Heavy Hitters: The Digital Industrial Podcast

There is more inorganic growth activity within the digital industrial ecosystem than ever before, and given there have been over 120 completed acquisitions for over $4B in consideration during David's 18-year tenure at Autodesk, he has seen this wave since the beginning. We discuss how his team uses inorganic activities to find step-function acceleration for Autodesk's roadmap, why he approaches early-stage venture capital investing in a win/win/win mindset, and why it's critical for the current rush of new capital sources into these sectors to build a healthy, viable ecosystem for the long term.

Thousands of guests have visited Oracle Industries Innovation Labs, physically and virtually, to see how this Big Tech giant is innovating to help shape the future of various industrial industry verticals. Burcin explains why he helped found the Innovation Labs with a mission to create an environment and physical space that offers hands-on experiences to learn in these industries that often can’t afford to ‘fail fast, fail often’ in operational industrial settings. He discusses how their labs act as a means of Innovation-as-a-Service to help their customers and partners effectively cut through the tech buzzwords to find real-world application and value. Finally, we cover the topic of ‘build vs. partner vs. buy’, and why regardless of the tactic chosen, it is key for Oracle to build a robust ecosystem of external partners and startups that can foster a win/win for all sides to learn from one another along this digital transformation journey.

With over 300 partners integrated into the Procore Marketplace, Procore is helping drive collaboration and build a startup ecosystem within a construction industry that is rapidly evolving. Kris is an industry insider who has played numerous roles inside a construction company from project engineer to leading cutting edge construction tech deployments in the field. He shares why, short of Tooey, he thinks he has the best job at Procore, why an open platform & ecosystem approach is critical to the future of construction, what challenges still exist at both the GC & sub-contractor levels, and “What’s hot and what’s hype” in emerging ConTech trends. Finally, Kris gives a refreshingly open answer to why he would never tell his partner ecosystem to only integrate with Procore.

Make no mistake, industrial-grade additive manufacturing is now here to stay. Hugh's background blending both financial market leadership at T. Rowe Price and operating leadership at 3D Systems brings an additive outlook very few have experienced. He discusses why this background led him to co-found the Additive Manuf. Ventures Group investment syndicate, why investor specialization is critical at the earliest stages, how this "2nd wave" of additive investment differs from the 2013 "1st wave" (hint: consumer vs. industrial applications), and the 5 friction points additive is now overcoming at a rapid pace.  

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.