Agile Giants: Lessons from Corporate Innovators
73 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsFundamentally, a startup within a company is the same as one inside the proverbial garage: a group of entrepreneurs trying to make the world a better place using new ideas and inventions. Each week, join Sean Ammirati, Co-Founder & Director of the Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab, as he interviews guests who are doing the important work creating startups inside large corporations. If you already are a corporate entrepreneur, want to become one or are just looking for some advice around commercializing transformative innovation, this podcast is for you.
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Episodes
Episode 22: Rita McGrath Author of "Seeing Around Corners"
September 06, 2019 04:39 - 21 minutes - 30.1 MBRita McGrath is a legend in the field of corporate innovation. She developed the methodology used by so many companies today “Discovery Driven Planning” and has written numerous best-selling books. She recently had a new book come out “Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen” On this episode, we talk about her new book as well as observations on how corporate’s perspectives on innovation have evolved and the arc of her career. Show Links: ...
Episode 21: Don't Fall into the Trap of "build vs buy" instead think"build AND buy"!
August 08, 2019 19:50 - 13 minutes - 19.7 MBOn this week’s episode, I respond to a question I’m getting more and more from you on social media & via email is: How does each of these different techniques highlighted in Agile Giants fit into a company’s overall growth strategy? (Or if not that exact question a version of it) I try to provide some context in this quick episode, but the biggest point is there are synergies across these tactics so it isn’t "build vs buy" but instead "build AND buy"!
Episode 20: Rich Grant Founder & Managing Director - Touchdown Ventures
July 22, 2019 13:00 - 34 minutes - 47.9 MBAfter helping start Comcast Ventures, Rich left with 2 other partners to start Touchdown Ventures. On this week’s episode, we have a great conversation about his perspective on CVC as well as unpacking the model that Touchdown Ventures is pioneering. I’ve asked you for feedback on email, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram about the kind of content you’re looking for. I remain interested in that feedback, but one thing I’m consistently hearing is that you want more information ab...
Episode 19: Keith Berry Executive Director - Moody's Analytics Accelerator
July 08, 2019 15:48 - 39 minutes - 53.7 MBAfter 8-years, working in various roles across the organization, three years ago Keith Berry founded the Moody’s Analytics Accelerator at the directive of the Board. This is a group inside Moody’s focused on launching innovative products typically via a partnership with a FinTech startup. As many of you are thinking through how to set up your own innovation lab or accelerator, there are a ton of lessons from Moody’s Analytics experience including: (1) how they partner with Fintechs, (2) h...
Episode 18: Q&A
July 01, 2019 11:20 - 28 minutes - 38.7 MBOn this week’s episode of Agile Giants, we’re going to do something just a little different. There’s a lot of questions that I’m regularly asked when it comes to corporate innovation and agile product development. I’ve combined some of those questions with questions that I heard from you on social media and I’ve come up with five common questions that I get. We’ll see how this works, but if this is interesting to you let me know other questions that you might have and maybe we’ll start w...
Episode 17: Christina Weir - Vice President, Enterprise Clinical Operations Highmark Health
June 17, 2019 04:30 - 30 minutes - 42.2 MBChristina has had executive roles in a number of types of healthcare companies. In most of these organizations, at least part of her time was focused on leading innovation. Healthcare is a sector that seems to naturally lend itself to corporate innovation, given balance sheet and incumbency advantages that are often necessary for transformative innovation. This is likely why we've had so many health care companies collaborate at the Corporate Startup Lab. Christina has a great perspect...
Episode 16: Tanya Baker - Global Head of GS Accelerate, Goldman Sachs
June 03, 2019 23:58 - 41 minutes - 57.1 MBTanya Baker is the Global Head of GS Accelerate. A new initiative inside Goldman Sachs that is “ a platform for people at Goldman Sachs to be able to apply, submit an idea, and go through various rounds of pitching and ultimately they get funded, be an intrapreneur, as we call it within Goldman Sachs.” In many ways, this is similar to many other corporate startup labs being set up at other Fortune 500 companies but they also are taking a very Goldman Sachs approach. Show Links: Tanya Bak...
