To Innovate, Immerse Yourself in the Industry – Summary

Sometimes, the biggest breakthroughs come from questioning the status quo. This Fast Company article highlights how meaningful innovation requires deep immersion in an industry. The author, who developed Paragonix’s organ preservation technology, shares firsthand insights from traveling with transplant teams and witnessing inefficiencies in outdated organ transport methods. Instead of relying on traditional data or assumptions, true innovators stay in the field, ask the right questions, and recognize overlooked problems. Research backs this up—founders with at least three years of industry experience are nearly twice as likely to succeed as those without it. The article also references Harvard professor Tom Eisenmann’s concept of **"false starts"**—when entrepreneurs rush into solutions without fully understanding the problem. The key takeaway? Game-changing innovations don’t happen from behind a desk; they come from direct, hands-on experience with the challenges that need solving.

Key Points

• Immersion Drives Innovation – Deep industry experience uncovers inefficiencies that others overlook. As the article states, “Research proves this: Founders with at least 3 years of industry experience are nearly twice as likely to succeed as those without it.”

• Case Study: Organ Transport Innovation – Traditional methods of transporting organs on ice have persisted for decades, despite clear inefficiencies. The author spent years observing transplant teams to develop Paragonix’s controlled organ preservation technology, which improves transplant outcomes.

• Beyond the Data – Spreadsheets track success rates, but they don’t capture the emotional and operational challenges of a transplant team racing against time. Firsthand experience fills in those gaps.

• Avoiding "False Starts" – Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann warns against premature solutions. Many entrepreneurs fail because they launch products without fully understanding the root problems.

• Three Lessons for Innovators:

  • Expect Resistance and Keep Going – Even when a new idea has strong evidence, industry pushback is inevitable. The closer you are to the problem, the better you can filter useful criticism from reluctance to change.
  • Listen for What’s Not Being Said – Teams may claim a process works, but their workarounds and frustrations reveal deeper inefficiencies. Innovation comes from noticing unspoken challenges and broken systems.
  • Recognize Patterns, Not Just Problems – Repeated inefficiencies signal areas that need disruption. For example, unpredictable organ arrival times led to the development of real-time tracking for transplants.

• Final Thought – True innovation requires staying embedded in an industry, questioning the norm, and persistently pushing for better solutions despite resistance.

Link to Article