5 Tips for Accelerating Product Ideation & Innovation

An Interview With Rachel Kline
Authority Magazine

In a world where the pace of change is faster than ever, the power of great ideas has never been more crucial. And yet, developing these ideas into impactful, market-ready products can be an immense challenge. The best products are not born overnight; rather, they’re the result of dedicated ideation and innovation processes. These processes aren’t always easy, but they’re necessary and can be catalyzed with the right strategies and approaches. How do you foster a culture of creativity within a team? How can one rapidly translate ideas into prototypes, and, eventually, finished products? How can roadblocks be anticipated and managed effectively to avoid unnecessary delays? In this series, we’re eager to explore insights, stories, and actionable tips from those at the forefront of ideation and innovation. As part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ro Bhatia.

Ro Bhatia, CEO of PlanHub, is passionate about simplifying preconstruction for everyone to help businesses of all sizes increase productivity and efficiency. With over 500,000+ contractors in our nationwide network, PlanHub is the cloud software platform that empowers commercial construction professionals to expand their businesses by optimizing workflows, improving collaboration, and offering data-driven insights for more intelligent choices.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before diving in, our readers would love to learn more about you. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I began my career in Fortune 100 companies wearing multiple hats from product to marketing to BD to sales. While I was at Yahoo, I had the opportunity to run and scale a business unit as a general manager. Admittedly, I would say I made my fair share of mistakes — but in less than four years, my team and I grew the business from $40 million to about $250 million in revenue. That’s when I fell in love with the dynamic nature of business scaling.

I joined Home Depot and led a multi-billion dollar business overseeing seven different acquisitions. After that, my business partner and I acquired a small startup with a partner. It was a humbling experience going from a billion-dollar business to a startup with less than $10 million. We learned a lot and scaled the business, and in the end, sold it to a private equity firm.

Then PlanHub came along. I saw a disruption opportunity with a ton of potential. The construction industry was under-digitized and behind the times. The market was ready for innovations and efficiencies, and so we built a solution to meet these needs for today and in the future.