Revelnnovation

PayPal…like a startup?

The Next Web: Looking at what you were doing before PayPal, I note you were involved in a lot of young startups? It sounds like you’re an entrepreneur at heart!

Holger Spielberg: Yes, that was a lot of fun.

The Next Web: So, how does working in that sort of entrepreneurial environment differ to working at a huge company such as PayPal?

Holger Spielberg: PayPal Germany feels like the biggest startup I’ve ever worked in.

via flickr.com

The Next Web: Ha, that was going to be one of my next questions…

Holger Spielberg: It’s very dynamic, great people, a good roadmap and it’s all based on a viable business model.

The Next Web: You mentioned earlier that you’re “hiring, hiring, hiring” – how big is your hub at the moment and how are you growing?

Holger Spielberg: We currently have about 95 people in Germany, and will add another 40 by the end of 2011.

The Next Web: How many are in innovation?

Holger Spielberg: I just started that department in January. We are 3 people full-time now, plus we have direct access to virtual organisations in ‘product’. Oh, and I’m also hiring a Developer Evangelist, someone skilled in developing SW, but also able to communicate, present and ignite innovation in the developer community.

The Next Web: That sounds very cool. I’m particularly interested in the issue of innovation, and how big companies can stay innovative. My question is – how do you feel PayPal stays innovative, and how does the culture promote that?

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 We also have an internal innovation platform. Every employee can enter ideas, which is then voted on internally. This can be related to …anything. ~ Holger Spielberg

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 Holger Spielberg: Well, the biggest engine is internal product development. That is mostly focused on the payment side of things and strategic developments. We also have x.com, which is an open developer platform to engage external innovation, especially in mobile, couponing etc. You might have also heard we are active in mergers and acquisitions to create a field of innovation gravity around us. We also have an internal innovation platform. Every employee can enter ideas, which is then voted on internally. This can be related to payments, internal processes…anything.

The Next Web: So are you open to acquiring younger startups in your field? I note that Visa invested in Square recently?

Holger Spielberg: We just acquired BillSafe in Germany, Where in the US and there are others in the pipeline. BillSafe will continue to sell under its own brand and will gradually be integrated into full PayPal offering.

The Next Web: Would you agree that acquisitions can kill off innovation? And if so, what do you actively do to ensure this doesn’t happen in companies you buy?

Holger Spielberg: Innovation is the realization of an idea. So you have to bring ideas into business reality. That sometimes is not innovative, but pure execution. It basically comes down to what field of thought and innovation you offer the talent in the companies. In the EU context, I believe PayPal has an excellent innovation culture. The markets here push us to innovate.

The Next Web: Ah, so because your industry is so fast-paced and evolving all the time, you really can’t stand still?

Holger Spielberg: Correct.

On to Apple, as originally posted to Reveln Consulting:  

There's BUZZ out via a new Fortune 500 article revealing "Inside Apple" insights. Those who have access to the physical magazine can see a circular organization chart that revolves around Steve Jobs, and why Apple acts like a start-up on purpose! (Only paid versions of the full article are available currently.)

Fortune has a great article titled ‘Inside Apple’ in its May 23 issue [featuring] the inner workings of the massively successful company, the unique Apple company culture and philosophies, and...some great anecdotes about Steve Jobs.

– Thinking Different:

There aren’t any committees at Apple, the concept of general management is frowned on, and only one person, the chief financial officer, has a “P&L’, or responsibility for costs and expenses that lead to profits or losses. Most companies view the P&L as the ultimate proof of a manager’s accountability; Apple turns that dictum on its head by labeling P&L a distraction only the finance chief needs to consider.

“Steve would say the general manager structure is bullshit”, says Mike Janes, the former Apple executive.

– Knowing when to say No:

One of Apple’s greatest strengths is its ability to focus on just a few things at a time … Saying no at Apple is as important as saying yes. “Over and over Steve talks about the power of picking the things you don’t do.”

– The difference between Apple and Microsoft:

From an executive who’s been at MS and Apple – I think this one is maybe one of the single biggest contributors to Apple’s greatness in the consumer electronics arena:

“Microsoft tries to find pockets of unrealized revenue and then figure out what to make. Apple is just the opposite: it thinks of great products, then sells them. Prototypes and demos always come before spreadsheets.”

 

– The enormous impact of Steve Jobs on Apple:

Jobs himself is the glue that holds this unique approach together. Yet his methods have produced an organization that mirrors his thoughts when – and this is important – Jobs isn’t specifically involved. Says one former insider: “You can ask anyone in the company what Steve wants and you’ll get answer, even if 90% of them have never met Steve.”

The whole Fortune article is a fantastic read if you’re interested in Apple and what drives their phenomenal success. You can read the May 23 issue in the Fortune iPad app ($4.99 per issue) or in the print edition.  

Excerpted: Top prize goes to MIT's SENSEable City Lab for their Copenhagen Wheel design, a sort of smart wheel that attaches to existing bicycles and transforms them into "hybrid electric-bikes with regeneration and real-time sensing capabilities."

...Its sleek red hub not only contains a motor, batteries and an internal gear system - helping cyclists overcome hilly terrains and long distances - but also includes environmental and location sensors that provide data for cycling-related mobile applications.

Excerpted: Dubbed “the Flipper” by its designers, the Pearl River Necklace bridge concept features the different sides of the road separating and twisting around each other to meet up on the opposite side.

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing the concept become a reality. NL Architects designed the bridge as part of a competition, but lost – possibly because the switchover technically took place in the wrong location.

History of right and left road travel is also in this post.  For example:

Excerpted:

• The grooves of a well-preserved track leading to a Roman quarry near Swindon, England, suggests that Romans drove on the left.
  
• It has been theorized that riders on horseback generally rode on the left so they could hold their reigns with their left and keep their dominant hand free to offer a greeting to passing riders or to defend themselves with a sword.

• In the late 1700s in the U.S. teamsters driving large freight wagons pulled by several teams of horses were positioned on the left rear horse so they could hold the whip with their right. To ensure the clearance of the wheels of oncoming wagons they preferred that wagons pass them on the left where they had a better view.
  

• [The U.S. teamsters experience] ...prompted a shift from left to right-hand traffic in many countries. So much so that today around two thirds of the world’s people live in right-hand drive countries.

Additional bridge designs featured via gizmag.com

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“When copies are super abundant, they become worthless. When copies are super abundant, stuff which can’t be copied becomes scarce and valuable.”   — Kevin Kelly

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Excerpted from: The Dying Art Of Design By Francisco Inchauste

...Taking a close look at the current state of design, we can see that sometimes modern design tools and processes do more harm than good.

...comparing the iPhone to the subsequent copycat phones that failed...   Simple imitation completely misses the point of what made the original great. Some phone makers, including HTC, wound up being sued by Apple for patent infringement. This goes back to how we use the design tools and learning resources available to us. There needs to be an element of intention and a deeper understanding first.
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..Design is not a commodity, but the more that designers use freebies and the like, the more it will become one. The Web is just a large copy machine, as Kevin Kelley puts it. Design seems to be going down this road, too.  Even...design blogs themselves—are clones of each other.

No wonder many clients see the designer’s role as being to create eye candy or a beautiful “skin.” With this view prevalent, designers will never be considered people who can solve problems for businesses...We will simply be a mindless pair of hands that knows how to apply some trendy colors and glossy effects to make things look nice. ...If design becomes irrelevant, then at some point we may be, too.

Return to the Art of Design

The solution is not to never read this type of content or to use these assets, but it needs to be measured. Designers need to push themselves with the fundamental craft of design.

See the full blog post as well as the 189 Comments via smashingmagazine.com