The Corporate Venturing Podcast

Davide Ritorto
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An Open Road Ventures Podcast - Powered by Bundl Venture Club Made for all the corporate entrepreneurs out there. Informal discussions on Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing insights and trends. 🎙️ Hosted by Davide Ritorto, founder and author at Open Road Ventures. ⚡️ Powered by Bundl Venture Club: Digitally connecting senior corporate innovators from global companies across industries and borders in an inspiration, learning, and support network.

  1. #19 - Why Innovation Fails: The Hidden Identity Cost of Change w/ Federico Malatesta

    4D AGO

    #19 - Why Innovation Fails: The Hidden Identity Cost of Change w/ Federico Malatesta

    In this episode, I’m joined by Federico Malatesta, executive transformational coach and author, who works at the intersection of leadership, identity, and organizational change. Federico helps senior leaders navigate moments when the old story no longer works — and a new one is trying to emerge. This is not an episode about CVC, venture building frameworks, or innovation toolkits. It’s about the uncomfortable reason why innovation and transformation fail even when the strategy is sound: leaders underestimate the identity cost of change. We explore innovation not as a portfolio problem, but as a psychological, political, and narrative one — and why new ventures often trigger resistance deep inside the organization long before they fail in the market. Together, we strip innovation down to its human core: how the brain resists novelty, how companies operate on implicit stories, and why middle management becomes the immune system that attacks anything that threatens the status quo. In this episode, Federico shares insights on: 🧠 Why the brain is wired to resist innovation 🧩 Innovation as identity transformation, not an additive initiative 🧬 “Narrative antibodies” and how organizations kill new ventures 🏛️ The hidden political and reputation risks leaders face when sponsoring innovation 📉 Why innovation doesn’t fail on ideas or execution — but on identity 🧭 Coaching leaders through identity transition, not just strategy change We close the episode by reframing innovation leadership as contextual intelligence — the ability to read shifting power, incentives, and stories — and why storytelling without operational clarity is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility inside a large organization. Resources: • Open Road Ventures Newsletter • Federico Malatesta Website 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded conversations on what actually shapes innovation and corporate venturing — beyond the frameworks, beyond the hype.

    37 min
  2. #18 - Design Thinking & Open Innovation in The Gen-AI Era

    JAN 30

    #18 - Design Thinking & Open Innovation in The Gen-AI Era

    In this episode, I’m joined by Harsh Wardhan, Innovation Strategist at a major Big Tech company (leading design for Search & Labs) and formerly a founding member of a Design Lab in an big automotive OEM. Harsh sits at the unique intersection of two worlds: the high-stakes, high-CapEx constraints of the automotive industry and the infinite, high-speed ambiguity of Generative AI. We strip away the "theater" of innovation (the sticky notes and workshops) to focus on the hard metrics and methodologies that actually de-risk ventures, whether you are bending metal or writing code. In this episode, Harsh shares insights on: 🎭 Stripping Away the Theater 🤖 GenAI: Delegate Tasks, Not Thinking 🏭 Speedboats vs. Cruise Liners 📉 Time-to-Evidence > Time-to-Market 🏗️ The "Build vs. Buy" Heuristic 🚫 The "Post-It Note" Trap We close the episode on Harsh’s definition of meaningful work and why a lack of a concrete plan at the start is the biggest red flag in corporate labs. Resources:• Open Road Ventures Newsletter• Bundl Venture Club 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and practical lessons from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.

