Ask An Innovator

Episode Summary

A few weeks back an email out of the blue came our way. Would we would be a part of Ferrara Candy Company’s internal innovation event? By now you know we love talking about innovation, so the answer was YES!

Today you’ll hear Josh interview Greg Guidotti, the General Manager at Ferrara, about what it takes to be an innovation high striker. How do you innovate in a company like Ferrara? We visit the age old question, “What is innovation?” and talk about insights, foresights, and candy!

We reference other interviews in this episode:

How To Leverage Insights for Innovation (with Ferrara’s Andy Renaud)Innovation Through Incremental Change How To Create an Innovation Framework

About Ferrara

Ferrara, a company related to The Ferrero Group, is an emerging powerhouse in the North American confections and sweet snacking categories. A passionate team of more than 6,000 employees works together to share delight in every bite through leading brands that have shaped the industry for more than 100 years. Our diverse portfolio of nearly 35 brands includes SweeTARTS®, Trolli®, BRACH’S®, Black Forest® and NERDS®, along with iconic favorites like Lemonhead®, Red Hots® and Now and Later®. Ferrara also manages the Keebler® and Famous Amos® businesses for The Ferrero Group.  Headquartered in Chicago, Ferrara has an operational network of 20 locations in North America that includes manufacturing, distribution and R&D facilities. Learn more at www.ferrarausa.com.

Timestamps

What is the innovation secret sauce? – 1:48Insights & Foresights? – 02:05What is the opportunity for innovators?– 05:12Small as an advantage – 08:53Qualities of Successful, Innovative Companies– 10:09Let Eagles Soar – 12:48Difference Between a Great Brand & Innovative One – 13:51Innovation Led– 16:42Innovation is a Mindset –18:37Cultivating Great Innovators –21:5

What is a Workshop Episode Summary

I’m thinking Spring today, I don’t know about you guys. It’s sunny and all the snow is melting and I’m here for it. I’m also here for this next episode of AAI which is all about workshops. What is a workshop? How can they help us deduce the product that will work for you? We get a lot more answers when we spend time digging and a workshop gives us the space to do that.

From activities through to questions, we truly want you to think about your business and where you want it to go. How will this product fit into your business, how will you go-to-market with it? If these are questions you’re asking, going through a workshop may be beneficial to you.

As always, listen in, and fill out the form here to ask questions or Schedule a Workshop!

Full Transcript

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:16] At City Innovation Labs, we run a bunch of workshops to help people figure out what they’re doing, what they need to build, if they’re even ready for custom software. Josh, what exactly does a workshop entail and why would anyone want to do this?

Josh Barker: [00:00:47] Yes. Great questions. So a workshop really helps our clients take a step back and really analyze something before proceeding forward with the next steps of software engineering or prototyping or whatever it is. It allows us to really take focus on what we’re trying to accomplish.

It brings crystallization to the path we’re headed towards. Oftentimes it leads to pivoting within that conversation in terms of strategy, go to market strategy, how they’re about to do something.  It’s crucially important because it is that compass moment where you take out your compass and you go, which direction am I headed? And so if you don’t have that compass moment, you could actually be going in the complete wrong direction.  That’s really what we want to help avoid . Go in the right direction.

So it’s your GPS, if you’re a younger generation that’s like, what the heck is a compass? Oftentimes someone will come to us and say, this is what we’re trying to accomplish.

No, one’s coming to us saying we want a workshop, right. Because that’s not the result of what people want.

Erin Srebinski: [00:01:49] No, they’re not looking for that.

Josh Barker: [00:01:51] They’re not looking for a  workshop, but we offer  that compass GPS. Right?  They’ll say, here’s what we want to do, here’s what we want to build, here’s what we’re trying to achieve. And so then it’s our jobs, in that pre consulting, pre-workshop moment, to help them understand. Going back to our Product Validation Funnel, helping them understand where they’re at in the Product Validation Funnel and why.  That’s where we’ll spend time pre consulting and pre-workshop, helping them understand where they’re at.

We’ll ask a series of questions of how have you validated this? What experiments have you run? And sometimes they’ll say, I don’t even know what an experiment is and we can help educate them on assumptions and our process. Then once we get a standard of where is that company and the product validation funnel.

