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 !!