    40 min
  3. #17 - Inside Woven Capital: The Playbook for Growth-Stage Venturing w/ Nicole LeBlanc (Woven Capital)

    JAN 16

    #17 - Inside Woven Capital: The Playbook for Growth-Stage Venturing w/ Nicole LeBlanc (Woven Capital)

    In this episode, I’m joined by Nicole LeBlanc, Partner at Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth-stage venture fund. Nicole and her team manage a combined $1.6B across two funds, sitting at the critical junction where startups need to move from "move fast and break things" to global deployment. We explore the launch of their new $800M Fund 2, how they differentiate from early-stage investing, and what it really takes to integrate external innovation into the world’s largest automaker. In this episode, Nicole shares insights on: 💸 The $800M Signal Why Woven Capital launched Fund 2 now , doubling down on AI and climate tech , and how in today’s geopolitical environment, corporates bring scale while startups bring the necessary speed. 🤝 Early vs. Growth Stage The clear distinction between Toyota Ventures (early-stage "cousins") and Woven Capital (growth-stage) , and how they pass deal flow to ensure startups have support from seed to scale. 🧭 The "Portfolio Success" Superpower Why writing the check is the easy part, and how Woven’s dedicated team guides startups through Toyota’s complex business units so they don’t get lost in the organization. ⚖️ Strategic Value vs. Financial Discipline How to balance the dual mandate. Nicole explains why a deal must stand on its own financially first—even if the strategic story is perfect—to ensure long-term resilience. 🔋 Real-World Case Study: Weave Grid A concrete example of how investing in Weave Grid allowed Toyota to solve the "3,000 utilities" problem while giving the startup the validation needed to unlock the rest of the OEM market. 🧠 AI Beyond the Hype Why she sees AI not just as a buzzword, but as a foundational unlock for logistics, fleet management, and simulation—improving operations rather than just perception. We close the episode on Nicole’s personal view: why corporate venturing is "not a 9-to-5 job" and why, despite the massive scale and deep tech, success ultimately comes down to human connection. Resources:• Open Road Ventures Newsletter• Bundl Venture Club 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and practical lessons from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.

    32 min
  4. #16 - Corporate Venturing Backing the AI Transformation w/ Ji Hoon Kwon (Samsung Ventures)

    JAN 2

    #16 - Corporate Venturing Backing the AI Transformation w/ Ji Hoon Kwon (Samsung Ventures)

    🎙️ AI Infrastructure, minus the buzzwords. In this episode, Ji Hoon Kwon (Managing Director, Samsung Ventures) explains where AI data centers really choke (power, thermal, and networking) why baseload energy matters, and how a CVC can move at VC speed while creating value beyond capital. He also pressure-tests “future” ideas like floating and space data centers with an operator’s lens. Highlights 🔌 Power is bottleneck #1. GPU draw jumped to ~1–1.2 kW per chip; racks push ~120 kW, and lost power turns into heat. 🌡️ Thermal follows power. More watts mean more heat; rethink electrical and cooling together. ⚙️ Next wave: power electronics. Efficiency in conversion and distribution becomes the lever. 🔋 Baseload beats intermittency. 24/7 AI favors SMR nuclear and geothermal over variable-only supply. 🧪 Diligence that saves time. Run technical and financial checks in parallel; decide fast or pass fast. 🤝 Value after the check. Open doors across BUs—manufacturing, customers, and design-ins—not just capital. 🛟 Future formats, reality check. Floating and space DCs have promise, but corrosion, maintenance, connectivity, and launch costs are tough. 📈 What makes a “good” CVC deal. Strategic fit matters, but financial returns still keep the engine running. Resources: 📬 Open Road Ventures Newsletter ⚡ Bundl Venture Club

    44 min
  5. #15 - The Power of Storytelling in Innovation w/ Nicolo' Andreula (Disal Consulting)

    12/14/2025

    #15 - The Power of Storytelling in Innovation w/ Nicolo' Andreula (Disal Consulting)

