Venture-Enabled Innovation: How Behemoths and Startups Will Change the World

At the first annual ITA Chicago Tech Summit, a panel of corporate innovators, university leaders, and startup builders discussed how venture-enabled innovation will reshape industries. The key insight: the magic happens when large corporations and early-stage ventures learn to build together.

At Wednesday’s first annual ITA Chicago Tech Summit, Terry moderated a panel regarding how venture-enabled innovation will change the world with U of I Director, Research Park & Economic Development Laura Frerichs, VP at Shure Corporation Al Hershner, and Lead Integration Engineer at SwiftIQ David Purdy. The makeup of the panel is important to note because it allowed for a dynamic conversation from the viewpoint of a higher education research arm, an enterprise, an entrepreneur, and a venture collaborator, all of which have experienced the endless opportunity – and pain – that can be created when large and small organizations work together. The common theme that kept bubbling to the top was that enterprises and entrepreneurs speak different languages, face different challenges and want the same thing: growth. A few key takeaways for entrepreneurs stemming from the panel: “Don’t Be a Hammer Looking for a Nail” All members of the panel, particularly SwiftIQ, noted this common startup issue. Entrepreneurs create a product or service that they are personally, passionately devoted to. They know its purpose, the challenge it will solve, the difference it will make to the world. They may not, however, take a step back to consider if their product is the right hammer for the enterprise’s nail. For instance, large organizations have established processes, approval layers, defined R&D and purchasing plans and more. When a startup comes in with an idea that completely disrupts status quo and throws all of that away, it is incredibly intimidating to any enterprise organization. The resounding advice from the panel was alternatively to suggest a six-month pilot that both the enterprise and the entrepreneur can be comfortable with. It shows that both players are flexible and proves that the startup can solve several different types of problems. In a hub and spoke manner, their solution can be expanded from one region to nation-wide or one industry to new similar verticals

By Fred Hoch at TechNexus Venture Collaborative