I’ve spent the last 20+ years as a full-time entrepreneur, building and growing companies through a wide range of funding and growth models, including bootstrapped, grant-funded, and venture-backed. Through it all, I’ve learned one hard truth: The deck is always stacked. 

There are no universal blueprints or silver bullets. There is only leverage. For most of us, success isn’t about the resources you have; it’s about how you activate them.

The Innovation Myth 

We live in an era with access to more tools than ever, yet many people with brilliant ideas feel paralyzed. They feel they can’t move innovation forward without buy-in or permission from external forces.

“Innovation” is a tired word. At its simplest, it is the act of turning a new idea into something that creates value. However, if you search for examples, you’ll see a narrow set of tools and an even narrower set of unicorns, billionaires, and special snowflakes following very specific, often unattainable, playbooks.

Because of this narrow lens, some of the most creative minds go unnoticed. They are too busy working the margins, creating their own lanes, and transforming their own conditions. They aren’t waiting for the “right” conditions; they are creating them.

The Artisan Mindset 

The most successful people I know possess an Artisan Mindset. An artisan is someone with the creativity, skill, and judgment to handcraft something of value. 

The Artisan Mindset:

• Blends techniques & tools: They mix traditional wisdom with emerging technologies to extend human capabilities.
• Prioritizes resourcefulness: They see constraints as creative fuel.
• Balances craft and scale: They deliver sustainably without sacrificing lasting value.
• Remains human-centered: They build for the physical and cultural environments their products inhabit.

The tools don’t make the artisan; their creative intelligence does.

Entrepreneurship & Collaging 

During a creative sabbatical that began last summer, I found myself drawn to collage, the technique of creating new works from existing, often disparate materials. That curiosity eventually led me to a regular collaging class with other artists at my local museum’s Studio School, where I started to understand why the practice fits me so well. 

Collaging requires imagination to see how scraps can be transformed, and execution to turn that vision into something real. It’s less about who has the best materials and more about the physical practice of making what is in front of you meaningful.

Recently, I noticed that I had started overpacking for class. We focus on a different technique each week, and since we rarely know the assignment beforehand, I would pack every paper, tool, and art supply I thought I could possibly need. Even though the instructor always placed a stack of “community” papers and supplies on the table, much of it left behind by other students, most people preferred to work from their own stash. One week, I had to travel to class from a work trip and didn’t have time to stop home and grab my large bag of supplies. I only had space in my luggage for a basic set of tools. So I had to commit to using whatever I could find on the classroom table.

Initially, I was stressed. But ultimately, deciding to create with what was available sparked a powerful creative shift.

• I had to believe that I already had enough to begin. I could have spent my limited time searching for better or more materials, or I could get on with creating something meaningful.
• I was forced to use my tools in completely unconventional ways, building with a random assortment of papers, raw textures, and color palettes I never would have chosen and learning new techniques from experienced artists who had spent years refining their ability to see possibility in unexpected materials. 

Try this: In Practice

Pick one project you want to advance this week. Now, freeze your resources. Imagine you cannot acquire anything new; no new funding, software, hires, or external permission. Instead of asking, “What am I missing?” look at what is already on your table and ask:

• The Intended Effect: What is the simplest, fastest way to deliver the result you need? (An email can explain an offer just as well as an elaborate website.)
• The Found Materials: What existing assets am I ignoring? (Five people who already trust you can become an instant market research loop.)
• The Multi-Use Tool: How can one asset do double duty? (A spreadsheet can serve as a prototype; a routine sales call can double as product discovery.)
• The Raw Textures: What imperfect material can I deploy right now? (A single, powerful client quote today beats a comprehensive case study that takes months to finish.)

That is leverage: building the creative muscle to activate available resources to move an idea one step forward. Then, Rinse and Repeat.

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do it anyway.