Levers of Survival

This chapter (“Levers of Survival”) develops the concept of those mechanisms—the levers—that have to be engaged at different times over the course of the R&D cycle of radical innovation. We derive these 11 levers of survival empirically using the results of our survey of promising advanced material startups. In doing so, we find that the successful completion of each stage of the cycle depends on the engagement of a unique set of levers and that these must act in concert to be effective. Our results also reject the notion of a sharp break in the transition between the early and later, mainstream stages. They suggest that these phases of R&D communicate with, and learn from, one another and that the radical innovation process proceeds in a more or less evolutionary manner.