http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/02/18/the-value-of-strategic-intuition/ A Seattle-based seed stage investment and technology development organization. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:15:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/02/18/the-value-of-strategic-intuition/comment-page-1/#comment-177473 Administrator Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:55:53 +0000 http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/02/18/the-value-of-strategic-intuition/#comment-177473 Great thoughts Leo! The "catalyst" is a great way to describe the actual trigger that allows your intuition to go to work. Being stuck in traffic could be the catalyst. Being frustrated with an existing service or product is a popular catalyst. Becoming interested in a topic or activity is also an important catalyst. I think people tend to generate epiphanies around things they like. Or things that cause them pain. Great thoughts Leo! The “catalyst” is a great way to describe the actual trigger that allows your intuition to go to work. Being stuck in traffic could be the catalyst. Being frustrated with an existing service or product is a popular catalyst. Becoming interested in a topic or activity is also an important catalyst. I think people tend to generate epiphanies around things they like. Or things that cause them pain.

]]> http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/02/18/the-value-of-strategic-intuition/comment-page-1/#comment-177470 Leo Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:13:09 +0000 http://www.curiousoffice.com/2008/02/18/the-value-of-strategic-intuition/#comment-177470 Great article. Completely agree that intuition is often mistaken for luck. But I believe luck & timing are critical to the success of an idea. I think intuition is the ability to channel data between the left & right brain, make connections & synthesize brilliant insights. An epiphany, in the sense of a brilliant idea for a startup, is an almalgamation of experience, intuition and a catalyst. Using the Digg example, Kevin Rose had likely acquired all the knowledge & data he needed for the idea from years of experience surfing his favorite news sites. That isn't to say others didn't have the same experience, data & aptitude to come up with Digg or why Kevin wasn't able to conceive of the idea a year earlier or a year later. This is where the catalyst plays a critical role (I don't know Kevin personally so my comments are more generalized & not specific to Digg). Unlike intuition, the catalyst is the product of short term events & triggers - it might be a random converstaion, the right fix of caffeine or that perfect random thought while you were driving. In essence, the catalyst is often the result of that perfect storm. Anyways, those are just my unorganized thoughts on intuition & luck... Great article. Completely agree that intuition is often mistaken for luck. But I believe luck & timing are critical to the success of an idea. I think intuition is the ability to channel data between the left & right brain, make connections & synthesize brilliant insights. An epiphany, in the sense of a brilliant idea for a startup, is an almalgamation of experience, intuition and a catalyst. Using the Digg example, Kevin Rose had likely acquired all the knowledge & data he needed for the idea from years of experience surfing his favorite news sites. That isn’t to say others didn’t have the same experience, data & aptitude to come up with Digg or why Kevin wasn’t able to conceive of the idea a year earlier or a year later. This is where the catalyst plays a critical role (I don’t know Kevin personally so my comments are more generalized & not specific to Digg). Unlike intuition, the catalyst is the product of short term events & triggers – it might be a random converstaion, the right fix of caffeine or that perfect random thought while you were driving. In essence, the catalyst is often the result of that perfect storm. Anyways, those are just my unorganized thoughts on intuition & luck…

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