Thank you for asking your question here on Clarity. The healthy discussion will also benefit many members of the community.
The first company that I built and successfully sold, a BBS turned ISP (aka "Internet Service Provider", more here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/exitcoach), was indeed a "radical new approach". The internet back in the mid '90s was so "radical" that Elon Musk said this about it: "Back in '95 there weren't very many people on the internet, and certainly nobody was making any money at all. Most people thought the internet was going to be a fad." (video here: http://ElonMusk.fyi.to/YoungMillionaire). That company took me 7 years to build and sell, VERY painful first few years. No money for new tyres, then no money for petrol, eventually no money for public transportation.
My second company, a free web hosting service, provided a radical new user experience. Rather than hosting your free web page on an "ugly" Geocities URL you could use an elegant www.yourname.hpg.com.br, among other clever enhancements. But at the core, hpG was no different than Geocities, Tripod or many of the other contenders. Apart from the enhanced user experience it was because we had a SOUND exit strategy from day 1 that we sold that company in 18 months and with a valuation 3X higher than my first company. BOTH with NO outside investors btw.
Personally, I prefer the kind of "radical new approach" that enhances the user experience, zooming on an image by spreading 2 fingers over the screen (thank you Steve Jobs), than the radical kind of time/money that goes into the R&D required to create a palmtop, only for another clever entrepreneur to come along and leverage on your previous investment and reap the rewards thereof. Like what happened to Xerox, the inventor of the GUI, when Microsoft/Apple had a sneak peak at it.
As far as investors go, it's a zoo out there. And "marrying" the wrong one can have grave consequences for the unexperienced entrepreneur. Most of the "big investors" are taking a portfolio approach (not that you cannot extract value from such a relationship) and many of the "smaller more manageable investors" bring little or no value other than financial capital.
What you really want to find is intellectual capital, investors that have previously built and sold successful companies themselves before. The Marc Andreessen's of the world. Investor's that care much more about WHO you are, WHY you are pursuing entrepreneurial success, and that are asking themselves WHAT they can do to help you make your dreams come true. Investors that invest in true founders and not fundraisers.
You may want to also look at this other related question here on Clarity: https://clarity.fm/questions/4857/what-is-the-ideal-time-to-reach-investors
If there's anything I can do to help you build and sell a successful startup, feel free to engage me here on Clarity. Thank you!