The nice thing is with our workshops we definitely are believers ...

Episode Summary

Getting ready to build an app can be a lengthy and expensive experience. So how do you do it the right way? Last week we talked about the Product Validation Funnel. Testing, validating, and understanding your target market are essential before building anything.

How do you know when you’re ready? When you’ve done the legwork to secure validation for your app or feature. You’ve tested it with consumers, you’ve created an MVP, and you know with little doubt that this app will take hold in your market.

Below you’ll find some handy tools to help you on your journey, but as always – we’re here to help and can walk you through some of these exercises. Tune into this weeks episode!

Handy Tools To Help You Build an App (a working list)

Business Model CanvasProduct Vision Board

Full Transcript

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:00] Today we’re talking about if you’re ready to build an app. How do you know? What questions do you need to ask? What prep should you do ahead of time? There’s a lot that goes into it. It’s usually a relatively big investment.

Josh, how do you know if you’re ready to build an app?

Josh Barker: [00:00:26] Every custom software development project is really understanding the why. What are they trying to achieve? That’s the first question we ask. Very much a sub question under the why is, should you build an app?  We asked that question with such kind hearted intentions to make sure you’re investing your money in the right spot. That’s where we truly  act like a good partner of helping them go through that Product Validation Funnel.

Validating their product idea prior to just going out and building the thing.  A lot of times when we meet with people, what we’ll do is we’ll analyze where are they in the funnel? We meet you where you’re at and then we help you get where you want to go.

If you come to the table with, this is an idea or a concept, you can look at what kind of assumptions they’re making, but what kind of validation have they received?

So a good example of not starting at the top would be if you have a website for a proven organization. There’s a lot of innovation behind just a website. So for us, when we go through a website project, if it’s a client that has an existing business, it’s more of an innovation optimization and writing out the assumptions and then narrowing that down. So they’re actually further down. Should you build this website? The answer is almost an obvious. Yes. Right? I think everyone could say, well, you’re an existing business. You don’t have to prove whether or not you should have a website.

If you’re talking about a product that has an unknown track record in the marketplace , a lot of people will come to the table and say, ” I want to build this thing.” And here’s some proof that the market needs it and they’ll point to other products in the market.

That’s an area where we’ll sit down and we’ll go through the assumptions again and make sure they understand when you’re building this thing, you’re making the assumptions that there is room in the market for another player.

Episode Summary

On the podcast today, Josh and I discuss the Product Validation Funnel, a term we coined here at CIL. It is a method of building software, a way to discover where clients are in their process and help them to the next part of the funnel.

Product validation is inherent to how we build software, it guides us to help clients make the best decisions not only about their product but about their business. We want to help them (and you!) avoid costly mistakes and build something no one uses. Software should be a perfect solution to the product you’re solving, and YOUR customer should be delighted when they use it. How do you do that? Well, with the Product Validation Funnel, of course.

What else can you tell me about Product Validation?

Why is Using a Lean Startup Methodology Important?5 Ways to Apply Lean StartupWhy We Created a Validation Process – the origin storyWhat is an MVP?There’s a lot more to read, listen to, etc at this link!

Full Transcript

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:18] Today we are talking about Product Validation Funnel. Josh, why don’t you tell us what the Product Validation Funnel is?

Josh Barker: [00:00:25] Absolutely. We developed the Product Validation Funnel because it really is our key differentiator in the marketplace.

And we want to kind of give people that secret sauce, you know, we want to give back and we want to say, this is how you should build software.  These were key learnings from being out in Silicon Valley and working with a ton of smarter people than myself, and being able to take all that information and package it together.

And we created the Product Validation Funnel. So that’s a little bit of the history behind it.  The Product Validation Funnel, what it is  in a simple form, is all products go through this funnel, whether or not you acknowledge it they go through this funnel. So there are a couple of different stages within the funnel.

So if you envision a funnel and at the top of the funnel, the broader side, you’ve got an MVT:  Minimum Viable Tests. And then down the funnel a little further, you’ve got Minimum Viable Product. And then down at the bottom, you have a Minimum Marketable Product. So each of these stages,  all products go through this.