Episode 15: Peter Hughes - Chief Technologist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
May 16, 2019 19:45 - 10 minutes - 14.8 MBThis is something a little unique for Agile Giants. I was at the IRI Conference and got just a few minutes to sit down with Peter. As you’ll hear on the interview, Peter’s part of a team at NASA that has quite an ambitious mission: to get people back to the moon and then ultimately to Mars. I’m sure when you think about the projects you’re working on in your organization, they may be characterized as “moonshots” but probably not literally attempts to get to the moon. Show Links: NASA G...
Episode 14: Eric Chaniot - Cheif Digital Officer, Michelin
May 09, 2019 02:53 - 33 minutes - 46.2 MBOn this week’s episode of Agile Giants, I’m joined by Eric Chaniot, the Chief Digital Officer of Michelin. Most people probably know Michelin as a tire company, but as you’ll hear in the interview, they actually have a number of different divisions focused on mobility. Eric runs a group that’s responsible for digital transformation across each of these different divisions. Eric had some great perspective on innovation and transformative innovation. Show Links: Eric’s LinkedIn: https:/...
Episode 13: 3 Rivers Venture Fair - The Corporate Venture Capital Value Proposition
May 06, 2019 12:41 - 42 minutes - 58.8 MBThis week’s episode of Agile Giants is a little different. A few weeks ago I had a chance to moderate a panel at the 3 Rivers Venture Fair in Pittsburgh, PA. The panel focused on corporation venture capital, and specifically the corporate venture capital value proposition. We had guests from Covestro, Bayer and UPMC, each participated as panelists talking about how each of their individual companies approached corporate venture. If you’re interested in talking more about Corporate VC, f...
Episode 12: Richard Florida - Author, Thought-Leader & Researcher
April 22, 2019 12:14 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MBAfter the last two episodes interviewing two individuals I’d never met but respected from a distance (Beth Comstock & Jeff Sutherland), this week is a little different. I sit down with Dr. Richard Florida — someone who has shaped my career very significantly and I’ve known for over 17 years. Richard is one of the world’s leading urbanist. He’s a researcher and professor. He has written multiple best-selling books. He wrote the forward to my book “The Science of Growth” but our connecti...
Episode 11: Jeff Sutherland Co-Creator of Scrum, Founder & Chairman Scrum, Inc
April 15, 2019 07:30 - 38 minutes - 54.2 MBJeff's work has really had a profound impact on the way I approach a lot of problems. I remember when one of the companies I ran switched to Scrum (mSpoke) and it was like a light switch went on in the organization. I can't really talk enough about how positive Scrum's impact was on that organization and a lot of the companies I've worked with since then. It was really amazing to meet Jeff. He's a brilliant guy and I took away a ton from our conversation. If you're thinking about how t...
Episode 10: Beth Comstock - Author, Imagine It Forward and Former Vice Chair GE
April 08, 2019 07:30 - 34 minutes - 48.7 MBFor this tenth episode of Agile Giants, we have quite a treat. I'm joined this week by Beth Comstock. Beth is probably best known as the former Vice Chair of GE, specifically leading innovations. She wrote a really transparent book called Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change, which is a really interesting blend of a reflection on her time at GE, the good and the bad, almost a memoir, as well as a nice set of best practices and observations for corporate leaders ...
Episode 9: Peter Steinberg - President, Innovative Thought
April 01, 2019 13:12 - 40 minutes - 55.9 MBPeter Steinberg is rapidly becoming a key partner of ours at the Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab. He is a well know Rugby coach as well as a leader in thinking through executive education. I’m more focused on the later, but the synergy between these is interesting. The first part of the interview gives you a lens into how Pete approaches exec ed and innovation. Then, the second half of this interview focuses on our collaboration at the Corporate Startup Lab. Show Links: Inn...
Episode 8: Priscilla Beal - Global Head, Digital Health Ecosystem & Engagement at Bayer
March 25, 2019 08:30 - 26 minutes - 37.1 MBEvery time I sit down with Priscilla, I come away so impressed. The work she’s doing at Bayer partnering with startups to solve internal challenges is a great model for any large company. We first met at a local (Pittsburgh) roundtable discussion and then she recently participated in a reverse pitch the CMU Swartz Center which my lab did in partnership with another local organization Innovation Works. If you are trying to figure out how to work with startups in your organization, I’d str...
