Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry of Method | photo by Suzy Poling
Intel had a rough 2006: Its slipping market share forced layoffs, a reorg, and a complete overhaul of its chip offerings. But adversity fired Intel’s competitive metabolism (even if it did torch a feel-good partnership with Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child, which Intel came to see as a competitor to its own Classmate PC). By the end of 2007, Intel had 83% of the chip market and a new 45-nanometer core processor that has double the number of transistors and uses 30% less energy.
The earth is warming. The snow is vanishing. So snowboard maker Burton now owns ... a surfboard manufacturer, Channel Islands. A year after that 2006 purchase, Burton opened a 11,500-square-foot combo surf, skate, and snow mega-store on L.A.’s Melrose Avenue, part of a strategy for breaking down the boundaries that traditionally separated the categories--and for rolling out product year-round in the process. And roll it out Burton does: some 45,000 different items, each replaced annually. We’re not sure if it offers a Greenland longboard yet, but for Burton, there is no bad weather.
Sure, CEO John Mackey got spanked in 2007 for his anonymous posts on message boards, but the real Whole Foods story remains its relentless drive to raise the bar in terms of the foods it offers, their presentation, and how they’re transported to the store. Sometimes that leadership verges on silly (e.g.,“butter bars,” at which customers can have their butters custom-mixed with special herbs and salts). But more often, Whole Foods’ innovations foster social responsibility -- such as its “Whole Trade” concept, which certifies that products from developing countries are produced in economically and environmentally sustainable ways. Perhaps the most innovative Whole Foods effort of the past year was a loan program for its food suppliers. The company, which will pass $7 billion in sales in 2008, created a pool of $10 million per year to provide low-interest loans to small food producers to encourage the local-agriculture movement.
Back in the dotcom boom-boom days, Cisco Systems was synonymous with back-end infrastructure. It built devices consumers never saw that connected Internet servers and made the information superhighway run at autobahn speed. Routers, modems, switches -- strictly behind-the-scenes action. But growth stopped with the crash, and Cisco needed a front-end strategy. Badly. Today, the company's Linksys brand is selling phones and Webcams in addition to its ubiquitous wireless products. And by employing the same Ethernet strategy it used to cash in on connecting office printers and computers in the '90s, Cisco now plans to use its Scientific Atlanta TV-set-top box to network home computers, entertainment systems, and phones. The new consumer businesses accounted for $3.5 billion in 2007 sales, 10% of the total. Next up: a videoconference technology called TelePresence 3000, which employs flat-panel screens on each end, microphone speakers, cameras, and special lighting rigs. In its debut year, TelePresence was installed in more than 40 countries. Now the company is building a family-friendly version it hopes will one day complete the home entertainment -- communication loop and (finally) make Cisco a household name.
Most companies don’t change the world even once. With its role in technologies that light our homes, reduce air pollution, and entertain us, Corning has transformed our lives repeatedly. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Corning’s storied R&D operation, now called “Sullivan Park,” after Eugene Sullivan, who created the firm’s first lab and cultivated the firm’s innovative culture. Corning now spends more than $2 million each workday on R&D, employing 1,800 researchers and a process that’s both rigorously disciplined and near Google-like in its openness. That’s how it has democratized technology over the past century, bringing to ordinary people everything from lightbulbs to light-speed communication. -- Charles Fishman
Read More: Corning's History
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Recent Comments | 14 Total
February 17, 2008 at 6:48pm by john ralston
sorry if this is a repeat - not sure the last post went thru.
I was surprised to see Prosper in this article for several reasons. Among them is high default rates - below is information from Prosper's site showing that defaults are 4.24% for the highest rated borrowers and 45% for the lowest rated borrowers (note actual default rates will be higher since some of these loans are only six months old).
Prosper, unlike other 2.0 firms, has squelched input from the community by deleting all the old forum postings and putting in a new process that screens all comments. Screening is usually fine, but many posts do not make it thru - seems like Prosper does not want its community to be engaged.
Here are the stats - hopefully they will make sense with this cut/paste...
Estimated ROI Help
Performance metric AA A B C D E HR
Average lender rate 10.74% 12.69% 15.05% 17.78% 20.81% 24.03% 23.80%
Net defaults -4.24% -7.01% -11.72% -15.63% -19.09% -29.65% -45.55%
Adjustment (interest and fees) -0.22% -0.43% -0.76% -1.21% -1.72% -2.85% -4.29%
Prosper servicing fee -0.49% -0.48% -0.70% -0.68% -0.67% -0.56% -0.53%
Average annual return 5.80% 4.77% 1.87% 0.25% -0.67% -9.02% -26.58%
Sorry this is not more positive, but I want to make sure you had perspective from someone who has been (was) a long term lender on Prosper.
