Audiences quickly forgave the young Romani guitarist’s frequent late arrival at concerts. His arpeggios, decomposed chords performed at breakneck speed, fluttered with the grace of hummingbirds. Phrasing, tempos, melodic variations and a stream of chromatic ornaments varied each time the virtuoso “Django” strummed a tune.
An incubation platform mitigates risk by favoring learning. It allows the founding team to spin the startup’s learning loop, delivering intelligence about the offering and market. And it facilitates co-creation with customers and partners, helping to converge their shared understanding of the venture’s mission.
Elvis & Kresse, a British maker of leather goods, loves scrap. Co-founded by an entrepreneurial couple in 2005, it has built a profitable and socially-responsible business by transforming tens of tons of fire hoses decommissioned by Fire Brigades across the UK each year into luxury products for consumers.
The first woman to have sailed single-handed around the world, France’s Isabelle Autissier applied an unorthodox strategy to slingshot to the head of the next edition of the 27,000-mile ocean race four years later. But after taking a commanding lead, an unexpected event in the Indian Ocean forced her to hastily reconfigure her boat and resize her ambitions.
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