
Costas Papaikonomou, The Grumpy Innovator: Why Good Ideas Don't Always Win
From TRENDSETTERS by Deborah Malone
June 5, 2026 · 35 min
About this episode
Deborah Malone interviews Costas Papaikonomou about the complexities of innovation and why good ideas often fail.
Innovation is one of the most celebrated—and misunderstood—concepts in business. In this episode, Deborah Malone speaks with Costas Papaikonomou, product innovation veteran, entrepreneur, investor, and author of The Grumpy Innovator series and The Disruption Fallacy. Drawing on decades of experience helping global companies create new products and growth opportunities, Costas challenges conventional thinking about disruption, innovation, and progress. Together, they explore why good ideas often fail, why weaker ideas survive, and why the most valuable opportunities are sometimes hiding in plain sight.
People in this episode
Host: Deborah Malone
Guest: Costas Papaikonomou
Topics covered
- innovation
- business strategy
- product development
- disruption
- entrepreneurship
Keywords
- innovation
- disruption
- business
- entrepreneurship
- product development
- growth opportunities
- ideas
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Grumpy Innovator, The Disruption Fallacy
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