John R.
February 19, 2008 at 12:00am by Jeremy Fretts
It is ironic to me as a user of AutoDesk products to see them on this list. I suppose their success as a business, and as a technology innovator merits #25. However, it is worth noting that many of their users are at best begrudging at accepting their market dominance.
In ten years of architectural practice, I can't say that I've met ANYONE who truly loved AutoDesk's products. In many cases, they are in fact loathed.
True competition would serve the industry well-- someone needs to inspire improvements to AutoDesk's user interfaces, help documentation, and pricing structure.
February 20, 2008 at 1:08pm by Mike Adam
Tesco's 'Fresh and Easy?' How innovative can that be? Trader Joe's has been around for years, and the concept sounds the same. They sell organics for prices you'd normally see for non-organic/natural at the grocery store, have fresh meat and produce, and are indeed just slightly larger than a 7-11. And yet, Trader Joes' has just about everything you need. They had $1 cliff bars while everyone else still had them $1.50-2.00.
February 20, 2008 at 2:08pm by Brock Stout
I suppose that each company can be argued with, but Toyota's inclusion made me laugh out loud. They helped invent just-in-time manufacturing (decades ago), but everything else, including auto designs, has been copied from other companies. Even in Japan, Toyota is known as the non-innovator, "borrowing" from competitors. Like most American press representatives, Fast Company just prints Toyota press releases without editing them. Sorry, I can't possibly take you seriously in the future on any issue.
February 20, 2008 at 11:54pm by Christoph Spitzenpfeil
I have to add a similar comment to this article about the 50 most innovative companies. I agree on Toyota as a co-commentator did before. The Lexus cars and even the new Camry are just design copies of the real innovator in the Auto industry - BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche; all three dare new technologies whereas Toyota only deploys them when these new technologies have proven themselves in the market.
I am also missing companies in this list which are helping making our environment cleaner and more livable. Where are those companies - the wind turbine and solar panel manufacturers? I am sorry Google, video game companies & Co. do not belong on this list as innovators. The world would be as good or as bad as it is now with or without them! Last but not least it would be nice if this list would contain more companies - and there are really good ones - from outside the English speaking hemisphere. Innovation does not always have only to do with good balance sheets, more sales, more entertainment, and higher volumes; the world has more difficult issues to deal with than those. This is where the list of the 50 most innovative companies massively falls short.
February 28, 2008 at 2:24am by akram uddin
shoukathalle007@gmail.com
March 18, 2008 at 8:52pm by Kristen Wachsmuth
I was surprised and disappointed that Walmart made your list. They have to do more than market energy saving lightbulbs and teach employees about sustainability to be considered a company that is making an environmental transformation. What about all the wetlands and marshes and land that is being destroyed to build their behemoth supercenters right down the street from their current store? Selling 100 million light bulbs in nine months does not make up for that.
August 9, 2009 at 2:36pm by Sergio Mokko
In my opinion, deservedly dominate google and apple. 2 the most innovative companies. By Sergio
August 15, 2009 at 10:36pm by Todd McCalla
There are several companies that looked next to the Cool Springs Galleria that could easily fit into the worlds most innovative companies list. They are startups totally bootstrapping all operations with not one person taking a dime in salary. Williamson County Tennessee, primarily Cool Springs, is a petri dish for venture capital and bright minds.
October 7, 2009 at 9:38pm by cartier jewelry
Nice Post!!
October 20, 2009 at 10:16pm by dd dd
There are several companies that looked next to the Cool Springs Galleria that could easily fit into the worlds most innovative companies list. They are startups totally bootstrapping all operations with not one person taking a dime in salary. Williamson County Tennessee, primarily Cool Springs, is a petri dish for venture capital and bright minds.
http://www.uggboots365.co.uk
October 21, 2009 at 11:29am by Howard Carl
Nike's latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience. jeep grand cherokee
October 21, 2009 at 11:29am by Howard Carl
Nike's latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience. jeep grand cherokee
November 23, 2009 at 2:09pm by Faraz Alam
I am big fan of google. I like the way the company has evolved. They are seriously best at web.
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