Article by Misha de Sterke, Senior Partner Innoleaps

Apple spent an estimated $2.6 billion on developing the first iPhone — a financial outlay that has proved more than worthwhile in the years since. But the company has also had its fair share of missteps. The music-based social network it launched in 2010, Ping, came and went without much fanfare. Even subsequent iPhones have received mixed responses from consumers. There’s no getting around it: innovation involves risk. Some gambles pay off, and some don’t.

Nevertheless, forward-looking companies know that standing still is not an option. Industries spend billions every year searching…

Article by Misha de Sterke, Senior Partner Innoleaps

Currently, only 7 percent of companies are able to capture the benefits of speed and scale. These include some of the world’s best-known digitally native businesses — the likes of Apple and Amazon — but generally, businesses are faced with a challenge that they are finding difficult to overcome. They are crippled by the growth dilemma.

The growth dilemma sees most organizations unable to continue scaling their core business while also investing resources in disruptive, new opportunities — the kind of innovations that will open up new markets, even create entire industries…

Article by Misha de Sterke, Senior Partner Innoleaps

Only 1 of every 9 companies achieves sustainable and profitable growth for two simple reasons:

• They ignore the small opportunities that could be the big businesses of the future.
• Accounting metrics within the company typically direct resources to larger opportunities in known markets.

While it may seem logical to focus on the tried-and-true opportunities within your industry, this approach prevents your business from capitalizing on smaller opportunities that could help you grow. Change is constant in business, and in order to remain competitive, companies must be agile. These days, the future is…

Industry predictions are fraught with difficulties at the best of times; with a global pandemic in full swing, they become almost impossible. Nevertheless, in the FMCG space, there have been some noticeable trends developing, many with roots stretching back long before the spread of COVID-19. With many consumers re-evaluating their diets and lifestyles in light of the novel coronavirus, food and drink brands are exploring how innovation can grant them a competitive edge. At the same time, broader trends, like the rise of plant-based diets, are also being explored.

At Innoleaps, we have worked with a number of leading FMCG…