Too busy to scour the web for fresh innovation resources? We hear you. So to save you time and give shoutouts to some of our favorite innovators, we’ve compiled a list of our consultants’ go-to content platforms.
From podcasts and newsletters to blogs, news sites, and thought leaders on social media, here are the business design and innovation resources they’re tuning into for fresh ideas in 2020.
Innovation newsletters
LAUNCH Ticker
Twice a day, LAUNCH Ticker sends you Twitter-like short emails summarizing the biggest things going on in the tech world. Easy-peasy.
Smarter with Gartner
Gartner is the world's leading research and advisory company. Rather than waffle on, their easy-to-read articles get right to the point by telling you what’s driving, and in many cases, reinventing business success.
Dense Discovery
Dense Discovery delivers a curated mix of stuff designed to help people working on the web get stuff done, think critically, and stay inspired.
TrendWatching
As refreshing as your morning coffee, TrendWatching drops innovation news and insights into your inbox – and keeps things interesting with a gif or two.
Bizarro Devs
Weird and wonderful tech news, anyone? If you’re tired of the same old tone, sign up for Bizarro Devs
Innovation Inbox: Fast Company’s Daily Newsletter
Receive an email containing 5 new Fast Company stories about technology, design, and ethonomics every day.
Innovation & business podcasts
a16z podcast
Venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz’s podcast a16z features interviews with business execs, industry experts, and thought leaders about the future, tech, news, and culture trends.
Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders
Made by Stanford eCorner, this podcast features stories of entrepreneurial success by leaders from top companies like Facebook, GE, and Airbnb. Great for inspiration and developing an innovative mindset.
Editor’s Picks from The Economist
Love The Economist but have too little time to sit and read articles? Plug in your headphones and absorb them on the go with this weekly ‘audio magazine.’ You’ll hear 3 of the most influential pieces from the latest issue of The Economist read aloud.
The Intelligence – The Economist
A current-affairs podcast by Economist Radio, The Intelligence aims to deliver fresh perspectives on everything that’s happening in politics, business, science, and culture. And drawing on its global network of experts, it brings important stories that aren’t making headlines to light.
Twice a day, LAUNCH Ticker sends you Twitter-like short emails summarizing the biggest things going on in the tech world. Easy-peasy.
The World Ahead – The Economist
Okay, just one more by The Economist – we promise. Black Mirror fans will love The World Ahead. This future-gazing podcast forces you to flex your imagination by providing different perspectives on the present and discussing speculative scenarios and provocative prophecies.
The Interview – TED
Everybody knows this one, but it’s still worth mentioning. In this podcast, TED top dog Chris Anderson speaks with some of the world’s most interesting people, from Bill Gates and Tim Ferris to Monica Lewinsky. This podcast never fails to generate some intriguing insights.
Without Fail – Gimlet
Each week, Gimlet co-founder Alex Blumberg asks people who have pursued incredible things 3 questions: What worked, what didn’t, and why?
The Pitch – Gimlet
How do people sell their ideas? What makes investors tick? How can conversations bloom into business deals? Find out in this infotainment audio show as you take a glimpse into the world of venture capital.
How I Built This – NPR
Interviews with the innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists who founded some of the world's best-known companies. Host Guy Raz asks his successful guests about the key elements that led to their domination, but most interestingly, he zones in on how they overcame failures.
The Critical Path
With Apple as a lens, this podcast discusses wins and losses and what it takes to be great in mobile computing and related industries.
HBR Ideacast
Go inside the minds of some of the biggest names in business and find out how they manage to consistently think outside the box.
HBR Exponential View
A Harvard Business Review podcast about how AI and other technologies are transforming business and society.
HBR Cold Case
Why read a case study when you can listen to one instead? Speaking of which, we must add ‘record our case studies to the to-do list...
11FS Fintech Insider
Interested in fintech, banking, technology, and financial services? Us, too! This podcast by financial services consultancy 11:FS sees its experts discuss the latest news, developments, and trends within the industry.
The future of everything – WSJ
Journalists from the Wall Street Journal interview big names in science and tech about the innovations that are changing our day-to-day lives.
Women In Innovation
Women In Innovation delivers insightful, no nonsense content on everything going on in the field of innovation. Discover insights from leading ladies in the business and find monthly podcast, article, book, and video recommendations. Women In Innovation also connects profiles through mentorship services and via monthly events in London, New York, and San Francisco.
Stratechery blog & Exponent Podcast
Stratechery delivers simple, well-thought-out insights into the business and strategy of technology and breaks them down in ingeniously simple visualizations. No time for long reads? Stratechery’s author Ben Thompson also hosts a podcast called Exponent alongside business analyst and HBR writer James Allworth. Definitely worth a listen.
Thought leaders to follow
Tom Goodwin
A speaker, writer, and generally interesting person to follow on social media, Tom Goodwin breaks down advertising, business, media, and digital transformation trends.
Board of Innovation
You’re not following us on LinkedIn yet?! Just kidding, that’s okay. But if you want to, click here.
Scott Galloway
One of our consultants recently attended a talk by Scott Galloway – marketing professor at New York University Stern School of Business – and was inspired, to say the least. His LinkedIn posts are full of helpful insights, predictions, and unique perspectives.
Nadia Piet
Nadia is a service & strategic designer, researcher, and content creator with a focus on emerging tech. Her social posts, newsletter, and articles are full of interesting tidbits on everything from trends to wellbeing tips. And her writing style is like an oasis in the desert of jargon that's out there.
Tim Ferris
You likely already know this one – who doesn’t? But we couldn’t create a list like this without mentioning Tim Ferris. A number of our consultants follow him on social and listen to The 4-Hour Workweek author’s podcast, The Tim Ferris Show. With a backlog of more than 300 episodes, it features interviews with famous folk about the secrets to their continued success.
Innovation blogs & websites
Indiegogo
Yes, Indiegogo. As a crowdfunding site, it’s the perfect location to source funding for your new concepts and spot innovative products before they go mainstream.
Springwise
If you’ve been following our site for a while, you’re already onto this. So sorry to bang on about it again, but our consultants are fans, and we think everyone else should be, too. Springwise is an innovation-oriented news service that helps you stay up-to-date with piping hot innovations from every industry.
Sifted
Backed by the Financial Times, Sifted is a fresh site offering interviews and insights around everything that’s going on in the EU startup world. Check out their interview with our co-founder Phillip De Ridder – he shared some predictions around the future of the innovation consultancy game.
Wired
Another oldy but goody, Wired features juicy culture, business, science, and design insights. Yeah, it’s paywalled – users can only access up to 4 articles per-month without payment, but the pricing is pretty fair.
Ensia
A non-profit, principled media outlet, Ensia covers issues related to the environment and discusses practical solutions.
Tech Insider
Tech Insider is loaded with high-quality technology-focused insights from journalists who know what they’re doing.
Sustainable brands
Follow Sustainable Brands (SB) for the latest design approaches, business models, products, and services related to sustainability challenges. And keep an eye out for the events SB organizes around the globe – they’re ideal for brand innovators working on eco-friendly business initiatives.
Futurism
Futurism is a juicy spot for news and stories about the future. Check it out if you’re into enhanced humans, AI, sci-fi visions, future society, and the medicine of tomorrow. Plus, their Instagram has some funny cartoons.
Owler
Owler is a digital business database with 13+ million public and private company profiles. Our consultants check it for annual revenue reports, employee counts, and more. You can follow companies and get customized alerts, quickly conduct competitor/client research, monitor your business’s image, or uncover new opportunities. At time of writing, it was about to become a paid service, though – sorry.