The biggest mistake that companies make when they’re developing products is they go through this funnel too quickly.  They’ll skip over steps. They’ll go down right to the bottom. Normally, that’s the biggest problem, they’ll go right through the funnel to the MMP and they’ll say, what do we need to build?

What we do is encourage people to go and think through it a lot more systematically. Make sure you go from MVT to MVP, to MMP. A lot of abbreviations. The thought is, is when you go from the top, it’s reducing your risk the further...

Episode Summary

We build software. Great, so what is the actual cost of software development? There are plenty of reasons you may want to build custom software, but you probably have some questions about how much money you’re going to have to throw in to get exactly what you want. We go through how we estimate software costs and what the final numbers will look like.

Visit cityinnovations.com/ask-an-innovator for some helpful links and the full transcript.

If you have questions about what an app may cost or if you have a concept you’re looking to get some help with – schedule a free consultation with us!

Schedule a Conversation With Us!

We’ve written a few things about Software Development

How to Contract the Right Software Development CompanyLearn more about Agile Software DevelopmentLearn more about Lean DevelopmentWe reference this podcast a lot in this episode

Timestamps

How do you give estimations for software – 00:32What does the estimation process look like? – 02:32How do changes to scope affect the cost? – 07:22How do we stay within budget – 09:41How do I ensure my investment – 11:19Isn’t there a way to build software cheaper? – 14:32What questions should a customer ask about cost? – 15:46What costs will I run into after the project is completed?– 18:40Give me a dollar amount – 21:41

Full Podcast Transcript

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:00] Hi and welcome to Ask an Innovator. We’re here to talk about innovation in the software development space. Sometimes us, and sometimes others. This podcast is brought to you by City Innovation Labs.

Hey, this is Erin and Josh from City Innovation Labs. We’re here today to talk about software development costs. I have no idea what I’m doing. So Josh is going to kind of walk me through what it costs. Here we go. So Josh, how do we do estimations for software development? What does that entail? How do you get there? What do you give the customer when you’re finished?

How do you give Estimations for Software?

Josh Barker: [00:00:32] Yeah, it’s a great set of loaded questions you’re asking right now.  usually we’ll get that right away from customers that say what is software costs. And so a lot of people have preconceived notions that come in and if you’re a startup bright eyed, bushy tailed, you’re a young person saying I’ve got an idea and they come to...

Episode Summary

After COVID-19 hit, we ran a webinar about how companies could accelerate digital transformation. Now we’ve seen a ton of companies do just that. From small retailers hopping online to everyone moving to the cloud – digital is here to stay and here to reign. How can your business stay abreast of these changes and adapt to digital even more? Well, that’s what this podcast covers. Tune in and let us know what you think has been the most incredible digital transformation that you’ve seen.

Visit cityinnovations.com/ask-an-innovator for some helpful links and the full transcript.

Helpful Reading on Digital Transformation

Our Webinar at the Beginning of COVID-19Digital Transformation Is Not About TechnologyWhy is Digital Transformation Important?

Timestamps

Digital Transformation in the World – 00:40Digital Adaptation & Acceleration – 01:53Obviously we have to throw Amazon into the convo – 05:50Death of Commercial Real Estate – 07:04Adding a Human Element to Digital – 08:59The Cloud and Chatbots – 10:56Let’s talk about specific industries – 12:00Making a case for analytics – 15:20But, what about security? – 18:01How can we help? – 19:57

Full Transcript

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:00] Hi everyone. We’re back. We’re here to talk about digital transformation. We did a webinar back in April about innovating in uncertain times back when COVID-19 was just at the beginning. And so now we’re into it. We’re six months in, we’ve seen companies pivot, we’ve seen companies change, we’ve seen them break through a bunch of different challenges. There’s been a bunch of weird and interesting things coming out of this. So Josh take it away.  What do you think has been interesting that’s come out of this? What have you seen in the marketplace and what changes have you seen? And what still needs to change? Let’s go through all of that.

