SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Create the ecosystem so winning ideas and teams can emerge
Find out the best level
of innovation
Manage your explore
and exploit portfolios
Reduce innovation risk
and uncertainty
An innovation process to help companies unlock new growth
Even great companies struggle to create new growth initiatives systematically.
Research shows that while 84% of executives think innovation is key to their growth strategy, only 6% of those executives are satisfied with their organization’s innovation performance. 7 out of 10 new products and services fail to deliver on expectations.
You need to create a transparent system where innovators know where to go and what to do, and they will come. Be aware that you already have people with the innovation virus in your company! If you create the right ecosystem, they will come and succeed! The best way to create big winners in innovation is to start with many small bets. Discover promising ideas by investing a little across many small teams, validate 30% to 50% of discovered ideas and accelerate only 30% to 50% of validated ones.
What if you had a step-by-step guide on how to design an execute innovation programs that deliver results?
At Venture Factory, we help ambitious founders and organizations establish a solid innovation strategy and ecosystem, implement clear governance structures for managing portfolios, develop innovation projects and measure their risk and return, and make evidence-based investments.
With experienced coaches, a clear and well-structured process, and visual outreach tools, we can help you:
- Manage the process from an unproven idea to an evidence-backed business opportunity.
- Shift your established company from an outdated to a more competitive business model.
- Manage innovation projects with proven a methodology, which enables your team to focus on the design and testing of their idea and not on project logistics.
- Identify critical technologies for piloting, partnering, acquisition, projects, or investment.
- Hone your business strategy and internal innovation projects with the right cross-industry stakeholders.
- Build a strong brand reputation in the startup & tech industry as a key to hiring the future talent needed for sustained growth.
- Engage a rich talent of researchers, students and developers, especially from the University of Maribor’s Innovum innovation ecosystem.
- Access our extensive network of corporates, startups and other experts and meet like-minded people to interact efficiently, exchange ideas and share skills.
- Reach an international audience through events, media and our community partnerships.
We’ll help you to create new growth initiatives systematically
We help companies set up structures and processes to systematically design value propositions customers want to be embedded in sustainable business models. We can help you to establish a solid innovation strategy and ecosystem, implement clear governance structures and make evidence-based investments.
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The program for creating big winners is built on our 20+ years of business design & ecosystem building experience
We have successfully supported a number of corporate innovation teams, as well as several 100 startup teams, in making connections and innovation activities in the ecosystem. Our programs are based on the entrepreneurship and venture capital industry principles, where you can create big winners by starting with many small bets, increase investments in projects that produce evidence and shelve those that don’t. Learn more about us here.
We offer you end-to-end innovation services
The Corporate Incubator program
It is ideal for companies that want to systematically design new value propositions customers want and embed them in sustainable business models. Our corporate incubator program is based on a proven methodology with three main phases, including the awareness-building and preparation phase. First, you discover promising ideas by investing a little in many small teams. Second, you validate 30% to 50% of promising ideas discovered. Third, you accelerate only 30% to 50% of validated ideas.
All phases are built around the same basic innovation process that reduces innovation risk and delivers results:
Kickstart. Understand innovation fundamentals and build a shared language to get teams started.
Shape and iterate. Shape a bold, new value proposition and business model, and build a testing roadmap.
Test in the real world. Get out of the building to generate evidence — test and iterate ideas based on evidence for fact-based decision-making.
Synthesize. Synthesize evidence and design crystal clear evidence-based presentations with key insights.
Decide. Make fact-based investment decisions driven by evidence rather than opinions.
It is about putting the foundational elements for implementing the innovation program. It includes leadership engagement, innovation readiness assessment, innovation ecosystem blueprint codesign, and preparation for onboarding the next cohort. It is needed the first time we start to work together.
Duration: 6 weeks
Meant for 3 to 5 ideas that show the most potential based on evidence collected in the discovery phase. It is focused on intensified testing by performing willingness-to-pay and pricing experiments, so you can use stronger evidence to identify business ideas likely to succeed. This phase also ends with pitching ideas to the leadership team, which assesses them and decides which ideas/teams it should invest in further in the acceleration phase.
Duration: 12 weeks
Meant for 1 or 2 of the best, already validated ideas. It is focused on intensified testing with strong Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), so you can gather evidence that you can acquire and retain customers. Prepare for scaling and further investments. This phase also ends with pitching ideas to the leadership team, which assesses the business plan and decides on further investment and scaling of the business.
Duration: 24 weeks
The corporate incubator program is based on a proven design & innovation methodology. It is a combination of the remote part organized digitally and the physical part organized at Venture Factory, a brand-new creative space designed to co-innovate and accelerate, or organized at the company’s location.
- A shared understanding of requirements for world-class innovation by the leadership board.
- Documented assessment of a current innovation portfolio and culture.
- Blueprint of the innovation ecosystem, including short-term improvements required to make the next cohort successful.
- A roadmap allows all participants to allocate their time effectively.
- Trained participants ready to start the discovery process.
