Innovation Happens, Commercialization is a Grind

A few weeks ago, a friend and I, put together an event on Innovation.  The goal was to develop greater levels of interaction and networking opportunities between 2 groups - start-ups and established corporations.  We put together a pilot event that had three components:

• A speed demo (much like speed dating) where start pitch their technology and value proposition to companies, organizations and invited guests in a 6 min quick pitch
• A panel where reps from the corporations can discuss innovation, piloting new technologies and hurdles/challenges associated with adoption of new processes
• And, of course, the much needed drinking and socializing

The speed demo phase was designed to help start-ups continuously refine their pitch as different groups shifted from one start-up to the next.  No time for questions just setup the idea, show them the good stuff and get ready for the next wave.  The panel was designed to focus on a specific subject du jour; in this case we picked collaboration and how to foster a culture around sharing.

The interesting themes that came out of the evening included the disassociation between a start-up’s perception of its utility and the corporate viewpoint, the innovation continuum, and the challenge associated with collaboration in regulated and process heavy environments.

Start-up technology companies live and breathe their value proposition continuously and that can be both a good and a bad thing.   Good in the sense that you want to convey an air of confidence in that you can solve challenging technical problems and associated business challenges.  Bad, in the sense that that there needs to be a modicum of humility regarding what you know and what you don’t. See my earlier post on "It Takes a Village.." The companies at the event where interested in new ideas and technologies but tend to view start-ups as a potential liability.  For example: what happens if the company goes under – is there a contingency plan, what happens if the company’s products and services don’t scale to meet demands, will the product or service by compliant with any industry wide regulation, what about data redundancy security, interoperability, not to mention ongoing support and service.  A successful start-up will continually think of ways that they can mitigate risk rather than endlessly extolling all the benefits associated with their hopeful deployment.

I find the innovation continuum interesting in that start-ups, universities and accelerators foster continuous and unfettered innovation.  As a professor, I am utterly amazed at how much innovation occurs within the University.  The problem is trying to get these innovations simply out of the ideation phase.   There are very few truly innovative companies; the vast majority are trying to figure out how to create a culture of innovation.  What they do have is expertise in processes and workflows needed to move ideas to commercial grade products.  So why not develop more interaction between the 2 groups where start-ups (I would also include Universities) work on the innovation side and companies work on developing products for market.  Along the path, some group needs to be responsible for market assessment, prioritization and filtering, perhaps a shared endeavor.  We are seeing this being done to some degree with open innovation communities.

The last theme centered on innovation in regulated and process heavy environments.  This is tough nut to crack.  Companies in industries such as finance, healthcare, chemical etc. always have to content with how innovation will impact regulations and agencies/authorities.  In other markets, where innovation takes place at break neck speed and goes through rapid iteration, innovation in these industries feels like it moves at glacial speed.   I think this can also benefit from increased interaction with start-ups and universities.  I know several examples where programs and technologies are being designed with experts who know how to address these challenges if and when they arise.   If you are selling into the financial space, have experts available who understand rules like Reg FD and legislation like Sarbanes Oxley to see what impact your product service on these issues and how to address it.

I think these themes are fairly common but also very addressable and interactions like this event can accelerate home grown innovation.  According to the feedback the event was pretty successful.  Enough so in that we will continue and improve upon the pilot potentially open up further sessions to themes around energy, healthcare, robotics, etc.