Hello from Austin! It’s been a very busy SXSW. I’ve recorded three, soon to be five, episodes already and I’m excited to share those soon. In the meantime, here’s a favorite episode that I recorded at last year’s South By, featuring the “Captain of Moonshots.”
How do you build a system for turning wild ideas into world-changing innovations? Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at X, The Moonshot Factory, has spent over 15 years leading Google’s audacious innovation lab—the birthplace of Waymo, Google Brain, and other breakthrough projects.
In this special episode, recorded live in Austin at last year's SXSW, Astro shares the playbook to create a moonshot factory.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
The “Train the Monkey First” approach to innovation
Why audacity, humility, and intellectual honesty are key to moonshots
How your org can get more 10x (not +10%) outcomes — and how to avoid the “innovator’s dilemma”
Why you should “greenlight everything” and then redlight most projects quickly, following kill criteria you’ve agreed to in advance
Where X is placing bets today, including climate-tech, modernizing the electric grid and bioengineering
Chapters:
02:12 "Greenlight everything!"
03:47 Redlighting is the real work: how to do so quickly and effectively
06:46 "Train the monkey" — start with the hardest problem
11:25 Diverse teams are more creative
14:10 The "factory" — and why that metaphor matters
16:08 I try to hire Astro to build a moonshot factory for my 200yr old company
20:16 Avoiding the innovator's dilemma
22:51 Where X is investing today: bioengineering, modernizing the electric grid, and more
24:51
Why biology and engineering are merging
27:51 "AI will be in everything, but it's not the solution to everything"
28:51 Solving the climate crisis: Astro's optimistic take
If you don’t already get Future Around & Find Out emails, go ahead:
Future on…
~ Dan