high alpha innovation presents:

The conference on building lasting innovation

Bringing together

venture studios

innovation leaders

corporate partners

builders

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Join us virtually at Alloy

September 30 – October 1, 2020

Register now

Venture Studios: 
The new model for corporate innovation

Alloy is the conference on radical new approaches to innovation and implementing world-changing ideas using the venture studio model. Last year's event was a huge success as we brought together more than 200 corporate innovation leaders, and this year promises to be even bigger.

Join us starting September 30 for a two-day virtual event featuring corporate innovation leaders from around the world. Learn how to move beyond "innovation theater" by learning how to create tangible, lasting innovation programs.

What to expect

01

Learn essential elements of venture studio success from corporate innovation leaders

02

Discover new ways of creating an idea pipeline, sourcing talent, and structuring a venture studio

03

Hear tales of success and struggle when embracing chaos in the pursuit of radical, innovative ideas

04

Get tangible tactics for moving beyond innovation theater

05

Interact with other innovation thought leaders during daily Innovation Circles

Agenda

Wednesday
September 30th

12:30pm ET // 9:30am PT

Opening remarks

Speaker
Elliott Parker
High Alpha Innovation

12:35pm

Keynote: "Innovating for Resilience"

Today's reality is that most companies are moving towards decentralization. Elliott Parker (CEO, High Alpha Innovation) will share about how the major advances in technology over the past few decades has created a shift towards decentralization. This shift has accelerated during the pandemic, with a major spike in remote work and greater reliance on virtual collaboration. According to Elliott, the most cost-effective and efficient steps towards innovation are now happening "on the fringes" within an organization, truly at the individual or team level, mimicking how nature innovates.

Speaker
TwitterWebsite
Elliott Parker
High Alpha Innovation

Elliott Parker is CEO of High Alpha Innovation, the Indianapolis-based corporate venture studio which partners with organizations to create tangible innovation through the launch of new ventures. Prior to High Alpha Innovation, Elliott led business design at High Alpha, the Indianapolis-based venture studio; he has also worked in strategy consulting at Innosight, in corporate venturing, and as an entrepreneur to bring new ideas to market. Originally from California, Elliott has a deep entrepreneurial background as a founder, advisor, and investor. He earned a B.S. in Finance from BYU and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he was a Venture Fellow.

1:05pm

Fireside chat: "Venture studio essentials"

High Alpha, who pioneered the venture studio model, will speak about the definition of what makes a venture studio, the elements for success, and success stories and learnings from the last 5 years.

Speaker
Website
Kristian Andersen
High Alpha

Kristian is currently Managing Partner of High Alpha, a leading venture studio that launches, scales and invests in enterprise cloud companies.

Moderator
Elliott Parker
High Alpha Innovation

1:45pm

Panel: "Building a pipeline of ideas in venture studios"

A steady flow of new ideas are the lifeblood of a venture studio. Corporate venture studio leaders will unpack how they generate and evaluate ideas, source ideas from internal employees, and manage their idea pipelines.

Speakers
LinkedIn
Ayana Johnson
Point A

Ayana has taken 5 Global CPG businesses into New Categories with her expertise in Innovation Management. She’s worked for 3 start-ups including Point A.

Being from NJ, she naturally started her career in Pharmaceuticals spending her summers interning at Merck & Co. While obtaining her BS in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T. she also studied Design at Parson’s, due to her passion for visual art & Design thinking. She “grew up” professionally in CPG at P&G while continuing studies in Industrial Design & Open Innovation to enrich her New Product Developments, speaking engagements, and patents. Much of the last decade’s been in various Koch Industries companies advocating for Creative Destruction, building teams, and recruiting & developing talent to bring it! At home she enjoys all that entails her & her husband caring for 4 teen-aged boys and a “Boxer Pitt”.

Jesse Morris
Human Ventures
Stevi Petrelli
Goldman Sachs

Stevi Petrelli is a Vice President in Goldman Sachs' Firmwide Strategy Group, where she focuses on GS Accelerate, the firm's internal innovation engine that identifies, invests in, and incubates new businesses. Stevi rejoined the firm in 2018, having previously spent time in Goldman's Principal Strategic Investments and Cross Asset Sales groups. Prior to rejoining, Stevi was a Vice President at Point72 Ventures, where she focused on early-stage investments in the financial technology and enterprise software spaces.

Website
Lisa Rythen-Larsson
PARC

Director of PARC Refinery. I lead a team of designers, UX researchers, business strategists and analysts that are focused on accelerating and launching new businesses that leverage PARC's and Xerox's cutting-edge technologies.

Moderator
TwitterWebsite
Robyn Bolton
MileZero

Robyn Bolton is the Founder and Chief Navigator of MileZero where she works with billion-dollar companies to use innovation to create meaningful new revenue streams and get real results. Previously she was a Partner at Innosight, the innovation strategy consulting firm founded by Clayton Christensen, a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and a Brand Manager at P&G where she led the launches of Swiffer and Swiffer WetJet.

