On Wednesday, Capital One kicked off the Outside the Box festival’s inaugural “Interactive” initiative, designed to celebrate innovation as an art form, with a CapXTalk featuring some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in Boston.
Titled “Reimagining Perspectives: Identifying Gaps that Revolutionize Industries,” the panel discussion explored how taking a fresh outlook – on an industry, a business or even a career – can propel innovation and solve challenges. Digital lifestyle and technology expert Mario Armstrong moderated the conversation with leaders from companies like Rue La La, WeWork and Capital One.
Armstrong started with the seemingly intuitive, yet vital question: What does it mean to reimagine perspectives? For Jim Kresge of Capital One, it means thinking about how technology is going to change the world, and how his team can use that to do amazing things for customers, such as building the software that enables customers to talk about their money with Capital One through the Amazon Alexa. For Dave McLaughlin of WeWork, it means enabling people to pursue their dreams in a more nimble way. For Pat Petitti of HouryNerd, it means rethinking how companies connect with the right talent to get the work done. While each entrepreneur shared a point of view specific to his or her unique industry or personal experience, the one common thread throughout was the importance of the impact on consumers.
Drawing from their own experience, panelists also shared tips for people looking to take a fresh perspective themselves – some highlights from the conversation:
- “Think big, but start small. Be bold with your ideas, but you don’t need the 100% solution immediately.” – Feng Chang, Rue La La
- “It’s not necessarily about launching a platform/business for everybody. It’s about knowing who you are and what you get excited about and figuring out how to do that. Once you’ve identified what you care about, that’s what you should throw yourself into.” – Wombi Rose, Lovepop Cards
- “Think about something you can do, and do it. Don’t be too previous with this stuff…This is such an amazing moment because you can try things. You’ve never in human history had more access to information that you need; the key people that are playing in a certain space; and a lower barrier to try something that you’re intrigued and excited about. If you’re the kind of person who gets exhilarated by that than this is an amazing moment and the world’s your sandbox.” – Dave McLaughlin, WeWork
For more information and to watch the entire discussion, visit: CapXTalk.FORA.tv.
