Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova.

This week, I’m excited to re-share a conversation with retired U.S. Army colonel and Silicon Valley investor Peter Newell.

Pete is the co-founder and managing partner of BMNT, an investment company that provides early-stage investment to companies developing technology for the commercial market that has relevant applications in solving national security problems. He is a co-author of Hacking for Defense, a platform that merged the rapid problem-solving techniques curated on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan with a lean startup methodology developed by Steve Blank in Silicon Valley. Pete is a former Army Ranger who has received numerous military awards and decorations, including the Silver Star and the Presidential Unit Citation. It's an honor to have Pete on the show to discuss innovation, deploying, and forward-thinking.

THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR… leaders interested in identifying and fixing problems and wanting to move their teams and companies forward with an innovation focus.

TODAY’S MAIN MESSAGE… this episode is all about bringing the battlefield to the boardroom and re-engineering the problem. Your role as a leader is not to sell products. Your role as a leader is to identify the problem and guide your team and your customers to an innovative solution. Lack of investment in understanding the problem is what ultimately leads us to failure.

WHAT I LOVE MOST… I love the concept of innovation exhaustion and the difference between “innovators,” “makers,” and “hackers.” I love that distinction along with the thinking around deploying an idea and making sure you design what people are actually looking for–thinking about the customer. It's necessary to be innovation-focused if we want to keep pushing ourselves, our people, and our companies forward.

Running time: 34:52

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RELOAD: Innovation from the Battlefield to the Boardroom with Pete Newell