- Business model and value proposition documented for each team.
- Documented critical hypotheses and the initial testing plan for each team.
- Evidence that customers are interested in the idea or not.
- Business model decisions by the teams: shelve the idea, pivot or persevere.
- The practice of entrepreneurial skills. Pitching to the leadership team.
- Pitching to the leadership board, which decides on the team/idea selected for the Validation Phase.
- Updated business model and value proposition.
- Documented critical hypotheses and the initial testing plan for each team.
- Feedback and guidance from the coach dedicated to the team.
- Further evidence of the business idea’s potential and progress in de-risking it.
- Business model decisions by the team: shelve the idea, pivot or persevere.
- Continued coaching on how to test and de-risk business ideas.
- Presentation to the leadership team.
- Pitching to the leadership board, which decides on the team/idea selected for the Validation Phase.
- Testing and/or scaling plan (likely to be broken down into a series of sprints).
- Feedback and guidance from the coach dedicated to the team.
- Further evidence of the business idea’s potential and progress in de-risking it.
- Business model decisions by the teams: shelve the idea, pivot or persevere.
- Continued coaching on how to solve testing and scaling challenges.
- A solid business plan and a business model ready to scale.
Hackathons
Hackathons are ideal for companies that want to inspire employees and promote creativity, collaboration, and out-of-the-box thinking. They can help companies to develop fresh innovations and recruit top talent.
Hackathons usually last 2,5 days. Hackathons bring together people from various backgrounds or roles, such as front-end developers, back-end developers, engineers, product managers, UI/UX specialists, and anyone else interested in product development.
With hackathons, companies can take the market insights they have identified, translate them into themes and problem statements and open them up for ideation, followed by the development of prototypes.
Organizing an internal hackathon for companies’ employees enables them to explore their creativity and work in collaboration with their colleagues. Companies can use them as a fantastic means of generating many ideas for solving a specific challenge. They could, for example, focus on designing a new app or improving sustainability. They offer a chance for individuals to think outside the box and work on a project that isn’t linked to their individual KPIs and day-to-day work. Hackathons strengthen teams, improve engagement, and give a sense of achievement to those participating.
Duration: 2,5 days
It is ideal for companies that would like to collaborate with startups, launch new products, hire top talent, and expand their developer community. It is a rapid prototyping event where company teams and other external participants comprising complementary profiles and skillsets compete to create innovative solutions and proof of concepts to a predetermined challenge. Creating a hackathon, marketing the event, managing registrations, ideating challenges and other elements, executing the event, and promoting the results typically take 60 to 90 days. At the end of the event, you are left with prototypes you can develop further and with a lot of new knowledge, experience, connections and motivation for innovation.
Duration: 2,5 days
Hackathons are based on a proven design & innovation methodology. It is a physical event organized at Venture Factory, a brand-new creative space designed to co-innovate and accelerate, or organized at the company’s location.
- Establishing a stream of valuable ideas that lead to a lot of innovation.
- Encouraging a resourceful, collaborative culture.
- Shows a company’s commitment to creativity and innovation and that ideas are central to its culture.
- Taking people out of their comfort zones, unlocking creativity.
- Having external participants from anywhere means that teams are more socially diverse.
- Encouraging the free flow of ideas where different viewpoints produce more innovative ideas.
- Attracting talent. You can observe participants and see their abilities firsthand.
- Representing a branding opportunity for the host company.
- Beneficial to all companies, not just tech ones.
Tailor-made
programs
Ideal for companies that would like to assess, design, and execute strategically integrated innovation programs.
Innovation programs can be a powerful driver of culture change and value creation. We work with leaders to help them evaluate the performance of their current programs and support them in designing new strategically integrated programs.
This consists of improving, retiring, or adding entirely new tailor-made programs to their ecosystem.
We can help create tailor-made innovation programs and initiatives both online and offline. From invitation-only founder think tanks to full-scale innovation jams, from idea sprints to international conferences with hundreds of attendees. We help you choose the best tactics with a clear focus on the goal, whether they are new business opportunities, innovation leadership, or hiring.
Innovation services are based on a proven design & innovation methodology. You can choose an online version or take advantage of a work retreat at Venture Factory in Maribor, Slovenia, a brand-new creative space designed to co-innovate and accelerate.
- Expanding the innovation capabilities of your organization.
- Designing innovation programs to create a full learning experience and tailored to your needs.
- Building processes for innovators and (intra)entrepreneurs to develop and launch solutions much faster.
- Developing solutions efficiently by searching for the relevant people, skills, and information.
- Helping leaders and teams refrain from engaging in innovation theater.
Get on the path to becoming a resilient business
Work and innovate with us to create new value for customers and make a difference in the market. Together with your team, we will discover;
- Your winning ambition
- Where do you play?
- How do you win?
- Your core competencies.
- Your core systems.
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Wondering what the future can bring to your business? Looking for ways to stay ahead of your competition? To spot unique business opportunities where others only see risk. How to inspire your team and your investors to join forces and commit?
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