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What is an innovation scout
The innovation scout is a pivotal role that focuses on identifying and connecting with emerging startups and technologies to help navigate the future of a company. They work across various corporate functions to source ideas, conduct market research, and translate potential innovations into actionable insights, thereby helping companies maintain competitive advantage. As corporations increasingly collaborate with startups to innovate, establishing an effective innovation scout program has become essential.
What is an innovation scout
- 1. What is anInnovation Scout? INTELLIGENCE DRIVEN INNOVATION TM 0 Confidential & Proprietary Do Not Distribute Without Permission
- 2. 1 The Corporate InnovationScout sees the future business as it could be. He connects the dots of how the real world works and what it will take to get his business in to the future. Market leadership is fleeting these days. It’s hard to keep up with the rapid introduction of new business models and technologies. Innovation Scouts find relevant Startups and learn from them. They engage young companies as a way to create the future. They also look at longer horizons by assessing University IP and other research.
- 3. 2 Who Are They? Innovation Execs Product Execs Corporate Development Corporate R&D Strategy Directors … Anyone with a bright idea
- 4. 3 What Do TheyDo For A Company? They often work as the team leader to source interesting startups or emerging technology. They get consensus around specific topics or challenges the company needs to address. They map markets, research, attend events, mentor startups and contact investors. Most important the Innovation Scout translates ‘what could be’ when they spot an interesting new business or Technology that could change the company’s trajectory.
- 5. Innovation horizonsare shorter than ever Competitive advantage and business models have become transient Industries are being eaten alive by smaller, faster Startup players 4 Why Do Corporations need Innovation Scouts? Confidential & Proprietary Do Not Distribute Without Permission
- 6. • Over 180Corporate Venture Groups and rising • Corporate Accelerators/Incubators on the rise • Corporates buying Startups to Gain Advantage: GM acquires Cruise Automotive a 30 person team Walmart acquires ModCloth AMD acquires Nitero Apple acquires Workflow Intel acquires MobileEye 5 Trend: Corporations Work With Startups to Compete https://techcrunch.com/tag/mergers-and-acquisitions/ https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/signals-for-strategists/corporate-accelerators-spurring-innovation-startups.htm Breaking Records, Enterprise Fundings are Up Nearly 80% in Q1 2017 – TechCrunch 4/17/17
- 7. 6 Scouting Today? Many Activities GoogleSearch Attend Events Hackathons Run an Accelerator Corporate Venture Group Contact Investment Bank Research Databases Call My Buddy Consultants “We can’t find the best startups fast enough, it’s an overwhelming task” – MEC Global Scout “We work across divisions and need to find over 700 startups each year” –General Dynamics Innovation “There are so many startups that are competing with us out there that we’ve never heard of. It’s hard to find them.” – IGT Research & Dev Customer Pain Points Unstructured Scouting Activities
- 8. Huge growth inCorporate Accelerator activity 7 Corporate Accelerators https://www.corporate-accelerators.net/database/index.html
- 9. 8 The Scouting LifeCycle Problem Definition Scouting Startup Assessment Corporate Open Innovation Process Get them engaged Drop Pilot Watch Launch
- 10. How to setup an Innovation Scout program in your organization: 9 How To? Innovation Scout Most important to get alignment about what problems you are looking to solve. Develop a Customer Journey Map for your business Develop a Customer Journey Map for your biggest competitors Find the gaps between the Customer Journey Maps Use the Innovation Scout Canvas to get consensus about specific opportunity areas Define criteria by which you will assess the strength and weakness of potential startup partners Recognize that sometimes ‘open’, non-specific learning and exploring can be a ‘fire starter’ for relevant, creative innovation. Map startups within specific market areas. Outreach to startups often, ask them to pitch you around a particular solution area
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- 12. Scout Explorer EngageAccelerate Discover Engage Accelerate Assess