It’s become axiomatic in Silicon Valley tech circles that meaningful innovation comes through rapidly iterating on prototypes, informed by input from real-world users. 

It’s a key tenet of the Steve Blank methodology, I teach it in my course at Stanford, and we practice it every day at Tivix as we build and launch new digital products for clients. Any good software application should be built with continuous innovation in mind – the ability to create and refine new features on-the-fly, informed by real-world users. 

So I loved getting an email today from my favorite wine bar restaurant, saying that the first two Wednesdays and Thursdays every month they would be serving new innovations created by the kitchen and the bar, and asking customers to rate them. The customers’ ratings will decide which new dishes and cocktails make it onto the menu.

It’s a wonderful example of how the concepts of tech product innovation can be applied to more important business models – like ones that actually serve wine and food!