Episode 7: Gustavo Lopez - General Manager at MSA The Safety Company
March 18, 2019 08:00 - 28 minutes - 40.1 MBOn this week’s episode of Agile Giants, I’m joined by Gustavo Lopez a general manager at MS The Safety Company. MSA is over 100-years old. They historically have sold safety devices, things like portable gas detectors. Over the last few years, those devices have started throwing off more and more data about the detection that they’re doing. Two years ago made a decision to launch a new startup within the company called Safety IO. Their corporate startup does big data analytics from the da...
Episode 6: Laurie Barkman CMO/Business Development at Burns White
March 11, 2019 09:00 - 53 minutes - 73.7 MBOn this week’s episode of Agile Giants, I’m joined by Laurie Barkman. I’ve known Laurie for a long time. She ran marketing for a startup that I invested in years ago and more recently she’s been an advisor and mentor at the Corporate Startup Lab that I run at Carnegie Mellon. We’re also — for full disclosure — on an advisory board together of Safetyio, a corporate startup within MSA, that will actually be featured in next week’s episode of Agile Giants. Laurie has some really interesti...
Episode 5: Sylvia Vogt - President, Carnegie Bosch Institute
March 04, 2019 11:00 - 36 minutes - 49.8 MBOn this week’s episode of Agile Giants, I sit down with Sylvia Vogt. Sylvia is the President of the Carnegie Bosch Institute, and a co-instructor of the leading innovation executive education course that I talked with last week at the beginning of Dennis Boecker’s interview. Show Links: Tepper Executive Education Leading Innovation Course (the executive education course Sylvia & I teach together) About Damian Killen About The Carnegie Bosch Insitute I enjoyed the entire interview,...
Episode 4: Dennis Boecker - Founder of Chicago Connectory
February 25, 2019 14:00 - 31 minutes - 44 MBOn this week's episode of Agile Giants, I have Dennis Boecker. In some ways, this is really a continuation of last week's conversation with Terry Lonier. Dennis built one of the innovation labs that she talked a little bit about, the Chicago Connectory. It's a fascinating coworking space and innovation center that I would encourage you to check out if you're in the Chicago area. Show Links: Chicago Connectory - https://chicagoconnectory.com/ Tepper Executive Education Leading Inn...
Episode 3: Terri Lonier - Advisor to Chief Innovation Officers
February 18, 2019 20:56 - 25 minutes - 35.4 MBOn this episode, host Sean Ammirati, Co-Founder and Director of the Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab, sits down with an advisor to Cheif Innovation Officers Terri Lonier. Terri and Sean have a great conversation, including Terri's insights on: opportunities and traps around companies setting up innovation labs (starting at 9:07) the Creative Canvas she developed (starting at 12:01) the importance of having a diverse set of thinkers involved in innovation (starting at 15:4...
Episode 2: Ryan Thomas - Vice President, Innovation at the JM Smucker Company
February 11, 2019 04:59 - 44 minutes - 53.6 MBHost Sean Ammirati, Co-Founder and Director of the Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab, sits down with Ryan Thomas Vice President, Innovation at The J.M. Smucker Company. As a leader of innovation within a $8B Food, Beverage & Pet company, Ryan provides great perspective. There's a ton of lessons here both for how to do innovation inside a consumer-facing brand like Smucker's, as well as just generally how large companies should approach these processes. You'll also see many simila...
Episode 1: Neil Soni - Author, The Startup Goldmine
February 04, 2019 17:00 - 36 minutes - 44.2 MBThe premiere episode of Agile Giants. Host Sean Ammirati, Co-Founder and Director of the Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab, sits down with author and entrepreneur Neil Soni. Author of the book "The Startup Goldmine," Neil and Sean discuss the hidden innovation agendas of large companies to grow your business and how Neil's insights apply to both startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Show Links: Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab https://www.corporatestartuplab.com...
Episode 0: Trailer
February 02, 2019 17:00 - 3 minutes - 6.27 MBEach week, join Sean Ammirati, Co-Founder & Director of the Carnegie Mellon Corporate Startup Lab, as he interviews guests who are doing the important work creating startups inside large corporations. If you already are a corporate entrepreneur, want to become one or are just looking for some advice around commercializing transformative innovation, this podcast is for you.