Why Most Innovation Fails Inside Corporates and How to Fix It
Innovation is the lifeblood of every successful organization. Yet, in large companies, it often becomes a frustrating exercise in presentations, pilots, and politics. Teams launch ambitious programs, build innovation labs, and talk about transformation, but few of these initiatives ever make it to market. Why does this happen? Because many corporates confuse innovation theater with […]
The Art of the Pivot: What Start-Ups Teach Corporations About Adaptability
In the start-up world, pivoting isn’t a sign of failure; it’s a sign of learning.In large corporations, however, changing course often looks like indecision. Yet, in today’s volatile markets, adaptability isn’t optional; it’s survival. The lesson from the most resilient start-ups is simple: progress depends on feedback, not pride. The Mindset Shift: From Plans to […]
From PowerPoint to Prototype: Turning Corporate Ideas into Action
In large organizations, good ideas rarely die because they are bad. They die because they never leave the presentation deck. Endless rounds of approval, risk assessments, and strategic alignment meetings drain momentum before anything reaches a real customer. Meanwhile, start-ups with fewer resources move from concept to product in weeks. The difference is not creativity. […]
The Corporate Founder: How Big Companies Can Build Start-Ups Within
When people hear the word founder, they picture a hoodie-wearing entrepreneur in a garage, not a senior manager in a global corporation. But the truth is, many of the same principles that drive successful start-ups are exactly what large organizations need to stay relevant. The difference isn’t in size, it’s in mindset. In The Start-Up […]
The Start-Up Strategist
How Robert van Pappelendam Translates Start-Up Lessons into Corporate Growth and Leadership Agility Robert van Pappelendam spent three decades at the helm of Fortune 50 companies, leading global businesses through transformation, growth, and disruption. Later, as a founder, mentor, and author of The Start-Up Puzzle, he distilled those hard-won lessons into practical frameworks that help […]
The Entrepreneurial Compass
When I was going through many of the examples we pulled together for the book, a recurring theme emerges: entrepreneurship is as much about humility, observation, and adaptability as it is about technical skill, capital or innovative ideas. The reason why we use so many real live examples in our book is because these stories […]