Heavy Hitters: The Digital Industrial Podcast

In the world of digital industrial innovation, corporate venture capital (CVC) can play a major part in supporting and accelerating a startup's go-to-market efforts. CAT Ventures leader, Michael Young, is one of the most experienced corporate venture capitalists in the country, and he joins us to share his outlook on how CVC has evolved over time. We discuss his "3x3x3" investment framework, how a pilot/PoC should be approached, which terms matter when evaluating CVC investment, and why "A corporate's job isn't just to make a startup successful." 

With its roots at Kleiner Perkins, G2VP is one of the first specialist venture capital funds to focus exclusively on how traditional industrial industries are digitizing. Zach discusses why VC specialization is just good business, makes the case for investors to "Get a Major", outlines why industrial digitization is moving faster than ever, and lays out why SPACs are just getting warmed up in these markets. We also outline why we both believe sustainability and resource efficiency are naturally tied directly to industrial technology investing.  

Quick fact: an estimated 2.5% of global GPD flows through Prologis facilities that span 19 countries and ~1 billion sq/ft. Will joins us to outline how his venture arm, Prologis Ventures, helps this ~$78B market cap company stay ahead of the innovation curve. He discusses their outlook on fund construction, current innovation trends they are focused on, the power of the data they are collecting, and why VC specialization is more critical now than ever. Finally, we discuss a topic that is mission-critical to all of this... the human element of skilled laborers/heroes (!) who have bravely kept the supply chain moving throughout the global pandemic. 

Mike walks us through how his Stanley X team is helping a 175 year old industrial staple, Stanley Black & Decker, stay innovative and on the leading edge of technology advancements. We discuss why they believe an open ecosystem approach is key within industrials, why they chose to build a venture studio model into their orginization, and how they select and screen which opportunities to engage with. 

Did someone say something about infrastructure? David's role as Chief Innovation Officer within one of the world's largest engineering, procurement and construction firms keeps him as close to the center of this discussion as you can be. We discuss what's ahead for infrastructure innovation in 2021 and how his team takes a structured approach to engage with digital industrial innovators advancing the theme of "Less Dirt, More Data".

John brings a very unique investment perspective having been an active participant in the famous 2010 energy investment wave and now actively investing in the broader digital industrial wave of venture investing underway. He gets very candid with how Energize Ventures evaluates deals and defines what he coins the "Pre-growth" round of financing. Finally, we dive deep into the importance of taking a data-driven exit analysis from the very earliest stage of company formation.

We're taking Heavy Hitters global! Francisco outlines how the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Production platform he leads within the World Economic Forum is helping global leaders from business, government, academia and civil society anticipate the impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies on manufacturing and supply systems. We also touch on digital industrial adoption trends, what role the venture capital ecosystem has to play within this ecosystem, and the Global Lighthouse Network joint effort between the World Economic Forum and McKinsey to bring a spotlight on those industrial companies pushing the boundaries of innovation.

Intersecting at the heart of Silicon Valley and global construction innovation, the Hilti Tech Office has a front-row seat to where construction technology innovation is going. Vivin shares his outlook as to what his office is looking for when engaging and investing in early-stage innovation companies within this sector. And everyone likes talking about robots, right? We hit on that trend and many others evolving on construction sites globally. 

As another one of the most accomplished venture investors in this sector, Bilal gives us a masterclass on how he and Lux Capital look for new ways of solving hard problems with a focus on both business and technical risk. We dive into both why he feels the industrial ecosystem is in the midst of going through radical transformation and why the "timeline and magnitude" of an ultimate exit in this sector gets determined over time.  We even slip in a discussion about Elon moving from California to Texas!

Dayna is one of the most accomplished and pioneering venture capitalists within the digital industrial ecosystem. We discuss why she believes the time is now for transformation within these "foundational industries" that make up half of the US GDP. This coming wave of innovation was enough to convince her to launch out and co-found Construct Capital, and we talk about all facets, start-to-exit, of how she identifies and supports these innovative founders.