Digital Transformation in the World

Josh Barker: [00:00:35] Yeah. Hate to say it, I don’t remember what I said in the webinar.  I don’t know if I’m gonna cover similar ground. I always go with this, I’ve read this book from a great consultant of like talking about times of crisis going through the 2008 recession.

And he was saying, think of your business like a house, right? You go in your backyard and revenue is the river stream that flows and when the stream or the river dries up in your backyard and you go,  where did the water go?  The revenue go?  You have two options. One, you can go stay and kind of gather up all the stream trickles,  and say, Hey,

Episode Summary

Today on Ask an Innovator we discuss the Lean Startup Methodology. We get into what is is, how to use it, and why it’s so dang important to us here at CIL.

We talk through company examples – who has used it and why? And what role the customer plays, how it could save you money, and how it ties into the way software should be developed.

Visit cityinnovations.com/ask-an-innovator for some helpful links and the full transcript.

Helpful Reading on Lean Startup

Lean Startup by Eric RiesThe Startup Owner’s Manual4 Steps to EphiphanyA Guide to Lean Development5 Ways You Can Use Lean Startup in Your BizThe Skateboard Methodology – we discuss at 03:07

Software shouldn’t be built in one huge push, it should be built in iterations to gather feedback and move to collect revenue for the client faster.

Timestamps

Brief Overview of Lean Startup – 00:23Why Lean Startup is important to us – 01:40 Why use Lean Startup to build software? – 02:59What are all these acronyms? What is a product validation cone? – 04:37Can we implement the Lean Startup Methodology? Rewire your brain! – 09:54Real-life companies that built an MVP – 12:22We don’t want to waste your money – 16:22How does customer discovery play into it? – 18:59Is there a reason not to build software this way? – 20:30What and WHO are early adopters? – 22:045 Things to Learn – 23:29

Lean Startup Methodology Full Transcript

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:16]  Hi, I’m Erin

Josh Barker: [00:00:18] and I’m Josh.

Erin Srebinski: [00:00:19] We’re from City Innovation Labs. Today we’re discussing Lean Startup. The methodology created by Eric Ries. We as a company, use it all the time. We’ve read the book. We swear by it internally and externally. So today that’s what we’re going to be talking about. So Josh, can you give me a brief overview of what the Lean Startup methodology is?

What is the Lean Startup Methodology?

Josh Barker: [00:00:37] Yeah, that’s a great question. Lean Startup, like you said, when I was out in Silicon Valley, they almost referred to it as their Bible. They constantly reference it. They constantly talk about it. Everything is in the context of Lean Startup. And so a lot of people say they’ve read lean startup or they know Lean Startup. I can kind of differentiate who has and who hasn’t beca...

SUMMARY WITH ANDY RENAUD

Andy Renaud from Ferrara Candy is on AAI today and a common theme that comes up is what do we do with consumer insights? How do we use them to fill our innovation pipeline? How can we use them to engage our customer on social media and beyond? Andy talks to Josh about how they’re doing this in the candy space, from Crunchy Crawlers to a specific Wonder Woman candy – Ferrara is engaging customers in so many different ways.

The discussion loops around to COVID-19 and how Ferrara has remained agile through it all. From setting up employees to do R&D at home to understanding what the best tech tools are to use for collaboration. As consumer behavior changes, how does Ferrara change with it and keep innovating despite limitations?

Connect with Ask an Innovator.

More about Andy & Ferrara

Connect with AndyFerrara Candy CompanyFerrara Candy Company Innovation

Full Transcript with Andy Renaud

Erin Srebinski: [00:13] Hi, and welcome to Ask an Innovator. This morning we have Andy Renaud from Ferrara Candy Company talking with us about innovations in the confection space. He talks about the innovation practice at Ferrara and how knowing your key strengths is essential for growth and launching new products. The podcast was recorded during COVID-19, so Andy and Josh also cover how Ferrara has remained agile and is continuing to deliver sweet delights to customers. For more, keep on listening and for the full transcript check us out at cityinnovations.com/ask-an-innovator

Josh Barker: [00:42] Andy, I really appreciate you coming on. I’d love for you to give just a little intro to yourself.

