How do new ideas emerge (study case: Spreadshirt)

[Torsten]

This is a follow-up discussion on our previous conversation Bionade from the land of Ideas? in which we explored the origin and nature of ideas. Michael suggested we start a new topic so everyone can share their views on how good ideas emerge and materialize.

So how do you measure the value of an idea? I think we can agree that everybody will have their own definition of the term 'a good idea'. To give our discussion some direction I'd like to propose the following: We can run a some type of workshop in which we introduce a new concept, a new company, a new product, a new service or any combination of those components. By analyzing novelties we can come up with a pattern that shows how new ideas are created and developed.

Here is an example: Spreadshirt is new word, a new company and in a way it's also a new philosophy. Their founders could see a few years into the future and had a couple of brilliant ideas paired with a strong will to succeed. The word spreadshirt is a clever combination of spread and shirt. There a many associations with these two words such as spread the word, spreadsheet, a good spread etc. Spreadshirt started in 2001 as a German idea and now it's spreading throughout the world via the Internet.

They already have subsidiaries in many European countries and in the US. The vast majority of start-up Internet companies are founded in the US from where they move to Europe. With Spreadshirt it's vice versa. They have been able to create a brand their customers love and a company their employees can identify with. In addition they share their infrastructure with a growing network of affiliated web sites enabling them to share the Spreadshirt success story.

We could analyze the concept in detail but first let's hear your ideas on this...
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