1:45pm

Panel: "Innovating outside the corporation"

Innovation is challenging whether you're inside a corporation or in a standalone studio. Ever wonder what the "other side" looks like? This panel of leaders has been involved in corporate, entrepreneurial and studio endeavors, and will share what they learned about the pace of innovation, entrepreneurial teams, and scaling new ideas on the outside of corporations.

Speakers
Russell McLemore
Verify Venture Studio

Russell McLemore utilizes 20+ years of corporate innovation, strategy, and corporate finance experience to help large companies identify and pursue new growth opportunities. As a consultant, investor, and corporate leader, Russell has experience employing a variety of models including M&A, equity investments, accelerator programs, and most recently, venture studios, to execute corporate growth agendas.

Sanjiv Parikh
Avanta Ventures

Sanjiv is Managing Partner of Avanta Ventures, an affiliate of CSAA Insurance Group. Sanjiv has been a corporate venture capitalist and entrepreneur for over 30 years driving innovation and growth.

Amish Parashar
Explorers' Lab

Amish is CEO of Explorers' Lab, a Silicon Valley company venturing into deep technologies that disrupt and create entire industries. He was previously Director of Innovation at a R&D Lab and a founder of a global corporate venture capital firm.

TwitterWebsite
Ben Yoskovitz
Highline Beta

Founding Partner at Highline Beta. Entrepreneur and angel investor. Co-author of Lean Analytics.

Moderator
TwitterWebsite
Mike Joslin
High Alpha Innovation

Mike is a Director at High Alpha Innovation. Prior to High Alpha Innovation, Mike built and managed Marriott's corporate venturing program while incubating new internal ventures such as Homes & Villas by Marriott International, supported portfolio companies at a large venture capital fund of funds and later stage investor, spun out tech-enabled startups at a startup studio, and consulted large corporations on growth strategy, innovation capabilities, and new venture development. Mike holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and began his career at Best Buy Co in marketing and new product development.

2:30pm

Innovation Circles

We're taking a new approach to networking, enabling participants to meet in small groups focused on specific innovation topics, in order to forge new cross-industry connections.

3:00pm

Panel: "University venture studios"

The venture studio model has been adopted by universities, as they seek to commercialize professor's research, launch students' new companies, and develop EdTech software to improve their own educational model. University venture studio leaders will unpack how they've structured their studios, generate and vet their idea pipeline, and rapidly commercialize new startups.

Speaker
Website
Taylor Bench
Summit Venture Studios

Taylor is passionate about his family, woodworking and creating new products, companies and business models. With and engineering education, experience in fund and portfolio management, investment banking and University technology commercialization Taylor has been able to bring his experience to many new and impactful companies.

Matt Gardner
University of Notre Dame
Greg Keenan
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
Website
Jason Levin
Western Governors University

Jason was appointed executive director of WGU Labs based on his history of bold actions. He works to increase post-secondary student success utilizing research-based strategies, data analytics, and an innovative approach to online education. Jason has more than 15 years of experience in education, leading teams of data scientists, researchers, and software engineers.

Moderator
Kostas Grigoriou
High Alpha Innovation

Director at High Alpha Innovation building startups with partners. Led digital transformations of Fortune 500 at McKinsey & Co. Co-founded startup incubators/accelerators in S.Florida while a professor at FIU's business school. Co-founded Ergon Foods - artisanal food CPG, retail, and hospitality. PhD in Strategy, Innovation, Entrepreneurship from Georgia Tech - go Jackets!

3:00pm

Panel: "Global venture studios"

The venture studio model has proliferated globally, with over 300 studios worldwide. In this panel, venture studio leaders from around the globe discuss the unique opportunities and challenges of launching a studio internationally, and the opportunity for corporations to innovate globally.

Speaker
TwitterWebsite
Wenyi Cai
Polymath
Bogotá, Colombia and Mexico City, Mexico

Graduated Cum Laude from Harvard College, Wenyi Cai is the Founder & CEO of Polymath Ventures, a company builder that serve the underserved middle and lower-middle class of Latin America. Prior to founding Polymath she helped build a quantitative trading hedge fund, was a published researcher in applied physics, worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company and was the COO of Milo.com in Silicon Valley, a consumer internet startup that sold to eBay in 2010. Since 2012 Wenyi has been focused on the consolidation of Polymath and the foundation of 9 ventures that have raised over 30M USD.

