London Business School expands its entrepreneurship
and innovation offering with a programme to turn business
ideas into fundable plans. Worked as Programme
Director to design, implement and deliver a globally recognised
entrepreneurship programme for MBA students and corporations
to develop the commercial feasibility of new business ideas
while instilling a discipline for innovation — in
some cases resulting in funding of the new idea. Over a
nine-week period participants learn entrepreneurship by
being entrepreneurs with the kind of support framework it
took Silicon Valley years to create.
Niche auto manufacturer and engineering consultancy
celebrated order of magnitude profit increase third year
running. Worked closely as coach to the CEO to
take the business from a turnaround position into substantial
growth. Used action-learning techniques to launch new venture
propositions that built on the unique competency of the
engineering and cars businesses. Combined the deep auto
industry and start-up expertise of AD Little spin-out to
develop business model and initiate early actions to test
feasibility for entering a major new geographic market.
Included identifying and doing the due diligence on a potential
acquisition to gain critical mass quickly in target market.
CEO won prestigious international industry award that publicly
recognized the successes.
First technology spin-out from the world-renowned
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency produced a commercial
prototype in one-third the anticipated time. Designed
and conducted workshops with the inventors of the next generation
Liquid Crystal Display technology, their high-profile investors
and commercial resources to build in strategic focus and execution
discipline. Original estimates for producing a prototype were
cut by two-thirds and the second round of internal financing
was successfully completed.
$5 billion in new opportunities was the outcome
of a major value-based reinvention initiative that covered
the whole of a large multinational energy company in Asia.
Led a team of consultants, a full-time client team and orchestrated
the contributions of outside management gurus such as Richard
Pascale. The effort sought executive alignment around a
strategy of partnership with the national provider that
was also a competitor in certain sectors. This significant
piece of work resulted in the creation of a new gas company,
the formation of a regional procurement organisation, significantly
increased collaboration in the downstream network, and the
rapid creation of a customer-service centre that redefined
competition and pre-empted the possibility of a price war.
