Jesper Kouthoofd, founder of Swedish invention house Teenage Engineering, is a creative with a problematically broad skill set. “We can’t afford to fail,” he says, “but on the other hand, we can’t afford to be afraid or nervous either.” Since coming together in 2005, he and his team of multi-disciplinarians have sought to balance free-spirited innovation and commercial success, partnering with brands like Absolut, Sony Ericsson, IKEA, and Heineken to create everything from a choir of robots to a training system for the Swedish Armed Forces.