Alper Celen
Enhance Ventures
Dubai, UAE
Michael van Lier
Builders
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Charles Perrard
Sparkling Partners
Paris, France

Charles is a seasoned professional in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy. He is CEO and co-founder of the French start-up studio Sparkling Partners. Since its creation, Sparkling Partners has launched more than 20 companies. Previously, Charles had multiple experiences in company creation and management consulting, especially as a Principal at A.T. Kearney where he led numerous international engagements in innovation and growth strategies.

Moderator
Nick Zasowski
Global Startup Studio Network

Nick Zasowski is the Director of GSSN which is a highly-curated community of the world's leading startup studios, venture studios, company builders and venture builders. GSSN increases studio's access to operational best practices, human and financial capital.

3:45pm

Panel: "Structuring a corporate venture studio"

Corporate venture studio leaders will discuss how they structured their venture studios, including aligning with corporate strategy, gaining leadership buy-in, internal structure, incentives, and developing talent pipelines.

Speaker
Twitter
Kelly LaPierre
American Family Insurance

Kelly LaPierre is currently Head of Network at American Family Insurance leading their corporate startup studio called GoHackScale. Additionally Kelly is Partner and Co-founder of Venture Catalysts, a non-profit with the mission of building an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Detroit through strategic large scale entrepreneurship events and targeted growth programs. Previously Kelly founded the Desai Accelerator, an intensive program of funding, mentorship, and resources to help early stage ventures scale and succeed.

TwitterWebsite
Matthieu Soulé
BNP Paribas C.Lab Americas

Matthieu Soulé is the head of the innovation lab of BNP Paribas in the Silicon Valley. Matthieu has spent over a decade working between the USA and Europe for BNP Paribas. He advises global clients, who are leaders in mobility, luxury, energy and retail sectors on their digital transformation and innovation strategy.

Dai Watanabe
Delight Ventures

Dai Watanabe is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Tokyo-based Delight Ventures, an early-stage VC fund and a 'venture builder' where we incubate new businesses and spin them out as startup companies. Delight Ventures takes advantage of the asset of DeNA, a Japanese tech conglomerate whose activity ranges from games to pro baseball. Before founding Delight Ventures, Dai was the San Francisco-based VP of Strategy and Corporate Development at DeNA. He also served as President of DeNA Global and DeNA Beijing, leading the company's global expansion strategy and execution since 2005.

Nick Wichert
Northwestern Mutual

Nick is the Sr. Director of the Northwestern Mutual Venture Studio. Nick has been with Northwestern Mutual in a variety of leadership roles and departments since 2015. Prior to joining the company, Nick co-founded and ran an early-stage seed accelerator for U.S. Military Veterans called Victory Spark. Prior to that, he co-founded two tech startups, and spent time in sales and marketing for industrial supply and retail companies.

Moderator
Jen Gaze
High Alpha Innovation

Jen is a Director at High Alpha Innovation, where she partners with the world's leading organizations to launch new ventures and build venture studios. Prior to High Alpha, she led corporate innovation teams at Wilson Sonsini and Mercedes-Benz and advised leading corporations on issues of strategy and growth at Innosight, a consulting firm founded by Clay Christensen. She also serves as an advisor to startups with a focus on female-led ventures.  Jen earned an honors BA from Boston College in Communications, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

4:30pm

Fireside chat: "Launching a venture studio"

Based in LA, Share Ventures launched in July 2020, backed by some of the most prominent VCs in America -- Upfront Ventures, Alpha Edison, and True Ventures. Their founder shares his perspective on reimagining the company creation process and building a more inclusive approach to entrepreneurship.

Speaker
Hamet Watt
Share Ventures
Moderator
TwitterWebsite
Scott Dorsey
High Alpha

Scott is currently Managing Partner of High Alpha, a leading venture studio that launches, scales and invests in enterprise cloud companies. Prior to High Alpha, Scott co-founded ExactTarget and led the company as CEO and Chairman from start-up to global marketing software leader.

Scott serves on a number of non-profit boards as well as several High Alpha portfolio companies. Scott is a business school graduate of Indiana University and earned an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

5:00pm

Wrap up

Speaker
Elliott Parker
High Alpha Innovation

Thursday
‍October 1st

12:30pm ET // 9:30am PT

Opening remarks

Speaker
Elliott Parker
High Alpha Innovation

12:35pm

Fireside chat: "How I started Comedy Central and lost my sense of humor"

Art Bell launched Comedy Central and Court.TV from within Viacom and HBO, which ultimately grew to be incredibly successful new lines of business. In his recent book, "Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Central and Lost My Sense of Humor", Art shares his triumphs and tribulations of launching a new company from within a large corporation.

Speaker
Website
Art Bell
Writer

Art Bell is a former media executive known for creating, building, and managing successful cable television channels. While working at HBO he pitched the idea of a 24-hour comedy network which he helped develop. He went on to hold senior executive positions in both programming and marketing at Comedy Central. Art later became President of Court TV, where he was a guiding force behind one of the most successful brand evolutions in cable television. Art currently resides in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Deer Valley, Utah and spends his time writing, playing piano, and drumming.