    🎙️ Welcome to a new episode of The Corporate Venturing Podcast! When technology, products and even tone of voice can be copied overnight, what really makes innovation stand out? In this episode, I’m joined by Nicolò Andreula — economist, entrepreneur, investor and strategic consultant. After a global career across the UN, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and a boutique firm in Singapore advising Google, Uber, Netflix and Microsoft, Nicolò came back to Bari to build Disal Consulting, write books like Flow Generation and co-create ABCD – A Bari Capitale Digitale.  Together, we explore how storytelling can make or break innovation: inside companies, in the market, and even at city level. In this episode, Nicolò shares insights on: 🧠 Scarcity in the age of AI – why the rare asset isn’t information anymore, but human touch, empathy and the ability to filter and frame meaning ⚗️ How stories hit the brain – from amygdala “fight–flight–freeze” reactions to dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, and why people remember stories more than slides 🚗 The Toyota family-car example – how a safety campaign built around emotion, not crash-test numbers, can create trust without ever saying “trust us” 💉 What vaccine campaigns got wrong – and what that teaches corporate innovators about talking to fears and emotions, not just rational arguments 🚠 Funicolare Vesuviana & the power of a jingle – turning a scary new transport system into a joyful collective experience through music and narrative 🤖 Humanizing AI and chatbots – the story of a “younger colleague” bot that asks for help instead of pretending to be perfect, and why that drove adoption and ownership 📩 Internal storytelling for transformation – why one-size-fits-all corporate emails fail, and how to segment employees by emotions and attitudes to change 🧍‍♂️ Selective vulnerability in leadership – from the “pratfall effect” to the Starbucks example, how admitting the right flaws can bring people behind a new strategy 🌍 ABCD – A Bari Capitale Digitale – how a “crazy” vision, a name, and a story turned Bari into a magnet for talent, companies and digital nomads We close the episode on a personal note, looking at the moment that most shaped Nicolò’s view on storytelling, strategy and innovation, and how he turned the shock of COVID into a new way of working and living.  Resources: • Open Road Ventures Newsletter • Bundl Venture Club 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and actionable insights from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.

    41 min
  6. #14 - Scaling Venture Innovation in the AI Era w/ Jelena Joffe Weil (AWS)

    11/30/2025

    #14 - Scaling Venture Innovation in the AI Era w/ Jelena Joffe Weil (AWS)

    What is Venture Innovation? How can you scale it? In this episode, I’m joined by Jelena Joffe Weil, Worldwide Leader for Venture Innovation at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Jelena and her team sit at the intersection of enterprises and startups, matching real problems with the right founders and helping both sides move from idea to impact. We explore how collaborative innovation is changing in the age of GenAI, and what it actually takes to make these partnerships work at scale. In this episode, Jelena shares insights on: ⚙️ What venture innovation really is How AWS Venture Innovation helps enterprises de-risk and scale innovation, while giving startups the one thing they value most: access to decision-makers, not more credits. 🤖 Why AI is forcing “outside-in” innovation How the shift from “move to cloud” to “AI at the core” pushed corporates to accept they can’t build everything alone—and need the right partners instead. 🎯 Picking use cases that matter The three filters she uses to choose where to start: a clear problem, measurable business impact, and a real team with budget behind it.  🏭 A concrete Next-Gen Lab example How a global CPG company aligned 20+ leaders, met five pre-qualified startups in one day, and moved four of them to next steps—with one becoming the chosen partner for lab automation.  📌 The “never start without” rule Why her team refuses to begin without three basics: a sponsor, a focused theme/use case, and actual decision-makers in the room—otherwise you just create another pilot that goes nowhere.  📈 KPIs for both sides of the table How she separates business KPIs (time saved, costs cut, revenue uplift) from internal ones focused on ecosystem health, startup growth, and depth of relationships with business leaders. 🚀 Access = right person × right need ^ now Her formula for startup go-to-market: getting founders in front of the right person, with the right need, at the right moment—and why building customer trust is the real secret sauce of “matchmaker magic”.   We close the episode on Jelena’s personal “why”: using emerging technology to make this world a little better by matching the work of courageous founders with the resources and scale of large organization. Resources: • Open Road Ventures Newsletter • Bundl Venture Club 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and practical lessons from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.

