We have interviewed dozens of accomplished entrepreneurs for our Founder Genius clips. We’ve talked with them about topics ranging from founding team dynamics, balancing the entrepreneurial life, sales and presentation strategies, and how they tackle the challenges of protecting intellectual property.

One of things that we’ve been thinking about, especially as we get ready to interview founders of fastest growing companies in America at the Inc. 500/5000 conference, is just what audacious thinkers founders can be. We’ve met founders who began with a small team, but brought huge ideas to the table. They’ve been able to reimagine how things could be.  They’ve looked past how things have always been and redefined their industries, changing how our kids consume baby food, and offering new ways to solve customer problems that turned out to be blockbusters.  Steve Blank’s new Founder Genius reminds us that startups have the freedom to reimagine how things could be.  Lots of founders have reimagined their industries  – think companies like AirBnB, Uber, Apple, and Virgin Atlantic.

There are a variety of examples of companies like these among our Founder Genius videos:

• Neil Grimmer, co-founder and CEO of Plum Organics (#63 on the Inc. 500 list in 2012, acquired by Campbell Soup Company in 2013), reimagined the baby food “jar”. In the process of trying to fill lunch boxes with healthier food they discovered a flexible spouted pouch. They created a healthy fruit snack for kids, but the company really took off when they introduced this new container to the baby food space. They were able to take organic baby food out of the freezer aisle and bring it to the shelf, and challenge the typical baby food in jars.
• Aaron Kirely , co-founder of Luggage Forward, and Inc. 5000 company in 2012, entered an industry where there were already established players. They realized that these companies were serving customers using the language of shipping: shipping labels, bag weight. They imagined a service that would be luggage and travel oriented:  helping customers move their luggage easily from one location to their destination. Aaron’s company has grown quickly but acquiring competitors that were in the marketplace before them.

• Renaud LaPlanche, founder of Lending Club, reimagined the marketplace for money.  His company just filed for an IPO. Laplanche was opening his mail when the idea for Lending Club came to him. He tells the story of seeing the opportunity and creating the online Lending Club to fill the gap in the financial industries market.

 

How can these stories help you think more audaciously about your business? Share with us your ideas on Twitter @kauffmanFS.