In this last episode of Season four of The Most Awesomefounder podcast, we introduce Christoph Krois, mission driven corporate entrepreneur and founder and co-head of the Siemens innovation ecosystem.

Christoph’s mission is both an ambitious and a challenging one, driving innovation projects at one of the world’s largest companies. We’ll be talking open innovation, leveraging the unfair advantages of scale, driving rapid change in naturally slow moving organizations and building innovation teams that can drive change from the inside out.

So if you, like me are fascinated by the topic of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation management, you should really appreciate this episode. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapters:

Part 1: Christoph Preview (00:04)

Part 2: Introducing Christoph Krois (00:26)

Part 3: Christoph’s founder journey (02:40)

Part 4: Why didn’t Christoph create his own company (09:01)

Part 5: What path did Christoph take after chemical engineering (11:26)

Part 6: “Only if Siemens knew what Siemens has” – struggle of corporations to innovate (16:38)

Part 7: Leveraging existing resources to foster innovation in corporations (17:30)

Part 8: What helps corporations unlock those resources (19:30)

Part 9: What kind of mindset do corporations need to innovate (22:58)

Part 10: Christoph’s ecosystem and ensuring longevity in large corporations (24:35)

Part 11: Christoph’s advice on how to set up innovation ecosystems (27:03)

Part 12: Magic ingredient of Siemens innovation ecosystem (30:21)

Part 13: Balance between long term objectives and short term targets (32:18)

Part 14: Innovation theatre and how to overcome the issue (37:17)

Part 15: Signals and signs to look for in companies one wants to work for (41:30)

Part 16: Christoph’s key nuggets of wisdom (44:26)

Part 17: Career trajectory impact on Christoph’s parenting (47:04)

Part 18: The idea of failure (49:10)

Part 19: The importance of creating a “safe zone” (52:19)

Part 20: Christoph’s book recommendations (55:40)

Part 21: What cycles on Christoph’s playlist (57:24)

Part 22: Outro (58:46)