Why Entrepreneurs Stop Innovating

At some point, every entrepreneur stops innovating. Let’s talk about how to put that off for as long as possible.

Make no mistake, the end of the innovation cycle is inevitable. It’s also necessary. At my last startup, Automated Insights, two years after we were acquired, we decided to go all in and push the sales accelerator to the floor. At that point we had spent over seven years developing, extending, and evolving our product, so this was the moment when innovation became a department instead of a core value.

Now, that’s a natural growth step. What I’m talking about in this post is slacking on innovation when our startup breaks through to a new level of success, whether that’s from none-to-some or a-little-to-a-lot.

We’ve all taken an innovation vacation, maybe without even realizing it. So here are some warning signs that we’re spending too much time and energy basking in the glow of success and not enough time on getting to the next level.

We Fall in Love With Numbers

Data is so awesome. The instant gratification of real time results is the closest thing to heaven in my book. The dopamine rush I get watching each new sale come in, refreshing the browser and seeing each uptick in the KPIs, that’s the best feeling in the world.