Inside CVC by u-path

u-path
  • 5.0 (7)
  • BUSINESS

Welcome to Inside CVC —Inside CVC by U-Path is the podcast where corporate venture capital meets strategy, leadership, and systemic change. Hosted by Philipp Willigmann and Steve Schmith, the show brings senior voices from across corporate venture, startups, investment, academia, and policy to the table. Each episode goes beyond buzzwords to explore how capital, technology, and leadership shape the future of business and society. From AI and robotics to geopolitics, board governance, and inclusive innovation, Inside CVC is designed for executives and policymakers who want to understand not just what’s happening — but what to do about it.

  1. 1D AGO

    BONUS EPISODE: Deborah Elms on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Tariff Ruling and U.S.– Asia Trade

    When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration illegally imposed tariffs under IEEPA, markets reacted fast. But relief quickly gave way to confusion. In this episode, Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy at the Singapore-based Hinrich Foundation, explains what happened in the first 72 hours, why some countries now feel blindsided, and how the administration’s pivot to other tariff tools could make this moment more durable, not less. We cover: Who wins and loses across Asia-PacificWhich sectors remain exposed under Section 232 and 301Whether the ruling strengthens U.S. constitutional guardrailsHow regional blocs like RCEP and CPTPP are acceleratingWhat boards and CEOs should do nowElms argues this is not just a legal correction. It may be a structural shift in global trade architecture — one that will shape corporate strategy and geopolitical alignment for years to come. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    42 min

  2. 1D AGO

    Inside CVC: Janet Foutty on Women’s Health, Influence Without a Title, and Closing the Healthspan Gap

    What happens when you leave a world class platform like Deloitte without a plan, and then choose to spend your next chapter on a problem hiding in plain sight? In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Janet Foutty, former CEO of Deloitte Consulting in the United States and Executive Board Chair of Deloitte US, now focused on driving impact across women’s health, tech for good, and long-term research ecosystems. Janet shares what stayed consistent through the transition. Service. Leading through influence. And the discipline of deciding what not to do when there are a thousand worthy directions. The core conversation centers on the health of women and the “healthspan gap.” Women live longer than men, but spend significantly more years in poor health. Janet unpacks why. Research has historically treated women as “small men.” Women are underrepresented in clinical trials. And only a small share of research and investment dollars targets conditions that affect women differently or disproportionately. We also get practical for corporate venture capital and board leaders. Janet outlines a simple starting point. Ask every health investment whether sex based differences are being measured. Push portfolio companies to include women appropriately in trials. And treat women’s health benefits as a strategic workforce issue, not a niche add on. We close on leadership in uncertainty. Why boards are getting stuck. What it takes to move with imperfect information. And the mindset Janet uses on the down days. Play the long game. Show up well in the small moments. And remember that complex problems stay complex for a reason. If you care about investment with real outcomes, and leadership that holds up when the title disappears, this one will land. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    30 min

  3. FEB 23

    Inside CVC: Katharina Janus on Longevity, Caregiving, and Building an Aging Economy That Works

    Longevity is not just a healthcare issue. It is a workforce issue. It is a competitiveness issue. It is an everything issue. In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Katharina Janus, founder of Fourth Quarter Life and a longtime healthcare leader across managed care, hospitals, academia, and consulting. She shares the personal moment that changed her work forever. Navigating her father’s Alzheimer’s care showed her how opaque and unfair the system feels, even when you know the system inside and out. We dig into why aging is the next defining mega trend for markets and society, and why the “care at home is cheaper” argument often ignores the real cost. The unpaid caregiver. Usually a woman. Usually sacrificing income and retirement. Katharina explains what is breaking first. Staffing shortages. Fragmented care. Incentives that turn care into transactions. And she makes a clear prediction. By 2030, systems start to buckle under the math. We also explore what corporate leaders and investors tend to miss. The productivity drain of the sandwich generation. The loss of experienced talent. And the social risk of fear and desperation spreading through a population that sees what aging looks like up close. Her answer is relationship based care. A return to the human motivations that make integrated care work when incentive schemes fail. For CVCs and corporate boards, the takeaway is direct. Stop funding isolated point solutions. Connect the dots. Build portfolios that integrate tech with human care, and treat eldercare support as a strategic advantage, not a nice-to-have. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    29 min