Andy Renaud: [00:47] Yeah, of course. So I’m Andy Renaud. I’ve been in the confections category for my entire career. So I have an undergrad from UW Madison. In food science and so that’s just a study of all of the know-how in engineering, chemistry, even regulations, the marketing behind food, and how things are made for our food industry. So I got that back in 2009, I graduated and I had an internship in Chicago, which actually led to a full-time position at my prior company. Work they’re doing a lot of in the lab at the factory scale-up of product development, both on gum and candy and confectionery sugar, confections.

As of last year, January of ’19, I moved over to my current employer for our candy company in Chicago. And so since then, I’ve been doing a lot. My title is senior manager of innovation, growth management. Really, what that entails is looking at how Ferrara is doing innovation and what roles do we need in place? What process do we need to implement and deploy? What capabilities do we need to develop? But also from a strategic standpoint? What should we be having in our innovation pipeline to deliver growth not only for the company but also for the category? But also, what insights from consumers are we leveraging to develop that pipeline.

It’s been a really interesting opportunity over the last year and a half just because I’ve been able to really leverage my knowledge a...

Episode 41 highlights Luka Vukovic and his awesome company, Look At. He talks with Josh about how he plans to disrupt the lucrative tourist industry with his selfie sculptures. No longer do you have to ask awkwardly for someone to take your picture or snap one yourself, this sculpture will do it for you.

We discuss the impact of Covid-19 on Luka's business and how they are planning to work around any restrictions that come with travel this year. He has a plan for the future of Look At with an amazing web app, new AR features, and an awesome user experience. Visit Look At's website for more information about this brilliant venture.

SUMMARY

Tim Lavengood is on Ask an Innovator today talking with us about innovations in science. We talk about how the Technology Innovation Center will provide a place for scientists to truly own their own intellectual property and what that means for inventing and the world at large.

We talk about the importance of mentorship in the startup space. Tim and Josh discuss how this surge of scientists creating and innovating will mirror the technology revolution of the ’80s. Check it out – full transcript below!

Connect with Ask an Innovator.

About Technology Innovation Center

After 30 years incubating hundreds of digital startups in Chicago, Technology Innovation Center is shifting its model to serve the hard sciences. Like the digital revolution of the 1980s, energy, materials, medical devices, agriculture, genetics and other sciences are entering a phase of entrepreneurial revolution. The toolkit for science is becoming faster, cheaper and smarter by the day, drastically reducing the barrier to entry for young, independent scientists to create IP of their own. Moore’s Law has come to the sciences and Technology Innovation Center is in on the ground floor supporting the first generation of true scientist entrepreneurs.

Connect with Tim

Email HimHabilisThe Incubator

Full Transcript with Tim Lavengood

Josh Barker: [00:00:13] Welcome to Ask an Innovator. Today I’ve got with me at Tim Lavengood. Welcome, Tim. Really appreciate you being here.

Tim Lavengood: [00:00:18] Glad to be here!

Josh Barker: [00:00:20] Awesome. So Tim is the Executive Director at Technology Innovation Center, is that right?

Tim Lavengood: [00:00:26] That is correct. 

Josh Barker: [00:00:28] Can you give a little bit of background of yourself and a little background about Technology Innovation Center?

Tim Lavengood: [00:00:33] Well, I’ve been working as the Executive Director for quite a few years, so those are kind of the same thing. We are a technology-based business incubator that’s actually been in operation since the eighties for about 30 years. 31 years. And we have worked with several hundred different kinds of startups over the years providing space and services and networking to help innovation-based companies get off the ground.

Josh Barker: [00:01:03] Awesome.  And I’m reading on here, 25,000 square feet. That’s quite a bit for 30 to 50 technology-based startups. Is that right?

Tim Lavengood: [00:01:13] That was the case. We’re in the process now of making the transition to the hard sciences. There were reasons for that and we are working on a build-out of laboratory space in Northbrook, one of the other suburbs here.

Josh Barker: [00:01:35] I’d love to hear a little bit more about that. Can you give a little bit more details about  your transition to the hard sciences?

Tim Lavengood: [00:01:40] Yes.  We’ve been around since the eighties and  we came in right around the same time as, you know, the beginning of the,