Agile Giants: Lessons from Corporate Innovators

Join us on this week's episode of Agile Giants as we dive into the world of digital health startups and the crucial role of partnerships in driving innovation.

Our guest, Sari Kaganoff, General Manager of Consulting at Rock Health shares her expertise on how enterprises and startups should approach partnerships as part of their overall innovation strategy. Beyond the obvious benefits of resource access, she reveals the hidden advantages that startups can gain through collaboration with enterprises.

Drawing from Rock Health's extensive network, Sari provides real-world examples of companies they work with and the diverse ways they engage with them. These insights shed light on the dynamic nature of corporate-startup partnerships in the digital health industry.

Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation on the future of digital health startups and the role of corporate-startup partnerships in driving innovation.

Show links:
LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/company/rock-health/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarik/

WEBSITE- https://rockhealth.com/

TWITTER- https://twitter.com/KaganoffSari, https://twitter.com/Rock_Health

Episode description:

In this week's episode of Agile Giants, Chris Carde, the CEO and Founder of HeyCharge, joins the show to discuss the importance of corporate-startup collaborations in advancing the EV industry.

As an industry veteran, Chris provides valuable insights into how startup companies should approach partnerships as part of their overall innovation strategy. He also shares his perspective on how to measure the success of a collaboration with a corporation, drawing from his extensive experience leading HeyCharge's partnership efforts with established companies in the automotive and energy sectors.

Tune in for an enlightening conversation on the future of EV charging and the role of corporate-startup partnerships in driving innovation.

Show links
LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/company/heycharge/

WEBSITE-https://www.heycharge.com/

TWITTER- https://twitter.com/HeyChargeHQ

In this episode, we are joined by David Rogers, a professor at Columbia University, and the author of The Digital Transformation Playbook and The Digital Transformation Roadmap. We dive deep into digital transformation and explore why so many businesses are struggling to adapt.

Drawing on his extensive expertise and research, David shares practical strategies and actionable steps that leaders can implement to empower their organizations to thrive amidst the constant waves of change. Through real-world case studies and insightful analysis, he sheds light on the challenges and opportunities faced by leaders in today's dynamic business environment.

Tune in to this captivating episode to gain a wealth of knowledge and actionable strategies for achieving digital transformation success.

Show links:

• Pre-order “The Digital Transformation Roadmap: Rebuild Your Organization for Continuous Change” here: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Transformation-Roadmap-Organization-Continuous/dp/023119658X/

• LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrogersdigital

• WEBSITE-https://davidrogers.digital/

• TWITTER- https://twitter.com/david_rogers?lang=en

In this podcast episode, we delve into the history and transformation of PPG, a global maker of coatings, paints, and specialty materials that has been around for over 140 years. We are joined by Ed Rakiewicz, a Corporate Fellow at PPG, as he shares insights and experiences on the importance of corporate-startup collaboration in driving innovation and growth in the industry. He talks about PPG's approach to partnering with startups, the benefits of such collaborations, and the challenges that can arise. Ed also discusses some of the key trends and technologies shaping the industry, and how PPG is leveraging innovation to stay ahead of the curve.

Tune in to learn more about the evolving landscape of coatings and materials, and the role of corporate-startup collaboration in shaping the future of the industry.

Show links
LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/company/ppg/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-rakiewicz-0597a218/
WEBSITE- https://www.ppg.com/
TWITTER- https://twitter.com/PPG

In this episode, we are joined by Kevin Acklin, President of Business Operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, to discuss the team's collaboration with startups to solve real problems in sports and business. The conversation touches on the concept of open-source problem-solving and the team's willingness to share their solutions with other companies. They also discuss the social impact of these collaborations and how this helps in their vision of the city of Pittsburgh.

This episode offers valuable insights into the benefits of collaboration and the importance of leveraging existing platforms to drive innovation for sports organizations.

Show links

In this episode, we sit down with Nick Ellis, Principal of the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, to discuss their approach to investing in startups and how they work with their portfolio companies beyond just providing capital.

Learn about Amazon's approach to open-sourcing their expertise and how collaborations can benefit both the company and the entrepreneur. Don't miss out on valuable insights and actionable advice for entrepreneurs!

Show links

• WEBSITE- https://www.theclimatepledge.com/
• LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickellis/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon/

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Chirag Patel, Leader of EY Foundry, as we explore how this corporate venturing unit is driving transformational growth for one of the world's largest companies.

Discover how EY Foundry identifies new markets and develops new businesses, with a focus on digital ventures that rely less on human capital. In this episode, we also dive into the success story of EYTaxChat, an on-demand mobile tax preparation service, and learn how EY Foundry integrated an external startup into EY's services.

Tune in now to discover the challenges of bringing a startup into a large corporation and the strategies for achieving short-term successes that lay the foundation for long-term innovation.

Show links:

• WEBSITE-  EY Foundry
• LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/in/chirag-patel-33425/

This season will be a series of interesting conversations about how large companies and startups can partner to deliver transformative innovation together.

In our first episode of the fourth season of Agile Giants, we sit down with Greg Coticchia, CEO of Sopheon. Earlier in Greg’s career, he was a serial entrepreneur and participated as an executive in fourteen start-ups (founding four) including being the co-founder & CEO of eBillingHub.

We will discuss his experience scaling a successful company through innovative partnerships with large players in the industry. We start off with a deep dive into a case study of eBillingHub, where Greg shares insights on how the company rapidly scaled and eventually got acquired by Thomson Reuters. We will also explore the importance of partnerships and innovation in entrepreneurship, and how eBillingHub was able to stand out in a crowded market.

In his current role at Sopheon, Greg advises companies on their innovation approaches. We dive into his perspective as a CEO, discussing the challenges and opportunities in helping businesses innovate and stay ahead of the curve.

Whether you're a startup founder or a corporate innovator, this episode offers valuable insights on how to create meaningful partnerships and drive innovation in your industry. Tune in to learn more!

Show links

• WEBSITE- https://www.sopheon.com/
• LINKEDIN- https://www.linkedin.com/company/sopheon/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregcoticchia/
• TWITTER- https://twitter.com/GregCott

Josh Gould is the Director of Innovation at the Duquesne Light Company. He & his team have kicked off a $750k open innovation challenge around monitoring underground electrical cables. He talks a little bit more about this on the episode. The submissions are due March 15th so we wanted to get this out there, make you aware of it in case it fits any of your startups. I also think for anybody listening to this, it’s really a great perspective around how to do outside in kind of external innovation.

Show Links:

https://www.herox.com/DLCCableChallenge

https://www.herox.com/TreeOfLights

We'll be back later this fall with another full season of Agile Giants, but I wanted to interrupt our break to share a conversation I had with David Schonthal. David is the Clinical Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, and the reason I'm interrupting this is he's got a book that came out on October 5th called The Human Element

It looks at how resistance to innovation and change can be overcome using some really interesting techniques. I think there are applications obviously, for introducing new products and services, but there are also a ton of applications around how you just create change in many of your larger established organizations, and really drive towards transformation. 

Get the book here: humanelementbook.com