    45 min
  7. #13 - Venture Clienting: Lessons from the Field w/ Lisa Kratochwill (VERBUND X) & Pepe Pascual

    11/14/2025

    #13 - Venture Clienting: Lessons from the Field w/ Lisa Kratochwill (VERBUND X) & Pepe Pascual

    🎙️ Welcome to a new episode of The Corporate Venturing Podcast! In Venture Clienting: Lessons from the Field, I’m joined by Lisa Kratochwill (Startup Engagement, VERBUND X) and José “Pepe” Pascual (former Head, Cencosud Ventures). Lisa runs a multi-corporate program that takes real business challenges to pilot and beyond. Pepe built a venture-client engine in Latin America with clear KPIs, budget ownership, and a bias to action. Together, we unpack what makes venture clienting work in practice, and where it breaks. In this episode, Lisa and Pepe share insights on: 🧭 The simple rule for tool choice: when to client, when to build, and when to invest, and how to decide fast. 🧩 From use case to pilot: framing the problem, scouting the right startup, and setting success upfront. 📑 Procurement that helps, not hurts: pilot T&Cs, fast-track onboarding, and who signs the invoice. 📊 KPIs you can read on one slide: cost savings or new revenue, time-to-pilot, SLA/quality, and a powerful input metric: number of challenges identified. 💸 Budget ownership = speed: why a dedicated pilot budget and a clear “pilot owner” reduce friction. 🛡️ Compliance early: how regulation can block a “successful” PoC, and how to prevent late surprises. 🤝 Multi-corporate as a force multiplier: sharing risk, budget, and skills on cross-industry topics (e.g., vehicle-to-grid). 🔁 From pilot to scale: land small, prove value, then expand, what changes between site #1 and rollout. 🚫 Common pitfalls: scope creep, “tourism” pilots, and fuzzy goals that kill conversion. ⚡ Culture-shifting moments: the small wins that flip skeptics into champions. We close by reflecting on the moments when a startup solution made the value of this work obvious to everyone in the room. Resources: • Open Road Ventures Newsletter • Bundl Venture Club 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and actionable insights from inside Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.

    53 min
  8. #12 - From Corporate to Co-Founder: Venture Building that Actually Works w/ Patrick Luke (Co-Founder & CEO, ZigZag)

    11/02/2025

    #12 - From Corporate to Co-Founder: Venture Building that Actually Works w/ Patrick Luke (Co-Founder & CEO, ZigZag)

    🎙️ Welcome to a new episode of The Corporate Venturing Podcast! What separates corporate ventures that actually scale from those that stall in POC limbo? In this episode, I’m joined by Patrick Luke, Co-Founder and CEO of Zigzag: a fast-growing B2C startup born from inside Nestlé Purina and now thriving as an independent, purpose-driven B Corp. Patrick shares the rare perspective of someone who’s lived every side of corporate venture building: from strategy and innovation at HQ, to spinning out a venture and leading it full-time as founder. Together, we unpack what truly makes venture building work—and where it often breaks down. In this episode, Patrick shares insights on: 🏗️ Structural enablers : the systems, setups, and governance models that allow ventures to scale 💡 Consumer centricity as a North Star: why business value follows user value ⚖️ The corporate-venture tension: where to draw the line on autonomy vs. integration 📊 Real-world metrics: proving value with data and traction, not just vision 🧪 Why B Corp? the thinking behind Zigzag’s rare certification, and its unexpected benefits 🚫 Common pitfalls: why many ventures fail due to speed, funding, or unclear ownership 🧠 Team building in venture mode: hiring for pace, ownership, and adaptability 🔁 Lessons in iteration: how Zigzag evolved its strategy through constant learning loops 🎯 From strategy decks to scientific proof: the study that validated Zigzag’s impact We close the episode reflecting on Patrick’s most meaningful milestones: from corporate innovation teams to publishing peer-reviewed research, and what it really took to get there. Resources: • ⁠Open Road Ventures Newsletter⁠ • ⁠Bundl Venture Club⁠ 🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and actionable insights from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.

    34 min
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An Open Road Ventures Podcast - Powered by Bundl Venture Club Made for all the corporate entrepreneurs out there. Informal discussions on Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing insights and trends. 🎙️ Hosted by Davide Ritorto, founder and author at Open Road Ventures. ⚡️ Powered by Bundl Venture Club: Digitally connecting senior corporate innovators from global companies across industries and borders in an inspiration, learning, and support network.

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