Inside Outside Innovation

Michael Frankel is the Managing Director of Deloitte’s New-venture Accelerator, a strategy and operations team for new business models. He believes people need to disrupt themselves continually or they will fall behind.  Emergence of the Hybrid  The broader trend of the journey from human to tech is not happening instantly. Things that require judgment and strategy, need a hybrid solution. A lot of technology has moved ahead of the user’s ability to use them. For example, we’ve digitized everything, because companies wanted the data. Now they are suffering from death by data. Talent profiles, of those better at adapting, are the Connector and Implementor. These are people who can be super users and use the info to solve a business problem. Product managers are critical with the adaptability to collaborate across technologies.  Technology that improves Human Life Conceptual technology that improves human life is an area Michael is excited about. AI, RPA and machine learning can solve a concrete problem in areas we can drive metrics from. Corporations & Startups Corporations interacting with startups is a great challenge. They have mirror image problems. Hard to self disrupt for the corporation. Interacting with startups helps corporate think differently and break the rules. Startups have a blank sheet. Both can benefit from each other. Tactics to collaborate: 1 ) Align your innovation and corporate venturing efforts with people who know sector. 2) Create an environment that allows you to interact. Startups want to talk to people that know the space and can give advice and access.  For More Information Find Michael Frankel on LinkedIn or at www.michaelfrankel.net.  You might also be interested in his publications: - Mergers & Acquisitions Basics The Key Steps of Acquisitions, Divestitures, and Investments - 2nd Edition - Mergers & Acquisitions Deal-Makers: Building a Winning Team - 2nd Edition If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: - Ep. 118 – ExxonMobil’s Christopher Bailey and Kim Bullock on Corporate Innovation - Ep. 115 – Doug Branson, Author of The Future of Tech is Female - Ep. 112 – Ralph Welborn, Author of Topple on Corporate Innovation Find this episode of Inside Outside Innovation at insideoutside.io. You can also listen on Acast, iTunes, Sticher, Spotify, and Google Play FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Simone Ahuja, Author of Disrupt-It-Yourself: Eight Ways to Hack a Better Business---Before the Competition Does, researches barriers that are preventing large companies from innovating internally. Brian Ardinger, Founder of Inside Outside Innovation talks with Simone about these innovation barriers and what managers and leaders can do to support innovators.  Highlights from the discussion: Why is it so hard to innovate? - Lack of alignment - Disconnect between senior leaders and feet on the street. Lack of knowledge in the middle. Innovation is a relatively new discipline. There's a difference in metrics and incentives. Need to establish new metrics at all levels, creating space for innovation. - Innovation is different in companies that are large and older, where culture is deep. Not specific to the industry. - Need to encourage people to put forward innovative ideas (Value-creation innovation). It’s the pathway to innovation, but not everyone has to be an innovator or intrapreneur. Innovation Principles - Who is innovating inside large organizations or as a side hustle? How do we harness that? Engage people so they feel satisfied and want to stay around. Only 14% of college grads want to work in large corporations e.g., Medtronic. - How do you identify those people? Managers seem to know who they are. Action-oriented and risk-taking. Don’t know how to support them. Need to provide “air cover.” Built on trust, autonomy, and space. Assisting people in transitional innovation.  - Managers need to have the Idea of fluid and agility. How do you manage info and change? How do we create flexibility in our organizations? What’s exciting you about this space? - Optimistic that innovation is becoming more of a discipline. - The human side of innovation. Passion and purpose and why to harness it.  To find out more, you can purchase Simon’s book Disrupt-It-Yourself: Eight Ways to Hack a Better Business---Before the Competition Does or learn more at www.Blood-orange.com or on Twitter @simoneahuja. If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also enjoy: Ep. 124 - Amy Radin, Author of The Change Maker's Playbook & FinTech Guru, Ep. 109 - Greg Larkin, Corporate Entrepreneur and Author of “This Might Get Me Fired, and Ep. 78 - Katherine Manuel w/ Thomson Reuters. Find this episode of Inside Outside Innovation at insideoutside.io. You can also listen on Acast, iTunes, Sticher, Spotify, and Google Play FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Jana Eggers, CEO of Nara Logics, is an expert on Artificial Intelligence. In this episode, Brian Ardinger, Founder of Inside Outside Innovation, talks with Jana about the evolution, promises, and risks of Artificial Intelligence. Jana will be speaking at the E.N. Thompson Forum, in Lincoln, NE, on Feb 26, 2019.  Highlights from the discussion: - Jana trained as a mathematician and has worked at organizations like the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos, and a search engine company where she’s always used AI as a tool.  - Computing power is now commoditized, and there's lots of data from databases like ImageNet. These changes have brought Artificial Intelligence to the forefront again. - AI examples - Calendar scheduling, language translation, Waze, and Google - Machine learning vs. AI - e.g., Artificial light vs. natural light. Ask has the machine learned? Did it calculate how to respond? Did it recognize the context? - We need to understanding AI risks, but people should have a realist attitude. Don’t run in fear. We’ll find more things to do as AI takes over the basics.  - Microsoft’s Tay has been live in China for years. Big difference in internet culture in China vs. US. Tech Companies have had major gaffes on AI applications. There is plenty of thought on how to prevent bad things from happening.  - China is using lots of data and getting practice and application with AI. Government is also investing. The US should invest in infrastructure. Could make a big difference. - In Europe, GDPR will allow us to be better custodians of our data.  - Nara Logics has an AI platform which enables engineers to put AI into their products faster. e.g., Proctor and Gamble creates advisor products using AI. One-on-one customer communication. To connect with Jana Eggers, CEO of Nara Logics, find her online or at https://naralogics.com   If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Ep. 107 - Azeem Azhar, Author of Exponential View,   Ep. 101 - Daniel Fozzati with IdeaLondon on System Innovation; and Ep. 80 - Ari Popper w/ SciFutures Find this episode of Inside Outside Innovation at insideoutside.io. You can also listen on Acast, iTunes, Sticher, Spotify, and Google Play FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Ted Schilowitz serves as Paramount Pictures' Futurist, as well as an advisor to the University of Nebraska’s Johnny Carson School of Emerging Media Arts. He sees himself as an explorer, with an eye toward storytelling and creativity. His modern lab rat approach, allows him to experiment with all types of technology and determine what makes it valuable for the future. Brian Ardinger, Inside Outside founder, and Ted discuss the intersection between storytelling and human behavior. Specifically, they address next-generation screens to create the illusion of reality.  Highlights from the discussion: - VR is an emerging process of teaching people about new ways of using more powerful screens in their lives.  - People want entertainment when they want it and where they want it. Connecting the screen to your eyes and your brain, something that doesn’t exist yet at scale.  - Experiments with VR, AR, and mixed-reality headsets. Logging hours in experimenting, then bringing back experiences to the studio.  - The power is accelerated to create an illusion of things that aren’t real. There are ethical, safety and truth concerns. - Mixed reality or extended reality is the thing to watch.  - VR is a multi-level/multi-year evolution. We’ve seen good progress, investment, and predictive analysis.  - Viable businesses are enterprise and heavy and light industrial markets. Things are getting adopted when people use them differently.  - Read The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christianson. - How can people tap into creativity and adaptability? Read Creativity Inc, about Pixar, where story means everything and technology is used in service to the story.  To find out more or connect, find Ted on Twitter at @virtualtedfor email him at ted_schilowitz@paramount.com. You can also learn more from his augmented mixed-reality discussion on the AR Show or from various articles found online.  If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Ep. 107 - Azeem Azhar, Author of “Exponential View”; Ep 106 - Amy Jo Kim, Innovation Consultant and Author of Game Thinking, Ep 80 - Ari Popper w/ SciFutures; and Ep 60 - David Mattin w/ TrendWatching FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

If you don’t like disruption, you are going to HATE irrelevance.  Chris Olsen of Drive Capital talks about investing in world-class companies located in the Midwest. Drive Capital, a venture firm based in Columbus, OH, developed a $550 million fund with this aim. Chris believes the Midwest will see more billion-dollar companies in the next five years, and based on GDP, the Midwest is the 4th largest economy in the world. If there are more Venture Firms in the Midwest, we’ll see faster growth with LPs making more money in Midwest Venture funds than in Silicon Valley companies.  Why is today the right time? The Midwest is typically cheaper than the coasts, and with cloud computing, you can rent all the engineering and computing power you need. The access to technical specialty is now unlocking other geographies, like China and Europe. We are melding knowledge and tech and making advances in areas such as car insurance, healthcare, taxi rides, etc. There’s also an imbalance of venture capital invested in the Midwest. Dive Capital is spending time in the Artificial Intelligence, Insurance, Robotics, and Ed-tech markets. When developing the fund, Drive Capital made the mistake of replicating a Silicon Valley approach. You can’t build companies in the Midwest and assume capital is unlimited. They learned to determine when products are working or not. Stop earlier if they aren’t hitting milestones. They also thought they'd have to import talent from the coasts, but have had a much better success rate in using employees from existing businesses, and retraining them in a startup. There is an engine of talent that doesn’t want to go to coasts. E.g., Root Insurance. Taking advantage of Nationwide Insurance experiences to help startups succeed.  Chris hasn’t seen a lot of change in existing businesses. He believes it’s just time before some of these companies will wake up and deal with irrelevance. What should companies do? Stop trying to be venture capitalists. Companies can innovate and work with startups, but should invest in Venture Capital firms. VCs will share their best innovation with the companies. Big companies have different skills than startups.  