In this episode we are joined by Jenny Fielding Managing Director at Techstars, a global venture capital fund for innovative tech startups. Jenny has extensive experience in both the startup and corporate worlds and a strong passion for “marrying startups with corporates” to create innovation and cultural shifts.
In this episode we cover:
- Jenny’s extraordinary success scaling and exiting her first startup Switch-Mobile in three years
- How she moved a legacy organisation like BBC into the new digital era and founded BBC Labs, the UK’s first corporate incubator.
- Why infusing corporate and startup culture is so powerful and how she continues to do it at Techstars with the likes of GE, Bosch, Verizon, SAP and PWC.
What we learned:
- Why listening to those from all levels of the organisation is so important in effectively innovating.The virtue of listening is also explored by Robert Cialdini and Kevin Kelly.
- How potent and powerful the idea of bringing people together from different worlds can be and how it can be done effectively.
- How the startup scene has been hugely idealised and why it’s important to talk openly about the struggles founders face and how it differs from the corporate world.