Happy halfway-through-January!

It's the perfect time to declutter our resolutions – keeping the groundbreaking ideas, and tossing out the 'learn to speak fluent Elvish by February' whims.

Welcome to the second edition of our Newsletter!

Innovation: we all want to do something with it, but how to tame the beast?

Here, we’ll capture the essentials of innovation management through the lens of collaborations, intellectual property, commercial strategy, sustainability, and impact.

?? December 2023 Newsletter Highlights ??

In our last newsletter, we covered:

• Why open innovation?
• When is a partner the right partner?

Many of you had insightful questions. Well, guess what? We're diving deeper! ?? Scroll down to discover our experience and some lessons we've learned.

?? In this edition, we're exploring:

• What to consider before you start a collaboration?
• How to navigate the twists and turns while co-innovating in a value chain?

Plus, we've got some cool examples that recently caught our eye.

What to consider before you start a collaboration?

While having a competitive advantage is essential in business, beginning a collaboration with a competitive mindset is counterproductive. To create a proposition where all parties involved draw value requires that you embrace a mindset for reaping collaborative advantage. This mindset is dynamic - your collaborative journey will encompass distinct phases:?

1. The Preparation phase, where you discuss and negotiate the collaboration;?
2. The Collaboration phase, where the actual work is done - you create something; and finally,?
3. The Exploitation phase, aiming for a sound return on investment.?

Each phase demands specific focus and strategies.?

Here’s a high-level checklist for what you may discuss with your collaborators:

• First things first: ‘Start with the end in mind’! How are the collaborators going to the market and what is the impact you want to make?
• Define the desired results and way of working per phase. People frequently focus on the collaboration phase, neglecting the importance of the exploitation phase. Early discussions about market rights are essential. Success hinges not just on creating value but also on effectively distributing and capturing it for financial returns. On the flip side, if you emphasise the exploitation phase but neglect the collaboration phase, you risk missing out on the full potential of your partnerships. Keep in mind that collaborative innovation is as much about social dynamics as it is about technical expertise.
• What is your collaboration context??Assume that you are a technology company: where are you in the technology life cycle and how does it affect the collaboration? What is your current and future business model? Will you and your collaborators become competitors in the future? What are the characteristics of your industry, your organisation and that of the collaborators? Understanding your organisational cultures, particularly in decision-making, innovation approach, and speed, is crucial. Do decisions require several meetings and six people signing a document, or are they made swiftly by one individual? Knowing how your collaborators operate, especially if their culture differs from yours, can help smooth out the small but common tensions in collaborative environments.

After addressing these questions, it's essential to determine how complementary you and your partner are. Ask yourself: can we succeed independently, or are we interdependent? Does your partner offer skills, expertise, or market access that you lack? Use the answers to navigate your relationship.

Here's a short clip on aligning organizational cultures. Discover the key to collaborative success with Mirjam's insights from the 2022 Corporate Venturing Summit in Rotterdam – find the full talk here.

What to consider while co-innovating in a value chain or ecosystem?

In the ever-changing landscape of co-innovation within a value chain or ecosystem, it's vital to periodically evaluate your value chain and ecosystem, asking:?

• Which partners will be key in the next phase??
• Is the industrialization of your product for mass production a priority??
• If your current collaborator lacks the necessary resources or capabilities, who else might you need?
• Are there external factors that will trigger changes in your value chain or ecosystem?

For example, in terms of sustainability, some organisations wait until a customer mandates sustainability in operations. They then scurry to apply eco-design to their products. Be aware of changes in regulations and sustainability trends. Staying informed and adaptable isn't just about meeting customer demands; it's about maintaining a competitive edge by being proactive. This is never done alone. Your value chain or ecosystem needs to be in the same direction and speed as you. Check if you are allowing yourself and your collaborators to take the time to prepare for the future - whether it is for tomorrow or the days after it. As you already know, successful organisations balance daily operations with strategic planning for the future.?

Here are two intriguing examples we came across recently:

Working the eco-system: Ikea & Marktplaats?