Moderator
Shilpa Bisaria
WarnerMedia

Shilpa Bisaria is VP of Growth Strategy and Operations within WarnerMedia’s Commercial group. Within this leadership position, Shilpa and her team collaborate with News, Sports and Entertainment verticals to identify and execute on new business models for the company. Shilpa also oversees the strategy and operations of Launchpad, WarerMedia’s homegrown “startup within a big company” focused on branded content distribution. Before WarnerMedia, Shilpa was with leading innovation and strategy consulting firm Innosight, where she led engagements on growth strategy and business model innovation for clients in media, healthcare, CPG, retail, apparel and telecommunications.

1:20pm

Fireside chat: "The chaordic organization"

At VISA, Dee Hock built a company that relied on the autonomy and ingenuity of each member branch to continuously evolve to market needs. In this fireside chat, he will share the incentives and organizational design that made VISA one of the most innovative and resilient companies in the world.

Speaker
TwitterWebsite
Dee Hock
VISA

Adviser, speaker, and writer working to develop and bring into new Chaordic concepts of societal organization that more equitably distribute power and wealth and are more in harmony with the human spirit and biosphere.

Moderator
TwitterWebsite
John Garry
High Alpha Innovation

John researches problem spaces at High Alpha Innovation, and designs business solutions alongside our corporate partners. Prior to joining HAI, he worked as an investor in venture capital at High Alpha and in institutional allocation at the University of Notre Dame.

2:30pm

Innovation Circles

We're taking a new approach to networking, enabling participants to meet in small groups focused on specific innovation topics, in order to forge new cross-industry connections.

3:00pm

Keynote: "Innovating from within the corporate model"

Sam Bernards unlocked Walmart's entry into the small-format store, a feat that multiple innovation groups failed at over a decade. This experience shaped his perspectives on innovation, which he implemented as he launched Purple, the fastest-growing unicorn of its time, which scaled from 0 to IPO in 18 months.

Speaker
Sam Bernards
Purple

Former CEO of Purple, growing it from early stage to a $1.1B company within 18 months and took it public (ticker: PRPL). Prior to Purple, Sam spun up over a dozen startups, including an early-stage venture capital firm, Peak Ventures; and had deep corporate experience, as well, driving a $79B retail growth strategy for Walmart as the Sr. Director of Innovation and Development. Sam now runs his own consumer product-oriented investment firm, which has a growing portfolio of brands and the technology to power their retail growth.

3:30pm

Panel: "Corporate + Venture Studio success stories"

We believe that the future of innovation is through the creation of multiple startups that exist in adjacencies around a corporation, incentivized to rapidly learn and scale. Hear how venture studios have partnered with some of the world's leading organizations to launch successful startups.

Speaker
TwitterWebsite
Robin Fleming
ANVL

Robin Fleming, CEO & Co-Founder of Anvl has more than 34 years of experience in software and technology leadership roles for brands such as Match.com, Teradata and Angie’s List. Robin’s career has been devoted to building and delivering innovative software solutions. She is now applying her technology expertise to workplace innovation for the millions of American workers who make up the “deskless” workforce and work in hazardous conditions every day. Anvl’s platform provides one solution for safety, quality and operational processes eliminating paperwork and ad hoc methods in favor of a guided digital experience. Anvl helps to improve efficiency and communication, engaging workers, and supporting better decisions.

LinkedIn
Alfredo Banos
Cummins

Alfredo Banos is a Transformational Leader with 24 years of international, industrial and corporate entrepreneurial experience. Alfredo holds a BA from Cal Poly Pomona and a MSEM from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

T.A. McCann
Pioneer Square Labs
Sheila Stafford
TeamSense

Sheila is the CEO of TeamSense. Prior to Co-founding TeamSense, Sheila most recently led the Industrial Imaging team at Fluke Corporation. During her tenure at Fluke she oversaw the creation and expansion of the acoustic imaging category. Prior to Fluke, Sheila spent nearly a decade at Whirlpool Corporation in a variety of leadership roles across innovation, product development, and supply chain. Sheila thrives on creating meaningful products and solutions that make a positive change in the worlds of the people who use them.

Moderator
TwitterWebsite
Ryan Larcom
High Alpha Innovation

Ryan loves turning bold ideas into reality. As a Director at High Alpha Innovation, Ryan is focused on partnering with the world’s leading organizations to help them innovate through startup creation. 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.

4:15pm

Closing remarks

Speaker
Elliott Parker
High Alpha Innovation

4:20pm

Topical discussions and networking

Debrief with other participants on your favorite topic from today's event or start a conversation of your own!

5:00pm

End of programming

Check back soon for full speaker line up and detailed agenda.

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