When it’s about “ The Team “ and “ Leadership “ (with internal and external personnel) having the objective of meaningfully improving outcomes by innovating for impact, then CAIL can contribute as follows –
1. To compliment the competencies of people in enterprises and others in the innovation ecosystem by leveraging extensive CAIL experiences with – technology, business, entrepreneurship, strategy, etc. with strong collaboration / partnering and a focus on results to :
- better assess business opportunities / potential
- create and monetize value
- increase relevance and revenue
- be more sophisticated in recognizing and managing the risks associated with change / innovation
- improve decision making and outcomes based on CAIL experiences in enterprises and with startups, project scaling / pivoting / termination, extensive “ look ahead “ skills, strategic thinking, etc.
- accelerate – developing digital services, doing opportunity / situation analysis, evolving the enterprise culture / becoming a more entrepreneurial organization, setting new strategic direction, improving execution capabilities, effecting change, identifying and engaging with highly competent and motivated people, having everyone on the same page, extending enterprise capabilities, evolving the business model, learning fast, growing current markets, entering new markets, etc.
- encourage – more business innovation, recognizing achievements, and accountability for results
- empower Innovators / Change Agents to be knowledgeable about – valuation drivers, risk / reward, monetization scenarios, partnering opportunities, leadership development, improving “ look ahead ” capabilities, delivering a great User Experience, etc.
- to expand “ Internal “ insights with a Customer and/or External perspective with a sense of what’s important to Clients, identify new areas of opportunity, assess new solutions, being proactive in evolving the corporate culture, instilling discipline and utilizing metrics to improve the quality and timeliness of decision making, being action oriented, etc. – with informed entrepreneurial insights and innovative thinking to make good on opportunities / work through challenges
- contribute to identifying and managing risk with a new business / product
2. To improve the probability of success and reduce the risks associated with innovation, CAIL experiences with new initiatives in enterprises and from investing in many young technology companies include –
- In the financial community, making the market and expanding revenue streams with a new service having significant additional information to improve ROI for Clients as well as provide competitive advantage for Investment Advisors and Traders
- Expanding services with new digital capabilities in the university environment to improve academic, administrative, and Alumni programs as well as increase relevance and revenue
- Enable enterprises deliver new services by quickly integrating and aggregating information – at the desktop and in mobile
- Early stage investor and Advisor to many young technology ventures has provided very valuable experiences on the many things needed to realize success (ie: deliver value, create / expand a market, realize significant sales growth, achieve meaningful market share, have a 10 X exit, etc. )
+ the numerous issues that occur “ with the new ” …. that results in many innovation failures
Venture investment examples include –
First outside investor and BOD Chairman of Eloqua, a lead generation company – that was acquired by Oracle for $1B
– gained valuable experiences on managing a fast moving company, making a new market, corporate planning, G-T-M strategy, funding, pivoting, metrics, etc.
Early investor in Destiny Solutions Inc., a software company improving outcomes for University Continuing Education Programs – that was acquired by a PE Company for 10 X ROI
– collaborated with the CEO / Founder and the main external investor on corporate and business development, strategy, changing the business model, etc. - Revised the CAIL Venture Investing Model to improve ROI while reducing the risk and the work to identify the better opportunities – with a high emphasis on quality people / teams who learn quickly, are agile, can create synergies, are opportunistic, find a way to deliver, are high achievers, work well with others, have integrity / values, etc.
3. The opportunity for organizations to fast track developing the entrepreneurial mindset and innovating for impact by leveraging extensive CAIL knowledge of technology, many industries, innovation, enterprise environments, and from venture investing to :
- build on CAIL “ Lessons Learned “ from many successes and failures
- be better positioned to identify and make good on opportunities
- be more knowledgeable and sophisticated in structuring innovation projects / initiatives
- avoid getting a very expensive education
- benefit from CAIL experiences with the innovation ecosystem and venture funding syndicates
- benefit from CAIL participation in many innovation, venture, technology and entrepreneur events
- better collaborate with highly competent people to meaningfully improve business outcomes
- improve the timeliness and quality of decision making
An example of CAIL expertise in enterprise environments in IT (software development) and business development as well as being an entrepreneur is at – www.linkedin.com/in/ron-thompson-b14862/
To make business innovation more rewarding, with much learned from many innovation initiatives
(especially failed projects), the focus now is to improve outcomes by better managing risk
– by ensuring people know what they are doing.
With this, there is a high onus on Innovators / Founders proving they have what it takes / they can perform. This is important to get past the issue of “people not knowing what they don’t know – and in many cases not wanting to know”!!
This strategy is also important to improve innovation and venture investing efficiencies and productivity – so more time and resources are allocated to initiatives having high potential – especially on people serious about success.