innovation Archives

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Curiosity as a survival skill to navigate change

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A graphic featuring the text "The Nightcrawler," a black-and-white photo of a lighthouse amid waves that outlast the storm, and a green-tinted portrait of a man.

Business

Why I’m writing OUTLAST: a book about resilience (and hope)

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Business

Romance at White Castle: How to do business the “evergreen” way

From “crave” packs to Valentine bookings, the world’s first fast-food hamburger chain values innovation from every level of the organization.

A collage features a masked life-saver in surgical attire, a palm tree scene, and bold text reading "The Night Crawler" against a geometric background.

Business

The one concept that saved my life

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Illustration of a thumbs up and thumbs down, resembling a like button and dislike button, on a black background, both partially covered with red scribble marks.

Business

The future of the “like” button: Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Will platforms continue to offer the like button as an all-purpose tool — or will each of the button’s various functions exist in new forms?

A collage with “The Nightcrawler” text, a grayscale photo of a tractor in a field, and a blue-tinted portrait of a man in a suit, layered on blue backgrounds with chart graphics that hint at long-term investing trends.

Business

The inner game of long-term investing

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Book cover titled "More Everything Forever" by Adam Becker. Subtitle reads "AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity," weaving a narrative that echoes the epic adventures reminiscent of Star Trek's explorations.

Business

Leadership conundrum: What do Star Wars and Star Trek really mean?

As we shape our future we should ask: Which interpretations of classic sci-fi fables hold sway with today’s powerful tech leaders?

The book cover of "Unstoppable Entrepreneurs" by Lori Rosenkopf features a cracked wall, unveiling insights on entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, and innovation.

Business

“Bootstrapping”: How entrepreneurs can control their own destiny

Warren Buffett famously noted that Berkshire Hathaway would “never depend on the kindness of strangers to stay in business.” Startups take note.

A collage with graphs, a flower, a container ship, and a hand giving a thumbs-up—hinting at lucky investors—overlaid with the title “THE NIGHTCRAWLER” in bold letters at the top.

Business

Barry Ritholtz on luck, humility, and how (not) to invest

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Barry Ritholtz, a man in a suit and tie, stands confidently before a blue zigzag line on a light backdrop.

The Long Game

The Barry Ritholtz Interview: “Smart is good. Smart and lucky is better”

Barry Ritholtz — market commentator, founder of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and podcast host — shares what really trips investors up.

Collage of a snarling wolf, a stock market graph, and abstract shapes, overlaid with the bold text "The Night Crawler" hints at de-extinction possibilities.

Business

The paradox of survival: Learning to live from the extinct

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

In a futuristic setting, a medical professional in scrubs interacts with a holographic heart and data display, showcasing their understanding of AI to enhance patient care.

Business

Why all companies should think beyond Large Language Models

By looking outside the current wave of hype, we can create a framework for weighing up the practical impact of AI on any business.

A smiling person in a black and white photo is set against a vibrant, Spotify-themed background with abstract patterns and shapes.

Business

The Gustav Söderström interview: Spotify and the psychology of taste

Spotify’s Co-President, CPO and CTO chats with Big Think about the science of discovery, Swedish innovation, C-suite podcasting, and more.

Collage featuring a man with glasses, reminiscent of Seth Godin, on a black and yellow background. Overlaid with images of architecture and industrial elements, this piece is titled "The Night Crawler.

Business

“Culture lasts: Business is just a tactic”

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

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Business

Rebuilding is easy: Rethinking is hard

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A man in a suit sits on a stage chair with a headset, set against a vibrant green background, ready to discuss the latest advancements at OpenAI.

Business

How OpenAI lost Musk and took aim at “something magical”

OpenAI has become a household name in artificial intelligence — but back in 2018 things looked very rocky. Here’s what happened.

Collage featuring a hand filing papers, an airplane, and numerical data on a grid background. Text reads "The Night Crawler: A Journey for Investigative Investors.

Business

An investigative approach to stock investing

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Smiling man in a dark vest and light shirt, exuding leadership, sits indoors in front of window blinds with a curved floor lamp, embodying harmony.

Business

The Julian Metcalfe interview: Charisma, grit, and “that feeling of harmony”

The founder of gourmet fast food juggernauts Pret and Itsu unpacks the meaning of success and what really inspires him.

A stylized image showcases poker chips and a green Swiss army knife, intricately overlaid with circuit patterns, hinting subtly at AI risk. The word "Nightcrawler" graces the top, adding an enigmatic touch.

Business

The risk of outsourcing judgment to AI

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Abstract collage with red dice and handwritten text overlay, featuring a hand writing with a pen. Against a background of grid and bookshelf patterns, it captures an existential crisis. The title "The Night Crawler" hovers above, probing life's uncertainties.

Business

The “existential crisis” of knowledge work

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Business

How “Pasteur’s quadrant” enlightens the invention-innovation challenge

Groundbreaking invention does not always translate to commercial benefits. The challenges that faced Microsoft Research help explain why.

Hexagonal map showing Europe, parts of Asia, and North Africa in varying shades of green and gray, with clusters of red and purple indicating specific regions.

Strange Maps

GPS jamming, a weapon in hot and hybrid wars, will soon be obsolete

“Gyroscope-on-a-chip” technology could soon enable us to navigate over long distances without GPS.

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Business

How tiny experiments can lead to exponential outcomes

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A person with long dark hair beams with creativity, wearing a tiger print jacket, set against a vibrant blue background.

The Long Game

The Anne-Laure Le Cunff interview: How to become “the scientist of your own life”

Neuroscientist and author Anne-Laure Le Cunff discusses the lasting benefits of uncertainty, curiosity, and the experimental mindset.

Collaged image with a Buddha statue, newspapers on finance, and text "The Nightcrawler" against a grid background. Featuring stock market graph details, it embodies the concept of mujo—impermanence—in the ever-changing financial landscape.

Business

Investing in an impermanent world: Lessons from mujō

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Collage featuring a black and white portrait of an older man exuding priceless conviction amidst abstract patterns and aerial river imagery, with the title "The Nightcrawler" at the top.

Business

When research is cheap, conviction becomes priceless

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A green football field features Sweden's flag on the left half. A hand, embodying Swedish pragmatics, draws an upward zigzag line with chalk across both halves, resembling a stock market chart.

The Long Game

The lasting genius of “Swedish pragmatics” in soccer and startups

Stockholm has been called a “unicorn factory” for its success with new businesses. A unique connection with sports philosophy helps explain why.

A football player, an OKR genius on the field, throws a ball amid overlaid statistical charts and abstract shapes.

Business

How John Doerr used football to land OKRs

The legendary investor explains the transformative Objectives and Key Results goal-setting framework with an imaginary Super Bowl strategy.

Basketball player in a yellow jersey with number 8, showcasing his leadership mentality, prepares to shoot a jump shot on the court.

Business

How poker and Kobe shaped a Silicon Valley leader

Webflow CEO Linda Tong tells Big Think how her lifelong love of sports has guided her ascent to the C-Suite.

An athlete skillfully executes the Fosbury Flop, soaring gracefully in mid-air over the high jump bar, while colorful flags flutter and spectators watch in awe.

Business

Innovation essentials: How the “Fosbury Flop” demolished a “local maximum”

The story of how the world high jump record was smashed in 1968 contains golden lessons for business and innovation.