What Makes an Innovator?

As we evaluate founders, we look for qualities that we believe make for successful entrepreneurs and innovators. Some believe that you can create an innovator but hundreds of studies show that there are specific criteria for predicting who will generate creative ideas and execute on them, starting with creativity.

First, Creativity

There are some creative individuals that tend to display a recurrent set of psychological characteristics and behaviors. Creative people tend to be better at identifying (rather than solving) problems, they are passionate and sensitive, and, above all, they tend to have a hungry mind: they are open to new experiences, nonconformist, and curious. These personality characteristics are stronger determinants of creative potential than are IQ, school performance, or motivation.

Other Key Entrepreneur Characteristics

In addition to creativity, there are 5 characteristics that must be present (in no particular order):

  1. opportunistic (alert to opportunities and genetically pre-wired for novelty)

  2. have a formal education or entrepreneur training (not the glorified drop-out)

  3. proactive and persistent (more driven, resilient, and energetic)

  4. prudent (are more organized, cautious, and risk-averse than the general population)

  5. makes use of social capital (it's about the team, not a solo effort)

Lastly, Mission and Vision

True innovation comes to life with the right team of believers. This is where mission and vision come to play. “Vision is where entrepreneurship meets leadership: regardless of how creative, opportunistic, or proactive you are, the ability to propel others toward innovation is a critical feature of successful innovation. Without it, you can’t attract the right talent, build and empower teams, or ensure that you remain innovative even after attaining success.”

Vision communicates the big picture—the future your startup aims to create and the broader change or transformation it will bring to the world. Mission is the how your startup will achieve the vision and should highlight how you will address unmet needs in novel ways.

Source: https://hbr.org/2013/10/the-five-characteristics-of-successful-innovators