Podcast Summary: How the Best Leaders Develop and Spend “Innovation Capital”

Podcast: HBR On Leadership
Host: Kurt Nickish (HBR)
Guest: Nathan Furr (Strategy Professor, INSEAD, co-author of Innovation Capital)
Date: December 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the concept of "innovation capital"—the skills, relationships, and reputation that enable leaders not just to generate ideas, but to win support, resources, and buy-in to realize them. Drawing on research and interviews with prominent innovators and leaders, Nathan Furr discusses why having good ideas isn't enough, how innovation capital is built, and the practical strategies leaders at any level can use to enhance their influence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Innovation Capital Matters

• Thomas Edison vs. Nikola Tesla:
  Edison succeeded commercially because he could convince employees, investors, and the market to back his inventions—while Tesla, despite brilliance, lacked the coalition-building power Edison had.
  • “[Edison] managed to motivate employees, woo investors, and win consumers. His inventions broke through to the mass market.” (B, 00:50)
• Marc Benioff's Reflection:
  Even as Salesforce’s CEO, Benioff actively thinks about and builds his “innovation capital.” This consciousness around influence was the “aha” moment for Furr and his colleagues.
  • “It's something I can use to get things done.” (C, 02:54)
• Applicability at All Leadership Levels:
  Innovation capital isn’t just a C-suite concern. Leaders, managers, and even early-career professionals benefit from building it to push new ideas forward.
  • “It matters a lot for individuals at all levels of organization.” (C, 04:30)

Core Components of Innovation Capital

Four Elements:

1. Who You Are: Your identity, credibility, and reputation.
2. Who You Know: Connections to other innovators, leaders, benefactors, and influencers.
3. What You’ve Done: Track record of achievements, especially in visible or high-stakes projects.
4. Impression Amplifiers: Specific actions to make your ideas visible and compelling.

• “What we really came down to is really four elements… who you are, who you know, what you’ve done and the things you do, the actions you take to get attention for your ideas.” (C, 07:47)

Building Reputation and Connections

• It’s Not About Elite Credentials Alone:
  Furr avoids “go to Harvard or Stanford” advice. Instead, he emphasizes thoughtful relationship building and proactively connecting to people who can help realize your ideas.
  • "What are your weak and strong ties to other innovators and entrepreneurs, other leaders, other investors and benefactors, other influencers?" (C, 08:39)
• Example: David Bradford of Fusion IO
  Bradford started with no connections, but systematically built relationships with tech leaders (Eric Schmidt, Scott McNealy, Steve Wozniak). Bringing Wozniak on as Chief Science Officer before IPO greatly boosted the company’s credibility and success.
  • “He brings Wozniak on board as the Chief Science officer. …it actually contributes a great deal to the IPO success of Fusion IO.” (C, 09:22)

Showing Proof: Track Record and Visibility

• Becoming a “Founder”:
  You don’t have to launch a startup; initiating visible or “hard” projects within organizations counts.
  • “You can be a founder in more ways than creating a startup. You can lead a project or initiative inside your company.” (C, 10:25)
• Example: Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO):
  Nadella differentiated himself by envisioning the future (cloud computing) and leading an “uncool” but critical server business—even at risk of failure.
  • "If you fail, there's no parachute you're going to crash with it. But he still believes that this server business, which becomes the cloud business, is at the core of Microsoft." (C, 11:30)

Impression Amplifiers: Making Ideas Stand Out

• Definition:
  Activities that clarify, amplify, and get attention for your ideas; raising “signal over noise.” (B, 13:00)
• Example: Robin Chase (Zipcar):
  Struggled to attract support for her "car sharing" concept. Realized “car sharing” has the wrong associations—so she reframed Zipcar as “wheels when you want them,” likening it to an ATM for cars.
  • “Imagine if you described a hotel as bed sharing. Who's going to want to stay in a hotel?” (C, 14:50)
  • “What she came up with is, it's like an ATM… Zipcar is wheels when you want them.” (B, 15:16)

Notable Impression Amplifiers:

• Storytelling:
  Most business “stories” are dry chronologies. Great stories have characters, conflict, and resolution, involving listeners.
  • Jack Ma Example: Despite a string of failures, Ma recruited investors and employees by telling a compelling narrative of transformation, casting them as “bandits” revolutionizing commerce together.
    • “He told this story and he drew even on this… Like, we're part of this group of bandits that are, you know, revolutionizing the way commerce is done… People just were drawn into that.” (C, 17:15)
• Carefully Setting Expectations:
  Avoid the “expectations curse”—don’t over-promise with specifics; use storytelling to build vision, as Elon Musk does.

Authenticity and Ethical Concerns

• Fit the Amplifier to Your Personality:
  Not everyone must become a flashy storyteller; amplify in a way that fits your style and is authentic.
  • “He wasn’t like a really flashy character… but he would describe the story… with incredible honesty and transparency. …That was actually more realistic.” (C, 19:00)
• Ethical Use:
  Techniques can be misused—such as in Theranos’s case (Elizabeth Holmes)—so authenticity and honesty matter.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Benioff’s insight:
  “It’s more like you could almost call it innovation capital. And it’s something I can use to get things done.” — Nathan Furr (C, 02:54)
• On building relationships intentionally:
  “He doesn’t know anybody, but he thought, you know, really intelligently about how do I build my connections to the kinds of people who will help me get things done.” — Nathan Furr on David Bradford (C, 09:00)
• On storytelling’s power:
  “He told this story and he drew even on this… Like, we're part of this group of bandits that are, you know, revolutionizing the way commerce is done to help all the small vendors around us.” — Nathan Furr on Jack Ma (C, 17:15)
• On authentic amplification:
  “If a creative person tries to apply a technique that isn’t authentic… then they’ll really struggle. But… there’s ways to use these choices that can be authentic to yourself.” — Nathan Furr (C, 19:00)
• On the reality of idea adoption:
  “What we want to avoid is ignoring it, thinking that the best idea wins, because… it’s rare that it does. It’s often the idea and the innovator with the innovation capital.” — Nathan Furr (C, 19:55)

Important Timestamps

• 00:50: Edison vs. Tesla: origins of the innovation capital concept
• 02:54: Benioff’s awareness & comment on innovation capital
• 04:30: Why innovation capital applies at all organizational levels
• 07:47: Four building blocks of innovation capital
• 09:00: David Bradford’s network-building story
• 10:25: How becoming a “founder” advances reputation
• 11:30: Satya Nadella’s “uncool” innovation bet
• 13:10: What are “impression amplifiers?”
• 14:50: Robin Chase and the importance of comparisons in idea framing
• 15:36: The storytelling craft, illustrated by Jack Ma
• 17:15: Jack Ma’s narrative and employee buy-in
• 19:00: Adapting amplification techniques to personal style
• 19:55: Why the best ideas alone rarely win

Conclusion

Innovation capital is the often-overlooked but vital ingredient that distinguishes successful innovators. It combines reputation, connections, track record, and the ability to “amplify” ideas to win buy-in and drive change. The tools and examples in this episode provide guidance for leaders at any stage to systematically build and wisely spend their own innovation capital—authentically.

Recommended for anyone seeking actionable leadership strategies—especially those championing new ideas in complex organizations.