When I was a software chief executive, my mentor strongly coached me to “invest in ideas, not materials”. He asserted that creativity and invention, insight and imagination were highly prized.Our investors expected that we would continuously innovate to successfully bring new products to the global stage. He warned me that our shareholders frankly would be incredulous if we instead invested in material assets such as buildings or even expensive computers.To the extent that we needed physical space or computing power, we should seek to rent rather than to acquire. His conclusion was that any...…When I was a software chief executive, my mentor strongly coached me to “invest in ideas, not materials”. He asserted that creativity and invention, insight and imagination were highly prized.Our investors expected that we would continuously innovate to successfully bring new products to the global stage. He warned me that our shareholders frankly would be incredulous if we instead invested in material assets such as buildings or even expensive computers.To the extent that we needed physical space or computing power, we should seek to rent rather than to acquire. His conclusion was that any...WW…