotify/Apple): youtu.be/a0S7vIp80os #WhereInnovationHappens #CICnow #Japan #Innovation #CICJapan #ONexus

I posted a new episode of Where Innovation Happens today. It is a departure from my usual topics, focused on something most of us could get better at when building an innovation business: Choosing who to interview. Part 1 is about selecting candidates from resumes. Part 2 will be about conducting great interviews. In this episode, Karina Wozniak, CIC’s Global Head of Human Resources, turns the tables and interviews me. YouTube: youtu.be/PpnxjLYYwVk Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/609… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… #WhereInnovationHappens #Hiring #Recruiting #StartupHiring #CICnow

I just published an episode of my podcast, Where Innovation Happens, focused on innovation in St. Louis, Missouri. Long one of America’s great cities, St. Louis is now building strengths in AgTech, plant science, geospatial technology, financial services, biotech, and deep tech. Listen in if you are interested in how older industrial cities can reinvent themselves and maintain a leading position as innovation cities. YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=2hHlJCI8… Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1LW… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… #WhereInnovationHappens #StLouis #AgTech #Geospatial #CICnow