For more information or to connect, email Chris Olsen at chris@drivecapital.com or see www.drivecapital.com  If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy: Ep 105- Randy Komisar with Kleiner Perkins and Straight Talk for Startups Author; Ep 91- Paul Singh @ I/O Innovation Summit; Ep 65- Jason Calacanis, Angel Investor and Author of “Angel”; and Ep 52- Ann Winblad w/ Hummer Winblad VP FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Why do some people have innovative, creative ideas that change the game for everyone and challenge the way life is, and others don’t? Brian Ardinger, Founder of Inside Outside talks with Arjuna Ardagh about how brilliance and innovation can become more of a predictable outcome and less of an accident. They discuss his new book, Radical Brilliance - The Anatomy of How and Why People Have Original Life-changing ideas and the four phases of the Brilliance Cycle.  Brilliance Cycle Defined 12:00 - Moments where you transcend your mind. Get to the middle ground. Not in a hurry. Brain chemistry changes from Serotonin to Dopamine  3:00 - Full creative flow. Effortlessly. Intention to take a creative act. Movement from intention to accomplishment. Brain chemistry changes to  Testosterone/Estrogen and Oxytocin. Begin to operate within limits, creates stress.  6:00 - Accomplishing goals. Parasympathetic flooding begins. Start to have experiences of regret, when you are operating in constrained limits. Then movement to learning and humility.  9:00 - Recognition of your limits and boundaries. Brain chemical Gava, permits you to rest. Your deeper self or divine intelligence returns, then it's moved back into awaking. Innovators who are serially brilliant have all quadrants active. The cycle can also be a way to map what gets in the way of brilliance. Blockages include addiction, judgment, aspiration resistance, and looping. Recognize where the cycle is blocked and apply individual practices to unblock brilliance including diet, sleep, supplements, sexuality, friendship, and vacations. Rest is critical for innovators. Consider living in natural rhythms. Sleep soon after dark and wake before the sun. The most creative time is the hour before dawn.  More Information To connect with Arjuna or to learn more, check out RadicalBrilliance.com. More Podcasts If you liked this podcast, you should also check out: Ep. 110 - Shaina Stigler with Betwixt on Building Coworker Trust; Ep. 104 Shane Snow, Author of Dream Teams: Working Together without Falling Apart, and Ep. 12 - Liz Elam from Link Coworking and GCUC Free Innovation Newsletter Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Sean Moffitt is Managing Director of WikiBrands and Author of WikiBrands: How to Reinvent Your Business in a Customer Connected Marketplace. He focuses on helping people develop a transformational arsenal, including skills in culture and talent, innovation and future proofing, technology and digital, and leadership/pivoting business models. Highlights of Sean's conversation with Brian Ardinger, Inside Outside Founder, include: What’s changing the corporate landscape:  - Speed at which things are happening. 7x faster than 25 years ago.  - Startups and Scaleups are much easier to create. Corporate innovation needs a wake-up call.  - Leverage corporate advantages with startup innovation. - Culture eats strategy, innovation, and tech for breakfast. Keys are people. New WikiBrands Research Study - Looking at the difference in how startups, scaleups, and corporates approach things and innovation in the wild. What’s working? - Hoping to find a definition of innovation and more focus on breakthrough Innovation. - Business Models - 32 of the most competitive business models of the future. What works? - Approaches to Market - e.g. Design or Agile - Different types of modes of practice. Who is the most successful using the different strategies? - Research is based on collaborative thought, with insight from nine innovators and answers from 50 survey questions. More Information For more information or to connect with Sean, check out Wiki-brands.com and take the innovation survey. You can also search on social media under #corporateinnovationplaybook. If you liked this podcast, you should also check out, Ep. 112– Ralph Welborn, Author of Topple on Corporate Innovation, Ep. 98– Sean Ammirati with Birchmere Ventures & Author of The Science of Growth, and Ep 87 – Tom Lockwood and Edgar Papke on Innovation by Design Free Innovation Newsletter Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Dr. Victoria Gerstman is the Assistant Director at Canopy Insight, a cultural insight and innovation consultancy. She helps companies and brands understand the cultural significance of different phenomena. Using semiotics, a method to interpret signs and symbols of culture which brands operate in, Victoria helps companies learn what’s important to people.  Canopy Insight works with many large brands around the world, to help them understand culturally specific meanings and the way meanings change over time. These meaning could be different across markets and demographic groups. This recognition is especially important for brands that have sub-brands which need to remain culturally relevant, that have a multi-market presence, and to avoid assuming home markets trends, are dominate in other places.  New Emergent Trends:  - Shift away from individualism towards communal experience.  - Changes in ideas of ownership. E.g. - Do you need to own a vacuum.  - Mainstreaming of sustainability for affordability.  - On-demand everything in the home is something to watch.  - Home space is changing. Home and work barriers are being broken down. Homes are now sites of production, like cottage industries.  - Sexual and gender identities - More understanding of distinct identities and new ways of living.  To find out more, connect with Victoria at canopyinsight.comor Victoria@canopyinsight.com If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy Ep. 60– David Mattin with TrendWatching, Ep. 69– Slava Rubin, co-founder of Indiegogo, and Ep. 80– Ari Popper with SciFutures FREE INNOVATION NEWSLETTER Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Paul Jarrett is co-founder/CEO of Bulu and a former Inside Outside podcast co-host. Bulu creates private label subscription box programs for large companies like Disney, GNC, Lululemon, and Crayola. In this episode, Brian Ardinger and Paul discuss new trends in big brand marketing, including getting in front of specific customer segments in new ways. Paul believes that in this changing marketplace, big companies are willing to collaborate and “horse trade,” but are also focusing on key metrics like customer acquisition costs. Key highlights include: Tell us about Bulu 1. Bulu is now at 250 FTE and managing revenue of over $50 million. Challenge is finding the right people to help scale.  2. Companies that want a physical interaction with customers are using subscription boxes.  Key factors when working with large brands 1. People managing the project have to get stuff done, transcend the business, and get along. Bulu won’t work with companies that don’t provide that.  2. Companies need entrepreneurs to understand working with startups. Non-entrepreneurs don’t see beyond the box, to see things like revenue and margin flexibility. 3. Companies need to invest in the relationship with a startup for the future. When to walk away 1. Unhealthy focus on driving the price down.  2. When a person starts saying “we” or “us,” Paul feels they’re on the same team. He’s not interested in a big company serving as the “coach” of the project. How to get in front of big brands 1. Pick up the phone. Call every week. 2. Social media - Friend and Follow key people everywhere.  3. Innovation should be in the corporate person’s title. For More Info To find out more about Paul Jarrett or Bulu, connect at pauljarrett.com or tweet him @Pauljarrett.  See Paul and Stephanie Jarrett on PBS's show Startup - Season 6, Ep 8   If you like this topic, you might also be interested in Ep 114 - Canva’s Cameron Adams on Democratization of Design; Ep 105 - Randy Komisar with Kleiner Perkins and Straight Talk for Startups Author; and Ep 96 - Chris Shipley - Author, Advisor, Innovation Advocate at 2017 I/O Innovation Summit. Free Innovation Newsletter Get the latest episodes of the Inside Outside Innovation podcast, in addition to thought leadership in the form of blogs, innovation resources, videos, and invitations to exclusive events. SUBSCRIBE HERE For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Creating environments where innovation can thrive Aaron Proietti is author of the new book, Today’s Innovator. He’s spent 17 years working in the innovation space, including leading initiatives at Transamerica and Capital One. Aaron believes everyone wants innovation to happen, but the traits that make the company successful are the very things that are standing in the way of innovation.  Today’s Innovator In his new book, Today’s Innovator, Aaron focuses on how to create an environment where innovation can thrive. He focuses on strategy, culture, systems and that YOU are today’s innovator. Who do you need to be to thrive in a complex organization (people, politics and traits). Aaron also examines the stages of Innovation maturity and business models. Can you have core business operations, but push innovation and invent new things? It’s difficult to find the balance.  Innovation should be considered a business competency Systems are not setup to be innovative. You need repeatable, scalable, and sustainable ways to be innovative. Innovation should be considered a business competency. Companies used to bring in consultants to help develop ideas. When the consultants left, the idea generation stopped. They didn’t change the nature of the business. Organizations are now talking about culture and competency. When you build a leadership and more nimble culture, it allows for innovation to last and be sustained. How do you get over the hump?   Companies need a strong champion at the highest levels of the organization. Sometimes innovation becomes important because one aspect is not meeting objectives. The champion needs to call out roadblocks. This process is broken or we need to go around the process here. Agitate organization to create a new awareness or muscle.  Making changes from the middle If companies don’t have a burning platform, how can a person in the middle of the org make changes? Aaron’s book, Today’s Innovator, is designed to help them. They need to build a new skill set which includes: becoming an Innovation leader, building high performing teams, setting expectations, strong innovation network, empathy, and how to lead and promote change.   Where to start? To create quick wins, start with the innovation layer, instead of the core operating business. At Transamerica they started with the data layer, because they had tons of data and a great data science team.  You can Preorder Aaron’s book, Today’s Innovator, on Amazon or contact him on LInkedIn. If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy Ep 95 - Steve Glaveski with Collective Campus and Episode 124 -Amy Radin, Author of The Change Maker’s Playbook. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy