Outsourcing Innovation - Ignite talk by Paul Jozefak, Founder of Liquid Labs

Hi,

Yes, the topic seems quite intriguing. In this world of cut-throat competition and raging patent wars in courts around the world, you would think, someone would be absolutely mad to outsource the innovation - the core of the growth for their company - altogether to another company. Don't be amazed, this is a reality, and this is where a company like "Liquid Labs" comes in picture, in his Ingite talk, Paul Jozefak, Founder of Liquid Labs explained how this model works.

*I do not own the copyright of this image, this is just for illustration.

Their website says, "We are a small team building and launching products for the Otto Group. We’ve made a deliberate choice to build Liquid Labs as an independent platform where experimentation is welcome." 

Innovation is the key to sustained growth, not just for the company but also for our civilization. And to harbour innovation we need financial backing, this is where venture capitalists come in picture. As Paul explained, the new motto for start-ups is "fail fast, fail often". If you are interested in startup ecology and you follow the startup scenario keenly across the globe, then you would find one similarity in the way many of the successful ones end up. They are acquired by one of the big fishes in the ocean, most of the successful digital startups often end up with one of the silicon valley companies. (this is exactly the point on which another Ignite talk by Ms. Julie Meyer of Ariadne Capital, London, will shed some light, stay tuned for that article) 

As much as this is in the growth plans of the big fishes, one of the most important reasons they need to acquire smaller companies, often startups, is because the level of autonomy in smaller companies is often greater than other environments. This level of autonomy results in a creative chaos, which most often results in a highly innovative technology and/or product. This is exactly what Innovation oriented companies like Liquid Labs provide to budding researchers. This level of autonomy which they can offer to researchers is the most desired by them, as Paul further explained. Researchers who work off campus for some other company and are free from bureaucratic burden provide far better results than their on-campus equals. 

Taking innovation off-campus solves one of the most crucial aspects in corporate dynamics, the hierarchical problems. Technical innovation thrives in the environments where researchers are partially shielded from the non-technical aspects of project. In the end, I'd definitely suggest to follow Liquid Labs on Facebook or visit their homepage.

Stay tuned for the next article, till then, Adios !!

Q&A with Dr. Arndt Pechstein

Hi,

As promised at the end of the previous article, I had a small Q&A session with Dr. Arndt Pechstein. Here is the short version of the same for you all,

0. A few words about your educational background? 

Arndt: I hold a Diploma in Biochemistry & Biotechnology and a PhD in Neuroscience from the Free University of Berlin. After that I did a Post-Doc in Neurobiochemistry (Karolinska Institute and FMP Berlin). I am also a Certified Biomimicry Specialist (Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, USA)

1. Your background is in Neuroscience / Biochemistry, what made you consider a startup in Biomimicry?

Arndt: I have several reasons for that, 

First, passion & impact. 

I always felt that basic research alone was not my passion. I wanted to to something more towards application and especially towards doing good. Having a real impact on people or the world was one of my main drivers. My motto is "Don't just be successful, be significant!" So my main drivers are: Find your passion, do something truly meaningful, inspire others.

Second, people. 

I wanted to work more with people. Science (especially wetlab work) while it is fun can still be lonesome at times. I am a social person and I enjoy meeting new people and networking. I love to be inspired by smart and diverse people that challenge my views and push the boundaries of thinking. Also, I was always very much attracted by science communication and teaching. That is something that is definitely underdeveloped in science.

Third, creativity, collaboration, multidisciplinarity. 

While propagated a lot in science these essential elements of progress and innovation are not sufficiently developed and lived in science. There is no true culture that creates an environment conducive to creativity. In contrary, looking at the pressurized publication system creativity is rather hindered. The magic happens if you let multi-disciplinary teams work together creatively and cross-disciplinarily. This requires the appropriate mind-set and space. Sterile hallways and neutral meeting rooms are not particularly suitable.

Forth, conditions within science

The conditions within the academic apparatus: impact factor is all that counts and dictate who gets positions and grants. As such too often sexy topics that are fashionable (and thus better funded) are becoming mainstream. Open-mindedness and creativity are hindered.

 2. What type of work does Biomimicry Germany do?

Arndt: The vision of biomimicry is to create a resilient, adaptive, and thriving economy inspired by nature’s designs, strategies, and systems. Biomimicry serves as a guiding framework for a holistic approach that transforms our society sustainably, integrating resilient strategies into our economy, products, and organizations. as such we focus on several aspects:

1. Education & Outreach: We train students, pupils, professionals and the public in biomimicry. We teach both the mindset behind and the methodology of biomimicry design thinking and sustainability integration. We also teamed up with museums, organizations and botanical gardens. Specifically, we will be holding a workshop series on "Bioinspiration" together with the Natural History Museum Berlin in October. We just won the "German Landmark Award" "Land der Ideen: ausgezeichneter Ort 2014/15" for one of our education projects: http://www.land-der-ideen.de/ausgezeichnete-orte/preistraeger/naturaum-innovative-techlabor-vom-land

2. Collaborative Spaces: We provide a platform (and space) to work collaboratively on biomimetic research and application projects. We teamed up with various organizations to facilitate exchange and multi-expertise.