  4. FEB 16

    Inside CVC: Edward Tenner on Unintended Consequences, Deep Organizations, and Boardroom Risk

    What do the Hindenburg, the Titanic, Boeing, and the Challenger disaster have in common? According to historian and author Edward Tenner, they were not failures of incompetence. They were failures born from success, confidence, and blind spots. In this episode of Inside CVC, Tenner explains why highly capable organizations still make catastrophic mistakes. From the smoking lounge on the Hindenburg to safety measures that destabilized the SS Eastland, which capsized in 1915 while docked in the Chicago River, we explore how innovations designed to reduce risk often create new vulnerabilities. We discuss: Why disasters often strike respected, well-managed institutionsHow shared assumptions normalize risky decisionsThe illusion of safety and how protections can backfireWhy reputational risk and public outrage should be top board concernsWhat today’s leaders can learn from long-term “deep organizations”Tenner argues that resilience is less about speed and more about depth. Organizations that protect R&D, maintain reserves of expertise, and adopt a 20 to 25 year time horizon are better positioned to navigate uncertainty. For boards facing AI acceleration, automation, and geopolitical volatility, this conversation is a reminder: the most dangerous risks are often the unintended ones already forming beneath the surface. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    38 min

  5. FEB 9

    Inside CVC: Orchestrating Connection: Why Trust, Gratitude, and Community Drive Better CVC & M&A Decisions

    In this episode of Inside CVC, we’re joined by David Homan, author of Orchestrating Connection, for a wide-ranging conversation on why trust, gratitude, and intentional community building are no longer “soft skills,” but strategic advantages in corporate venture capital and M&A. Drawing from more than a decade of building a global, high-trust network spanning family offices, venture capital, private equity, and corporate leadership, David challenges the transactional mindset that dominates deal-making today. He argues that the biggest failures in CVC and M&A often stem from ignoring relationships—while the biggest wins are unlocked by honoring the chain of connection behind every opportunity. We explore why leaders who prioritize curiosity and vulnerability make better long-term decisions, how communities function as strategic “current” rather than static structures, and why boards should treat trusted relationships with the same rigor as capital allocation. Along the way, David shares real stories from the worlds of venture investing, corporate strategy, and global leadership that illustrate how connection can de-risk bold bets—and why cutting out the connector often costs more than leaders realize. This is a conversation for CEOs, board members, CVC leaders, and operators navigating complexity, uncertainty, and transformation—where who you trust may matter more than what you buy. What You’ll Hear in This Episode Why **relationships—not assets—often determine the success or failure of M&A and CVC betsHow honoring the chain of connection builds trust, access, and long-term advantageThe difference between transactional capital and community-driven value creationWhy curiosity and vulnerability are underutilized leadership strengths in boardroomsHow trusted communities act as a strategic hedge during periods of disruptionWhat corporate leaders miss when they prioritize speed over integrity in deal-makingA simple, practical ritual leaders can use immediately to strengthen trust and influenceSupport the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    31 min

  6. JAN 2

    Inside CVC: Berlin CVC Open Innovation Summit, Part 2: From Urgency to Execution: Aligning Capital, Institutions, and Leadership in Europe

    In Part Two of our special Inside CVC series recapping the CVC Open Innovation Summit in Berlin, the conversation moves from diagnosis to execution. Episode One explored urgency.  Episode Two focuses on alignment. As Europe faces accelerating technological change, geopolitical pressure, and widening capital gaps, the challenge is no longer awareness. It’s how leaders align capital, institutions, and organizational systems once the direction is clear. This episode brings together perspectives from SAP, the European Stability Initiative, Roche, PwC, policymakers, and summit leadership to examine why execution breaks down — and what it takes to move from ambition to coordinated action. The conversation culminates with a look ahead to Miami, where these themes continue at the next CVC Open Innovation Summit. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    33 min

