The new year is right around the corner, and Spark Partners are wrapping it up with a conversation to prepare you for 2021. What tools do you need to have handy to make the upcoming year a success? This episode, Manny and Adam go over the four trends that helped top companies thrive through 2020, and remain relevant tools to help your business prosper going forward.

In a continued exploration of important innovators, Adam and Manny launch a conversation from a troubling phenomenon -- unused real estate in the US. What’s left of once bustling shopping malls, busy workplaces, and thriving communities are now empty and run-down buildings. The pandemic accelerated so many trends, from demographic to technological, that point to changing American landscapes and business expectations. When things go south it’s hard to see how things can get better. But it’s crucial to remember that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

Spark Partners continues December’s highlight of admirable and not-so-admirable innovators by looking at the mistakes companies have made by investing in the wrong innovations. Companies like Uber, Segway, and others with unique creations have gone wrong when they confused their value delivery system with their value proposition. Uber just gave up on their billion dollar investment on autonomous vehicles, an effort that never aided their value proposition. As cool as Segway was, no one had any use for it. Even the great winners in innovation, like Microsoft and Google, have lost by creating products that customers did not need (remember the Windows Phone and Google Plus?). So what’s the right investment?

In this month’s celebration of notable innovators, Spark Partners take this episode to compare two of them: the late Tony Hseih and the late Frank Carney. Hseih, the former CEO of the online shoe company Zappos, pioneered the concept of easy product returns that led the entire ecommerce industry to follow suit. Pizza Hut co-founder Frank Carney created the pizza that defines America by its low cost and unique flavor, and spread it nationwide through the nation’s first pizza franchise. But what made Hsieh successful--and Carney less so--was his ability to innovate past one great idea.

This week on The SparkCom Podcast, Manny and Adam are joined by Mica Kinder, founder and CEO of Insulin Now. The online pharmacy provides low-cost insulin for uninsured and underinsured diabetes patients, and is the only commercial group in the United States doing so. Business leaders often think narrowly about innovation, as though it only implies changes to products. But in a business where the product can’t change, Mica demonstrates how necessary and possible it is to find alternative services that fulfill consumer needs.

As the end of 2020 quickly approaches, we can see how much the business landscape has changed through the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time of need and economic fallouts, several companies have stayed on top after bringing considerable benefit to consumers. How have they done that? Through change and sales.

What makes a successful entrepreneur? What makes a successful innovator? Hint: It’s not DNA.In this week’s episode of the SparkCom Podcast, Manny guides a conversation on the traits, experiences, and mentality of successful startup entrepreneurs. There’s a level of spirit and drive that not every entrepreneur possesses, but can possess to succeed. Understandably, many are held back by the fear of failure and of losing the security that comes with a day job. So here’s one question to ask yourself before becoming a full-fledged entrepreneur: Can you live without a paycheck to do something that you love?

If you could predict the future accurately, would you do anything different? So many business leaders from prominent companies and small businesses choose to not take action to prevent their business from failing, even when they know all odds are stacked against them. This week, the Spark Partners discuss this all-too-common mistake businesses make, and the steps any leader can take to push their business towards growth. We all deny the reality of what we might be doing wrong, and what we should be doing better. Just look at what happened to major retailers like Sears and ToysRUs, and how Walmart missed so many chances to become an e-commerce giant before the pandemic.

Adam and Manny take this week’s episode to cover trends and why they are so paramount to the field of innovation. From a changing energy industry and the rise of vegetarian diets, to the rising costs of homes and shifts to working from home, trends completely dominate the world, not just business! No innovator can afford to ignore trends or make excuses to not adopt them. Even fifteen years ago, many business leaders were slow to incorporate mobile technology into their business. Now, no business can survive without a Facebook page or website.

This week the Partners spark a conversation on the effects of third party involvement on business growth and innovation. Reviewing the Department of Justice’s new antitrust lawsuit against Google and it’s 2001 lawsuit against Microsoft, Adam and Manny question the role of the government in regulating competition in the marketplace. There’s no denying that e-commerce, social media, and big tech platforms have dominated the 21st century’s economy. Small businesses might feel at an unfair disadvantage against big businesses when advertising through major tech sites.