Ah! talking of invention, and being part of the same bandwagon, I quite agree with Mike here:
America Runs On Small Business
Maybe because failure many times leads to innovation. According to Wall street Journal guru, Clayton Christensen, the road to innovation is paved with failure. 93% of all innovation starts off in the wrong direction. Almost everyone knows that the failure rate of small business is legendary. However, after failure, the most successful entrepreneurs keep picking themselves up and starting over until they get it right. Many big businesses keep throwing resources at failing initiatives instead of giving up and going in a different direction. Most small businesses, classically strapped for cash tend to respond quickly to failure by changing directions.
This fail-start over-fail-start over process is akin to how small children learn to walk. It is supported by what Malcolm Gladwell asserts in his best-selling book, “Outliers”. Gladwell notes that while there is an undeniable element of luck that catapults people to success in any field such as being in the right place at the right time with the right contacts and the right idea, there is something far more predictive in their stories. Gladwell sites case after case where the top people in a number of fields have invested no less than 10,000 hours to hone their craft. That’s right. Practice does makes perfect.And this is some pretty interesting data Mike presents here:
According to Census Bureau data on high-patent industries, 98% of the companies patenting telecommunications technology employ fewer than 500 people. In the software publishing industry, 97% of the companies patenting software employ fewer than 500 people. In aerospace products and parts manufacturing, the percentage is 92%. In pharmaceuticals and medical manufacturing, it is 90%. In semiconductor machinery manufacturing, 87% of the companies that patent technology employ fewer than 500 people.
Adding to Gladwell's view points - a conducive environment would lead to innovation with mediocre to excellent talent, and definitely a burning need.