Corporate InnovationEvangelos Simoudis, Ph.D.Senior Managing Director

esimoudis@tridentcap.com

@esimoudis

www.corporateinnovation.co

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Corporations don’t always distinguish between disruptive and sustaining innovation, even though 90% of their innovations are aimed at sustaining their existing products and services

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The traditional approach of R&D-driven innovation is no longer sufficient …

Top R&D spenders Top innovators

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Technologies

Innovative startups

Conflict between satisfying shareholder goals (short timelines) and creating disruptive innovations (long timelines)

Because of …

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Disruptive innovators ① Create IP constantly② Use technology to invent new markets and business

models③ Engage their customers early④ Experiment constantly⑤ Move quickly with actions that are based on

experiment results and market conditions⑥ Adopt and follow a long-term strategy⑦ Built an accountability-driven corporate culture⑧ Hire well and work constantly to retain top talent

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While innovation generation has become a worldwide trend …

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Corporations come to Silicon Valley because …

It is the most complete innovation-driven ecosystem (entrepreneurs, executives, engineers, investors, lawyers, accountants, bankers) …

… with the highest concentration of both startups and large innovative software and internet companies …

… and by becoming part of SV’s ecosystem they can understand how to create, fund and manage disruptive innovation

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They do so by …① Organizing corporate visits② Establishing corporate offices③ Establishing R&D centers④ Establishing incubators and accelerators⑤ Becoming involved in business development⑥ Investing in local startups

Corporate Offices (330)

Incubators/ Accelerators

Venture Funds (270)

Business Development

R&D

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For these efforts to succeed corporations should …

Integrate corporate development, business development, investing and intrapreneurship

Establish the right timelines to measure success and make it consistent with other corporate timelines

Create the right innovation KPIs and distinguish them from operating KPIs

Understand how to integrate the various innovation efforts with their existing businesses

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Corporations are starting to collaborate with VCs around their innovation initiatives

Become aware of nascent technologies and business models Tap into specific deal flows to identify innovative startups and

their teams in order to invest in them or acquire them Understand how to become more effective innovators by

managing businesses/ideas with o unknown paths to success, o poorly understood technologies, o unspecified business models o underdeveloped markets