3. Professional Nexus: We organize regular events to not only inform the public but to also specifically invite professionals from all fields and sectors to meet and network around biomimetic ideas thus forming a nexus and knowledge hub for creative exchange, inspiration, and collaboration.

4. European Biomimicry Alliance: We are co-founders of a European network of Biomimicry professionals working together trans-nationally.

5. Consulting: As freelance consultants, we also consult with clients to rethink the products and services of the future. As Biomimicry Germany is a non-profit organization, we separate this function. Yet, we use our expertise and leverage the network to create sustainable solutions inspired by natural systems.

3. What is your advice to people seeking a career in new-upcoming areas as a startup?

Arndt: Follow your passion! Starting a new idea is not an easy thing. You will have to work long hours (at least in the beginning), encounter obstacles and failures (from which you can grow and learn) and meet unexpected turns. If you truly enjoy what you are doing that helps you to find the intrinsic motivation to carry on. It's not a job (otherwise find a position somewhere else) - it is what you truly care about and love to do. It is part of your life. This attitude helps you to overcome hurdles and keeps you going on.

Motivation only comes from within. Don't seek external motivators (money, growth etc.). You may (and should) aim for these things obviously to build a sustainable business but don't be driven by those things. What counts is you intrinsic motivation and the conviction that you will succeed. 

Find out what you are good at and build on that. Paired with passion this is an almost irresistible combination and the formula for luck and success. What you are good at is what you are most likely to be successful in and it is obvious and convincing to others. That boosts your motivation and you are entering a virtuous (NOT vicious!) circle.


If you have any more questions for Arndt, you can contact him on his website, or Facebook Page.

And stay tuned for more articles and Q&A from Tech Open Air, Berlin 2014, until then auf Wiedersehen !!

Tech Under Open Air: Innovation Inspired by nature

Hi,

This is my opening article for this blog, and hence I have chosen one of the most interesting topics at the TOA'14. 

Most of us love nature, we love looking at calm, serene, green & peaceful nature. It helps us calm down and organize our thoughts better. Looking at the lush green forests is often the most calming experience. We all like observing nature, but some of us do that with the intention of understanding it better. We have all reached a peak in many of our daily needs, we now have better housing and delicious foods from around the world like never before. We all enjoy perks instant global communication on individual and professional level. But we are not yet better at some of the things that nature has been perfecting for millions of years, over thousands of generations. This gives nature a unique advantage over all us when it comes to efficient system. Biomimicry is a new and upcoming field, which learns from nature and incorporates some of the genius of natural design to solve very real - often industrial scale problems.

Biomimicry Germany is one such consulting company, which is keenly looking towards nature and take inspirations from it, in design and engineering developments. Dr. Prateep Beed and Dr. Arndt Pechstein, co-founders of Biomimicry Germany, which is situated in Berlin gave an ignite talk about the nature inspired design. Starting with the example of Shinkansen, the latest generation of bullet trains, takes inspiration from Kingfisher bird, which dives at very high velocities into that water and creates minimum splash. Kingfisher has developed a unique beak which disturbs the water at minimum possible level, so that it maximizes it's chances of catching a fish, it also makes sure that the bird doesn't lost a lot of energy when transitioning from air to water back to the air again.

Another such fascinating example, is that of spider web. Have you ever wondered how they are not destroyed by birds flying around the trees. I mean, we often walk through the spider webs without realizing that they are there, but birds seem to avoid them. After close investigations, scientists found out a material, that spider uses to coat the webs, which reflects light in UV range of the spectrum which birds can see, but we cannot. Now, this has helped us solve a problem of birds flying at glass walls which we increasingly use in the façade of our buildings. Researchers have mimicked this material and they use very fine threads which are then woven into the glass. These threads reflect UV light similar to spider webs and thus help avoid birds flying at the glass façades. 

If you are fascinated by such examples, then make sure to catch one of the talks by Biomimicry Germany by following them on their Facebook page. In the next week, we will come back with a short interview of the speakers, Dr. Prateep Beed and Dr. Arndt Pechstein, so keep watching this space for new and exciting content from TOA'14 Berlin. 

Until then, Cheers ! :)