Ikea partnered with Marktplaats, a Dutch second-hand furniture site, to promote reuse,? and sustainability by advertising used furniture on Black Friday, challenging the traditional consumption model. This approach is a great example of how a company can extend its ecosystem beyond the usual parameters.

Easily translatable post on this topic on Linkedin

Value chain innovation: Unilever

Unilever saved 20-30% of energy in their ice cream cold chain by slightly increasing storage temperatures. They’ve shared twelve related patents with their competitors by granting a free, non-exclusive licence, aiming to reduce industry-wise energy use. This move could potentially set a precedent for standard practices in energy conservation across various industries.

What are your thoughts on the effectiveness of such approaches?        

Revisiting the Needs & Contributions Matrix

Some of you asked us: What if the partner refuses? What if the partner does not want to be transparent? What if the partner doesn’t know? What if we don’t know?

We dug into old times working with this tool to share some of our experience with you. We’ve spent between 2 hours to 10 minutes with teams filling this table. Here are some scenarios we’ve dealt with:

• We think we know what the potential collaborator wants - But there is a complete 180 when you discuss the matrix with them. The good thing is that you learn more about each other - enough to recalibrate.
• We are confronted with some harsh truths - there is no objective need for collaboration, the needs of a collaborator are not met, the contribution from us or the collaborator is less (or sometimes much more) than what we perceived, or the collaboration is great but there is no real value for the end-user.??
• A collaborator doesn’t want to have this discussion - Red Flag! But don’t fret, if they need help, as an ideal partner, you can help them on the journey - unless it is a red flag because of other reasons.?
• Collaborators are overwhelmed with these questions - so they take time, slowing down your process. Sometimes, it was because we did not have the right people around the table to answer the big questions or paint the bigger picture. So we needed other people around the table for success.
• In the best case, we have an open discussion which eases the negotiation process on both sides and the contract turnaround time is short. These best cases are not like unicorn sightings. Surprisingly, they occur more frequently than you might think.

This matrix is like a compass. Use it to orient on:??

• What is the collaboration/partnership about?
• What do collaborators/partners know about each other??
• Where are we aligned and where are we not?

Ultimately, answer the question where are we in the collaboration? Are we complementary and is there a fit? Repeat it periodically through the different phases to check the health of your collaboration.

Let's keep the wheel of innovation turning – looking forward to sharing more in our next newsletter.

What’s cooking on our side?

?? We crafted an innovative, easy-to-use visual non-disclosure agreement for a high-tech innovation lab, ready to make waves in their global interactions.?

?? Mirjam will be at the 'From Innovation to Impact: Intellectual Property in National Growth Fund (Nationaal Groeifonds) projects' event on Feb 14, 2024, at the RVO - Netherlands Entrepreneurship Agency in The Hague. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights from Patent Center Netherlands experts and participate in an interactive Q&A session.

?? Supporting fast-growing high-tech scale-ups and mid-sized companies with IP strategy and complex negotiations in their rapidly evolving ecosystems, where time-to-market and collaboration are essential.

?? In collaboration with an innovation agency, we're developing a streamlined, visually engaging procurement agreement to help them acquire cutting-edge products and services for their clients.

?? We're also facilitating strategy workshops for:

• A foundation, guiding them in establishing policies for collaboration, innovation, and intellectual property management.
• A start-up accelerator, focusing on intellectual property management strategies.

?? Stay tuned! We're gearing up to announce a not-to-be-missed, absolutely free digital webinar on collaboration, innovation, and intellectual property. Watch this space for more details! ??

Ready to level up? Our innovation management consulting is all about results. Let's cut through the noise and build a strategy - for innovation, collaboration, or intellectual property - that actually works for your business. Efficiency, creativity, and success – that's the game plan. Let's chat and make innovation work for you. Your next move starts here. Get in touch with Mirjam Ros and Deepika Jeyakodi on Linkedin!?

Our services: Innovation, collaboration, intellectual property - workshops, consulting, negotiation support, contract simplification and visualization.?

Why The Innovation Matrix? Learn more about our story and work here.