Keen On… Ninja Innovation: What A Guy From Detroit Can Teach Silicon Valley About Innovation

Does Silicon Valley still lead the world in innovation? Yes, says Gary Shapiro, the long-time CEO and President of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and author of the best-selling selling new book, Ninja Innovation: The 10 Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses. But, Shapiro – who lives in Detroit and works in Washington DC – reminds us, that dominance is fragile. Firstly, Silicon Valley has the typical arrogance of the incumbent, he argues. Secondly, there are many new centers of innovation around America – from Nashville to Charlotte to Austin to even New York City – which are successfully competing with Silicon Valley. And thirdly, Shapiro believes that California’s high taxes are less and less attractive to startup entrepreneurs. So we are still the top Ninja, Shapiro believes. But it probably won’t last forever.

So what, I wonder, could Gary Shapiro and the CEA, which organizes the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), learn from Silicon Valley? And why, I asked the author of Ninja Innovation, should a startup entrepreneur go to CES next January?