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April 01, 2005

Difference between Innovation and Invention

Seems like everyone is on the VC bashing trail these days. Nothing wrong with doing that (like Paul Graham has with his article) but it would be good if you can be thoughtful about it.

Bart Stuck and Michael Weingarten of Signal Lake Partners have penned a piece called "How Venture Capital Thwarts Innovation" which is interesting but fundamentally flawed from a thesis standpoint.  They are confusing the meaning of invention and innovation.  They are right VC's don't fund invention but they do fund innovation. Confused? 

Invention, innovation,   What is the difference you ask?  Big one.

Invention is discovering something new or novel.

Innovation is taking that invention and making it into a commercially viable product/service/business. 

Bob Metcalfe characterizes it as "Invention is a flower, innovation is a weed."  VC's are not interested in funding researchers to discover or invent something - that is what universities and research labs do.  VC's are very interested however in taking inventions and making them into innovations.  Larry and Sergey came up with their PageRank algorithm at Stanford (invention) but decided to commercialize it with capital from angels and VC's (innovation). That's how it should be.

Posted by Venky Ganesan at 11:36 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink

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Comments

I think the same!
so then, what is the difference between invention and discovery???

Posted by: luong | May 12, 2005 3:16:34 AM

it's the same!!!!!!
you discover your inventions.
LOL... hahaha!

Posted by: catchie | Jun 11, 2005 7:30:17 PM

What is the difference between discover and inventor??

Posted by: Tana | Jul 13, 2005 5:12:40 AM

what is the difference between creativity,invention and innovation? or how can we relate them?

Posted by: jolomi appiah | Jan 26, 2006 8:41:04 AM

What I really want to find out in the difference between Invention and innovation is the DIFFUSIBILITY of innovation. What can be done to this innovation before it can attain this state, and also how can invention do without diffussion.

Posted by: Engr Ernest | Jun 3, 2009 4:17:47 AM

Arguments were somewhat convincing initially but later you seemed to have lost track and releid on emotive thinking. this emotive thinking took you away from reality and influenced you to come up with recommendations (most) that are unrealistic.
Otherwise a very well written article

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