Why the Future Belongs to Neophytes Not Experts

Impact dialogue with Naveen Jain, CEO, Viome & Sanjiv Goyal, Chair, IIT2020

Author: Sanjiv Goyal, Managing Partner, Adroit Capital

Are you a dreamer? Do you want to change the standard of living for billions? Can you imagine living in a world where we fulfill our loftiest human potential? Setting greatness into motion could be as simple as asking three questions.

I recently interviewed Naveen Jain the CEO of Viome, a microbiome testing, and personalized nutrition company, but don’t let him catch you calling it that. He gleefully resists reducing his operation to a one size fits all label, insistently returning the focus to his grand vision: “Imagine living in a world where illness was optional.”

To disrupt the status quo, whether it comes to gut health or outer space exploration, you need a vision, and you need to ask the right questions. Jain has proven that it isn’t about which answers you have, but which questions you routinely ask.

Think about it; once you become an expert, you become an incrementalist because the best thing you can do is make something five or ten percent better. But when you come from outside of an industry, you can challenge the foundation of everything the experts have taken for granted. Being a novice can work in your favor.

We live in the information age. We have the internet in our pockets, and access to the greatest minds and…