There is more inorganic growth activity within the digital industrial ecosystem than ever before, and given there have been over 120 completed acquisitions for over $4B in consideration during David's 18-year tenure at Autodesk, he has seen this wave since the beginning. We discuss how his team uses inorganic activities to find step-function acceleration for Autodesk's roadmap, why he approaches early-stage venture capital investing in a win/win/win mindset, and why it's critical for the current...
Mar 29, 2021•27 min
Thousands of guests have visited Oracle Industries Innovation Labs, physically and virtually, to see how this Big Tech giant is innovating to help shape the future of various industrial industry verticals. Burcin explains why he helped found the Innovation Labs with a mission to create an environment and physical space that offers hands-on experiences to learn in these industries that often can’t afford to ‘fail fast, fail often’ in operational industrial settings. He discusses how their labs ac...
Mar 22, 2021•26 min
With over 300 partners integrated into the Procore Marketplace, Procore is helping drive collaboration and build a startup ecosystem within a construction industry that is rapidly evolving. Kris is an industry insider who has played numerous roles inside a construction company from project engineer to leading cutting edge construction tech deployments in the field. He shares why, short of Tooey, he thinks he has the best job at Procore, why an open platform & ecosystem approach is critical t...
Mar 15, 2021•37 min
Make no mistake, industrial-grade additive manufacturing is now here to stay. Hugh's background blending both financial market leadership at T. Rowe Price and operating leadership at 3D Systems brings an additive outlook very few have experienced. He discusses why this background led him to co-found the Additive Manuf. Ventures Group investment syndicate, why investor specialization is critical at the earliest stages, how this "2nd wave" of additive investment differs from the 2013 "1st wave" (h...
Mar 08, 2021•33 min
In the world of digital industrial innovation, corporate venture capital (CVC) can play a major part in supporting and accelerating a startup's go-to-market efforts. CAT Ventures leader, Michael Young, is one of the most experienced corporate venture capitalists in the country, and he joins us to share his outlook on how CVC has evolved over time. We discuss his "3x3x3" investment framework, how a pilot/PoC should be approached, which terms matter when evaluating CVC investment, and why "A corpo...
Mar 01, 2021•27 min
With its roots at Kleiner Perkins, G2VP is one of the first specialist venture capital funds to focus exclusively on how traditional industrial industries are digitizing. Zach discusses why VC specialization is just good business, makes the case for investors to "Get a Major", outlines why industrial digitization is moving faster than ever, and lays out why SPACs are just getting warmed up in these markets. We also outline why we both believe sustainability and resource efficiency are naturally ...
Feb 22, 2021•32 min
Quick fact: an estimated 2.5% of global GPD flows through Prologis facilities that span 19 countries and ~1 billion sq/ft. Will joins us to outline how his venture arm, Prologis Ventures, helps this ~$78B market cap company stay ahead of the innovation curve. He discusses their outlook on fund construction, current innovation trends they are focused on, the power of the data they are collecting, and why VC specialization is more critical now than ever. Finally, we discuss a topic that is mission...
Feb 15, 2021•40 min
Mike walks us through how his Stanley X team is helping a 175 year old industrial staple, Stanley Black & Decker, stay innovative and on the leading edge of technology advancements. We discuss why they believe an open ecosystem approach is key within industrials, why they chose to build a venture studio model into their orginization, and how they select and screen which opportunities to engage with.
Feb 08, 2021•37 min
Did someone say something about infrastructure? David's role as Chief Innovation Officer within one of the world's largest engineering, procurement and construction firms keeps him as close to the center of this discussion as you can be. We discuss what's ahead for infrastructure innovation in 2021 and how his team takes a structured approach to engage with digital industrial innovators advancing the theme of "Less Dirt, More Data".
Feb 01, 2021•32 min
John brings a very unique investment perspective having been an active participant in the famous 2010 energy investment wave and now actively investing in the broader digital industrial wave of venture investing underway. He gets very candid with how Energize Ventures evaluates deals and defines what he coins the "Pre-growth" round of financing. Finally, we dive deep into the importance of taking a data-driven exit analysis from the very earliest stage of company formation.
Jan 11, 2021•30 min
We're taking Heavy Hitters global! Francisco outlines how the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Production platform he leads within the World Economic Forum is helping global leaders from business, government, academia and civil society anticipate the impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies on manufacturing and supply systems. We also touch on digital industrial adoption trends, what role the venture capital ecosystem has to play within this ecosystem, and the Global Lighthouse Ne...
Dec 28, 2020•36 min
Intersecting at the heart of Silicon Valley and global construction innovation, the Hilti Tech Office has a front-row seat to where construction technology innovation is going. Vivin shares his outlook as to what his office is looking for when engaging and investing in early-stage innovation companies within this sector. And everyone likes talking about robots, right? We hit on that trend and many others evolving on construction sites globally.
Dec 21, 2020•27 min
As another one of the most accomplished venture investors in this sector, Bilal gives us a masterclass on how he and Lux Capital look for new ways of solving hard problems with a focus on both business and technical risk. We dive into both why he feels the industrial ecosystem is in the midst of going through radical transformation and why the "timeline and magnitude" of an ultimate exit in this sector gets determined over time. We even slip in a discussion about Elon moving from California to T...
Dec 14, 2020•41 min
Dayna is one of the most accomplished and pioneering venture capitalists within the digital industrial ecosystem. We discuss why she believes the time is now for transformation within these "foundational industries" that make up half of the US GDP. This coming wave of innovation was enough to convince her to launch out and co-found Construct Capital, and we talk about all facets, start-to-exit, of how she identifies and supports these innovative founders.
Dec 09, 2020•31 min
Honeywell Connected Enterprise Chief Commercial Officer, Usman Shuja, shares his experiences leading digital industrial innovation efforts within both a Fortune 100 industrial conglomerate and a hyper-growth, venture-backed startup. It's a rare combination within the digital industrial ecosystem to find someone who has led commercialization efforts at both ends of that spectrum, and we're fortunate to have Usman walk us through his outlook on what works and what doesn't work to scale in these in...
Nov 23, 2020•32 min
As both a seasoned venture capital investor and corporate innovation changemaker, SE Ventures General Partner, Grant Allen, discusses his outlook on how corporate venture capital investing is evolving and expanding to better suit the broad range of corporate innovation approaches in market. And given his leadership experience linked to industrial giants Schneider Electric and ABB, Grant shares his lessons learned on what it takes to scale innovation efforts within these nuaced environments....
Nov 04, 2020•32 min
To kick off the Heavy Hitters podcast series, Rick Bullota joins us to discuss all aspects of past and present digital industrial innovation. Having spent his entire career focused on industrials, Rick provides a rare outlook on the topic as both an experienced operator and proven venture investor. His vantage point comes both from starting and exiting a number of successful industrial software companies, most notably Lighthammer and Thingworx, and from holding senior roles at companies such as ...
Oct 27, 2020•38 min
Join us as deep dive into the world of digital industrial innovation. Bridging innovative technology companies into legacy industrial industries may not get the same glitz & glamour as other parts of the venture capital ecosystem, but these “digital industrial” innovators are critical behind-the-scenes to advancing the way our world designs, builds, distributes and operates daily. Welcome to the Heavy Hitters podcast, the first podcast dedicated solely to bringing this important discussion o...
Oct 24, 2020•2 min