  7. 12/29/2025

    Inside CVC: Berlin CVC Open Innovation Summit, Part 1: Capital, Policy, and Risk

    In late November, leaders from across Europe gathered in Berlin for the first European edition of the CVC Open Innovation Summit. What emerged was not another debate about whether innovation matters, but a far more urgent question: is Europe actually set up to execute? In Part 1 of this special two-part Inside CVC series, host Steve Schmith takes listeners inside the Berlin summit to explore why this moment feels different. Corporate investors, policymakers, founders, and ecosystem leaders speak candidly about capital gaps, risk tolerance, regulation, and the growing pressure to move from ambition to action. Across conversations with summit co-host Philipp Willigmann, German Bundestag Financial Policy Spokesperson Katharina Beck, venture investor Tanja Emmerling, PwC’s Florian Noell, SAP’s Florian Kunzke, Roche’s Caroline Creven-Fourier, and former Inside CVC guest Martin Hüllen, a clear pattern emerges. Europe does not lack ideas or talent. What it struggles with is execution at scale. This episode explores: Why access to capital alone is not enoughHow regulation and policy must keep pace with innovationThe growing tension between risk-taking and hesitationWhat execution actually looks like inside corporationsWhy human capital, culture, and trust are central to innovationAnd why alignment, not awareness, is now Europe’s binding constraintBerlin did not produce easy answers. Instead, it surfaced the hard work still ahead. In Part 2, the conversation turns forward—into AI, sovereignty, policy alignment, and what real collaboration must become if insight is going to turn into action. Support the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    25 min

  8. 12/15/2025

    Inside CVC: Why Europe Fell Behind in Autonomy. And How It Can Catch Up with Christian Schumacher

    Europe once led the world in autonomous driving. Massive public investment. Breakthrough demonstrations. Real vehicles on real highways long before autonomy was mainstream. So what happened? In this episode of Inside CVC, we sit down with Christian to unpack the rise, stall, and potential resurgence of autonomy in Europe. Drawing from decades of experience across research labs, OEMs, and boardrooms, Christian explains why Europe’s challenge isn’t technology. It’s culture, regulation, and execution. You’ll hear how early European leadership gave way to faster deployment in the U.S., why China’s “progress over perfection” mindset changed the global pace of innovation, and how fragmented regulation slowed momentum across the EU. We also explore the growing gap between hardware-centric automotive cultures and agile software development, and why autonomy is no longer about cars, but autonomous systems across industries. This conversation goes beyond autonomy. It’s about trust, talent, and the courage to deploy innovation before perfection. In this episode, you’ll hear: Why Europe led early in autonomy and why it lost momentumHow U.S. and Chinese regulatory models accelerated deploymentThe cultural clash between automotive hardware and agile software teamsWhy autonomy is evolving into broader autonomous systemsWhat Europe needs to rebuild trust, talent, and speedSupport the show Catch up on all episodes of Inside CVC at www.u-path.com/podcast.

    19 min
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About

Welcome to Inside CVC —Inside CVC by U-Path is the podcast where corporate venture capital meets strategy, leadership, and systemic change. Hosted by Philipp Willigmann and Steve Schmith, the show brings senior voices from across corporate venture, startups, investment, academia, and policy to the table. Each episode goes beyond buzzwords to explore how capital, technology, and leadership shape the future of business and society. From AI and robotics to geopolitics, board governance, and inclusive innovation, Inside CVC is designed for executives and policymakers who want to understand not just what’s happening — but what to do about it.

Information

  • Creator
    u-path
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Inside CVC by u-path
  • Show Website
    Inside CVC by u-path