Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall. This is a very well written book inspiring readers to realize their crazy ideas can be transformational. Safi holds a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford. Continuing his research, Safi focused on condensed matter theory as a post-doctoral research fellow at UC Berkeley.
Safi joined McKinsey & Company advising investment banks and pharmaceutical companies. Departing after three years to co-found Synta Pharmaceuticals, he led the company for the next thirteen years. Safi was named Ernst & Young New England Biotechnology / Pharmaceutical Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008.
Loonshots has certainly become one of my favorite reads of 2020. As an engineer in the biomedical marketplace Safi provides a lightning rod of innovation and inspiration.
The most important message however is one’s dedication to ideas that will change the world. Loonshots (even as a fun term) is filled with historical lessons proving crazy ideas actually “need to die three times” before changing world markets.
In addition keys to successful Loonshots under development is the awareness they are very fragile. Fail fast and pivot is a key message to learn. At the same time it becomes clear solving puzzles and mysteries lead to game changing insights.