Why Most Corporate Innovation Fails and How to Scale Beyond Proof of Concept | Ep 277 | DevReady Podcast

·40 min·2 clips

Spiro argues innovation must execute outcomes, not just “running a workshop around ideas.”

1. DevReady Podcast episode 277 focuses on corporate innovation, open innovation, startups, and scale-up pathways in Australia. 2. Andrew hosts Spiro, who works with The Bakery, StartMate, mentoring programs, and corporate innovation efforts. 3. The episode asks how large organisations can move beyond “innovation theater” and turn ideas into business growth. 4. Spiro says he came to Australia from Lebanon around four years ago after not getting into the university he wanted back home. 5. He describes landing in Melbourne on 16 December 2021, then moving to Perth and continuing studies at Curtin University. 6. His career moved into management and technology consulting, including business analyst and product owner work on AI solutions and mobile solutions for corporates. 7. He says his first exposure to startup support came through Vici Ventures at Visagio, which connected startups, corporate leaders, universities, and researchers. 8. The Bakery is described as a joint venture between Visagio Australia and The Bakery Global, focused on helping large organisations innovate. 9. Spiro says the firm works on innovation strategy, open innovation programs, corporate venture capital, accelerator programs, incubators, and venture studios. 10. He frames open innovation as recognising that a company does not have all the best people in house and needs outside innovation. 11. He cites a former Procter & Gamble CEO saying there may be 200 people outside the four walls who are as good as, or better than, one of the 20 great engineers inside. 12. He argues that innovation is often mistaken for branding, but in mature markets it is used as a strategy for growth and market competition. 13. Andrew raises the problem of workshop-heavy corporate programs, and Spiro agrees that workshops do not count as innovation unless they lead to execution. 14. Spiro breaks innovation into Horizon 1, Horizon 2, and Horizon 3, with Horizon 1 covering core business improvements and Horizon 3 covering radical invention. 15. He says corporates are generally not set up for Horizon 3, which is why outside models and specialised teams matter. 16. He explains the venture client unit, where a corporate becomes the client of an established startup rather than buying the company outright. 17. He says this approach can fast-track procurement and avoid spending years on internal R&D, while also reducing risk by engaging startups with existing customers and product-market fit. 18. He describes the “proof of concept graveyard” as a common failure mode, where corporate pilots never scale into operations. 19. The conversation stays conversational and practical, with Andrew pressing for examples from both corporate and startup perspectives. 20. Listeners interested in corporate innovation, startup sales to enterprise, and Australian commercialisation gaps will get the most from this discussion. 21. People looking for technical product tutorials or a startup pitch episode will probably skip it.

As heard by us

Open innovation is framed as a practical operating model, not branding theatre.

The episode makes a strong case that corporate innovation is often treated as branding, and it is clearest when it recasts open innovation as a working method for large organizations.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you need a grounded case for why startups belong inside enterprise strategy, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from DevReady Podcast