digital ecosystems

Innovation Casino book summary

In December 2020, I published Innovation Casino, a book about how medium-sized and large enterprises can use corporate venture capital (CVC) to grow their digital ecosystems. Here, you can read a chapter-by-chapter summary.

Innovation Casino, a book about innovation funding

What’s in it for me? Beat the odds with CVC for digital ecosystems.

The book, Innovation Casino, uses its self-titled metaphor to describe the odds of generating financial returns from innovation so you can beat them. For decades, vertically integrated firms have made high-stakes bets on innovation. However, in the innovation casino, it is the players who bet big. Players think they will beat the odds, but few do. By taking a fresh look at your odds, you can retool your approach to win more frequently just as the house does in a casino.

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Interview highlights from ‘How your digital ecosystem can increase corporate innovation success by 10X’

Diagram showing a vertically integrated company with core and non-core offerings under one roof going to a digital ecosystem where the company focuses on its core assets and third parties build everything else.
Diagram showing a vertically integrated company with core and non-core offerings under one roof going to a digital ecosystem where the company focuses on its core assets and third parties build everything else. A better way to do corporate venture capital.

In August, I was fortunate to be interviewed by Omar Valdez-de-Leon of Latitude 55° Consulting in Copenhagen about a better way to do corporate venture capital by aligning with corporate innovation strategy and digital ecosystem goals. Omar is a known practitioner of digital transformation, having advised companies such as Ericsson, CGI, Honeywell, Cemex, Bosch, Vodaffone, Bell Canada, and more. He is an authority on digital ecosystems, authoring papers about how to develop digital ecosystems, organizing for digital, and the Digital Maturity Model.

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What is an Ecosystem Innovation Fund (EIF)?

Ecosystem innovation funds replace non-core innovation to help internal teams focus.

An ecosystem innovation fund, or “EIF,” is a seed fund for startups. EIFs are a hybrid of corporate venture capital and the US government’s Small Business Innovation Research grant program, or “SBIR.” EIFs combine the best from both models to create a new vehicle for large companies to invest in innovation in their digital ecosystems.

Ecosystem innovation funds replace non-core innovation to help internal teams focus.
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