On this episode of Behind the Product, Ryan Larcom of High Alpha Innovation joins us to discuss innovation through startup creation. After beginning his career in industrial and automotive product development, Ryan became frustrated with the lack of customer voice in the design process. So, he moved into the tech world with a focus on building products people love.
Ryan believes that one of the best ways for large corporations to innovate is through partnering with, or, better yet, building startups because of the learning opportunities they afford. Ryan shares how High Alpha Innovation helps established organizations do just that – create startups. They don’t have a secret formula for this complex process. Instead, they have a high-level roadmap they adapt to the contexts of their customers, a toolbox to pull from, and an always-learning mindset.
We dive into the lessons Ryan has learned from years of building startups. Ryan explains how to avoid “innovation theater,” and instead create real value. We discuss what keeps large corporations from innovating, the importance of identifying a startup “sweet spot” as a large corporation, startup staffing strategy, and measuring success based on learning milestones.
We wrap up our conversation with Ryan’s bullish perspective on the Indy tech scene, overlooked opportunities in the Midwest, and how the pandemic has shifted our perspective on launching and running businesses.
Ryan loves turning bold ideas into reality. As a Director at High Alpha Innovation, Ryan is focused on scaling operations at High Alpha Innovation and partnering with the world’s leading organizations to help them innovate through startup creation. Ryan’s superpower is complexity-busting – guiding leaders to make sense of business and industry complexities in order to confidently execute. A designer by nature, Ryan is passionate about shaping the future of business through new startup creation. His portfolio of work has intertwined strategy, product design and innovation within Fortune 500 companies, venture capital and startups. The common thread of Ryan’s career has been a desire to make the world a better place through thoughtfully designed business models, products and experiences.
Chris has been a thought leader and initiator of new ideas and continuous improvement at SEP since 1997. His experience comes from building products with many clients in a variety of industries, including aerospace, medical, healthcare, and finance. As SEP’s Director of Innovation, Chris leverages many community ideas to help SEP engineers and clients deliver better products.
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