Radicals & Visionaries: Invention vs. Innovation Is it better to improve on existing ideas or to start from scratch?

Are successful entrepreneurial concepts the product of nature or of nurture? Do they spring unformed from the minds of inventors, or are they carefully cultivated adaptations of preexisting notions?

It's not surprising that David Edwards, founder of experimental design lab Le Laboratoire, is a proponent of inventiveness: following through on crazy ideas that may or may not become profit generators. In his view, the potential to advance the human race is what should come first in any venture--and if one can do that, then a big payoff is likely not far behind.

Meanwhile, Krisztina "Z" Holly, creator of the first TEDx conference and an entrepreneur and engineer, preaches innovation: building and iterating on existing ideas so they can have as great an impact as possible--and are more likely to attract investors from the get-go.