Numenta
Jeff Hawkins is the Founder of Numenta, but he is also well known as the co-founder of two companies, Palm and Handspring, and as the architect of many computing products, such as the PalmPilot and the Treo smartphone.
Throughout his life Hawkins has also had a deep interest in neuroscience and theories of the neocortex. His interest in the brain led him to create the non-profit Redwood Neuroscience Institute (RNI), a scientific organization focused on understanding how the human neocortex processes information. While at RNI, Hawkins developed a theory of neocortex which appeared in his 2004 book, On Intelligence.
Along with Dileep George and Donna Dubinsky, Hawkins founded Numenta in 2005 to develop a technology platform derived from his theory. It is his hope that Numenta will play a catalytic role in creating an industry based on this theory and technology.
Jeff Hawkins earned his B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1979. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003.
Related Links: http://www.numenta.com
Last Updated: Thu, Apr 2, 2009
Hawkins does not believe there is a single model for an entrepreneur. Each entrepreneur is unique in their own way, he says.
Jeff Hawkins, co-founder of Handspring, has never thought of himself as an entrepreneur.Being an entrepreneur is not a career choice, he says, but is something you do at certain points in your life because you have to. Hawkins believes entrepreneurship is a means to an end, as opposed to an end in itself.
Hawkins stresses that one must separate oneself from work. You are not your company, he says, you are not your product. Your company may fail, your product may fail, but not you, he adds. He stresses the importance of giving credit where it is due.
Hawkins never really wanted to start a company, he admits. He considers himself an accidental entrepreneur who was approached by two venture capitalists while planning on building a small product.
According to Hawkins, no one remembers the 14 hours at work or the time missed with their kids. What people remember is if they changed the world, if they had a good time in the process, or if they promoted a positive culture. He talks about balance in regards to developing a great product and having a normal life. Hawkins believes that you can do it all and live a normal life!
When starting a business one tends not to focus on employee issues. Hawkins stesses the importance of laying a strong foundation of human resources from the very beginning. He shares ideas that he feels make sound human resource policies. When you are thinking of compensation between people, he says, you should always imagine that everyone knows everything.
Hawkins believes that most companies go out of business because they grow rapidly rather than pacing themselves while growing.
Hawkins shares the various reasons why he and his team finally spun off from 3Com to start Handspring. Although they were reluctant to leave and start a company from scratch, they felt that Palm did not belong in 3Com- a networking company. Palm was the only healthy division in 3Com and they could not continue growing and competing with a financial hand tied behind their backs.
Hawkins is working on his third start-up. Besides starting Palm and Handspring, Hawkins also followed his passion for theoretical neuroscience, the study of how certain parts of the brain work from an information theory point of view. He started a non-profit research institute called the Redwood NeuroScience Institute. Through this experience, he learned that starting a non-profit is just like starting a business.
Hawkins discusses how the cell phone took over mobile devices in the realm of personal computing. He projects where Handspring will go in the future with this transition.
Entrepreneurship is a means to an end, it is not an end in itself. The passion is with the product, Hawkins notes, and succesful entrepreneurs must follow it through.
Launching a non-profit organization is just as much work as starting a for-profit business, says Numenta Founder Jeff Hawkins. Many of the issues and struggles of leadership are the same, including concerns about funding, building, mission statements, staffing, etc. Hawkins recalls that the Redwood Neuroscience Institute, focused on neocortical theory in the field of neuroscience, was so successful that they were forced to think of their next steps after just three years in operation. A friend showed him how to plot the institute's theories into mathematical planning software, and Numenta, a for-profit entity, was born.
Throughout his thirty-year career launching four start-up organizations (including founding Numenta), Jeff Hawkins has always sworn that the would be home for breakfast and dinner with his family every day. In this clip, Hawkins dispels the myth that launching an organization requires long office hours and frequent travel. Entrepreneurs, he says, can be effective without having to work hard. They do, however, have to make the right choices. Any organization that focuses on making better daily decisions will have the opportunity for broad and deep success.
Hawkins talks about the complicated negotiations with 3COM for the spin off of Palm. Discussions lasted five months and involved investment bankers and board members. Five different proposals were presented to the CEO, including spinning off Palm two years in the future. However, the final decision involved no doors banging, and no storming out of offices. All said and done, Jeff Hawkins did not want to start a company.
I never had a technology company, says Hawkins. He believes that products come out of product marketing people who really love and understand products. He asks his employees to use competitor products to learn something from them. The focus should be on what people want and what they need, rather than only on technology.To build a successful product one has to innovate continuously, focusing on what people do and not what they say. And if you build a product, use the thing yourself.
Hawkins discusses the importance of having a planned hiring process while starting any new business. He goes on to say that the people who have not only seen the positives and the growth of the company, but have also lived through the rough and tough times with the company, make the best entrepreneurs.
Hawkins shares his story about how his initial company was continually acquired by larger companies.
Hawkins believes you have to be conscious and methodological about your company culture. The culture starts at the top and permeates to the bottom. The culture at palm is a product culture. High integrity is not just internal, but integrity with vendors, suppliers and customers. A lot of companies keep secrets, but the transparency has been very good for Palm, Hawkins points out. A good, solid culture can help a company go through hard times.
Jeff Hawkins, co-founder of Palm Computing, talks about what entrepreneurship is and isn't. Hawkins views entrepreneurship as a tool that is to be used sparingly and as a last resort. It is a tool to be used to pursue or accomplish one's goal in life, he says.
Jeff Hawkins, one of the founders of Handspring, claims to have witnessed teams of entrepreneurs brainstorming a product just for the sake of the sale, and he criticizes this approach. A good product can only be conjured by a genuine need in the marketplace. If there are no holes to fill, says Hawkins, then there is no point to being an entrepreneur.