Open Innovation Strategies

Should you try Google’s famous “20% time” experiment to encourage innovation? We tried this at Duolingo years ago. It didn’t work. It wasn’t enough time for people to start meaningful projects, and very few people took advantage of it because the framework was pretty vague. I knew there had to be other ways to drive innovation at the company. So, here are 3 other initiatives we’ve tried, what we’ve learned from each, and what we're going to try next. 💡 Innovation Awards: Annual recognition for those who move the needle with boundary-pushing projects. The upside: These awards make our commitment to innovation clear, and offer a well-deserved incentive to those who have done remarkable work. The downside: It’s given to individuals, but we want to incentivize team work. What’s more, it’s not necessarily a framework for coming up with the next big thing. 💻 Hackathon: This is a good framework, and lots of companies do it. Everyone (not just engineers) can take two days to collaborate on and present anything that excites them, as long as it advances our mission or addresses a key business need. The upside: Some of our biggest features grew out of hackathon projects, from the Duolingo English Test (born at our first hackathon in 2013) to our avatar builder. The downside: Other than the time/resource constraint, projects rarely align with our current priorities. The ones that take off hit the elusive combo of right time + a problem that no other team could tackle. 💥 Special Projects: Knowing that ideal equation, we started a new program for fostering innovation, playfully dubbed DARPA (Duolingo Advanced Research Project Agency). The idea: anyone can pitch an idea at any time. If they get consensus on it and if it’s not in the purview of another team, a cross-functional group is formed to bring the project to fruition. The most creative work tends to happen when a problem is not in the clear purview of a particular team; this program creates a path for bringing these kinds of interdisciplinary ideas to life. Our Duo and Lily mascot suits (featured often on our social accounts) came from this, as did our Duo plushie and the merch store. (And if this photo doesn't show why we needed to innovate for new suits, I don't know what will!) The biggest challenge: figuring out how to transition ownership of a successful project after the strike team’s work is done. 👀 What’s next? We’re working on a program that proactively identifies big picture, unassigned problems that we haven’t figured out yet and then incentivizes people to create proposals for solving them. How that will work is still to be determined, but we know there is a lot of fertile ground for it to take root. How does your company create an environment of creativity that encourages true innovation? I'm interested to hear what's worked for you, so please feel free to share in the comments! #duolingo #innovation #hackathon #creativity #bigideas

The AI ecosystem is becoming increasingly diverse, and smart organizations are learning that the best approach isn't "open-source vs. proprietary"—it's about choosing the right tool for each specific use case. The Strategic Shift We're Witnessing: 🔹 Hybrid AI Architectures Are Winning While proprietary solutions like GPT-4, Claude, and enterprise platforms offer cutting-edge capabilities and support, open-source tools (Llama 3, Mistral, Gemma) provide transparency, customization, and cost control. The most successful implementations combine both—using proprietary APIs for complex reasoning tasks while leveraging open-source models for specialized, high-volume, or sensitive workloads. 🔹 The "Right Tool for the Job" Philosophy Notice how these open-source tools interconnect and complement existing enterprise solutions? Modern AI systems blend the best of both worlds: Vector databases (Qdrant, Weaviate) for data sovereignty, cloud APIs for advanced capabilities, and deployment frameworks (Ollama, TorchServe) for operational flexibility. 🔹 Risk Mitigation Through Diversification Smart enterprises aren't putting all their eggs in one basket. Open-source options provide vendor independence and fallback strategies, while proprietary solutions offer reliability, support, and advanced features. This dual approach reduces both technical and business risk. The Real Strategic Value: Organizations are discovering that having optionality is more valuable than any single solution. Open-source tools provide: • Cost optimization for specific use cases • Data control and compliance capabilities • Innovation experimentation without vendor constraints • Backup strategies for critical systems Meanwhile, proprietary solutions continue to excel at: • Cutting-edge performance for complex tasks • Enterprise support and reliability • Rapid deployment with minimal setup • Advanced features that take years to replicate What This Means for Your Strategy: • Technical Teams: Build expertise across both open-source and proprietary tools • Product Leaders: Map use cases to the most appropriate solution type • Executives: Think portfolio approach—not vendor lock-in OR vendor avoidance The winning organizations in 2025-2026 aren't the ones committed to a single approach. They're the ones with the most strategic flexibility in their AI toolkit. Question for the community: How are you balancing open-source and proprietary AI solutions in your organization? What criteria do you use to decide which approach fits each use case?

I am constantly thinking about how to foster innovation in my product organization. Building teams that are experts at execution is the easy part—when there’s a clear problem, product orgs are great at coming up with smart solutions. But it’s impossible to optimize your way into innovation. You can’t only rely on incremental improvement to keep growing. You need to come up with new problem spaces, rather than just finding better solutions to the same old problems. So, how do we come up with those new spaces? Here are a few things I’m trying at Duolingo: 1. Innovation needs a high-energy environment, and a slow process will kill a great idea. So I always ask myself: Can we remove some of the organizational barriers here? Do managers from seven different teams really need to say yes on every project? Seeking consensus across the company—rather than just keeping everyone informed—can be a major deterrent to innovation. 2. Similarly, beware of defaulting to “following up.” If product meetings are on a weekly cadence, every time you do this, you are allocating seven days to a task that might only need two. We try to avoid this and promote a sense of urgency, which is essential for innovative ideas to turn into successes. 3. Figure out the right incentive. Most product orgs reward team members whose ideas have measurable business impact, which works in most contexts. But once you’ve found product-market fit, it is often easiest to generate impact through smaller wins. So, naturally, if your org tends to only reward impact, you have effectively incentivized constant optimization of existing features instead of innovation. In the short term things will look great, but over time your product becomes stale. I try to show my teams that we value and reward bigger ideas. If someone sticks their neck out on a new concept, we should highlight that—even if it didn’t pan out. Big swings should be celebrated, even if we didn’t win, because there are valuable learnings there. 4. Look for innovative thinkers with a history of zero-to-one feature work. There are lots of amazing product managers out there, but not many focus on new problem domains. If a PM has created something new from scratch and done it well, that’s a good sign. An even better sign: if they show excitement about and gravitate toward that kind of work. If that sounds like you—if you’re a product manager who wants to think big picture and try out big ideas in a fast-paced environment with a stellar mission—we want you on our team. We’re hiring a Director of Product Management: https://lnkd.in/dQnWqmDZ #productthoughts #innovation #productmanagement #zerotoone

From my new Harvard Business Review article, here’s how to create the second of four pillars that innovative organizations need – capability to forge strategic partnerships: You don’t have to contain yourself to your team or the organization when it comes to innovation. Great innovations can come from collaborations with suppliers, customers, universities, startups, or companies using relevant technology in a totally different way. For example, the jeans company Levi Strauss has been collaborating with Google to figure out what “smart” clothing might accomplish for users like truckers. But doing so needs focused and dedicated work. That means you need to find people within the team to do the long-term work of building those relationships, having speculative conversations, and hunting for partner capabilities which may not be immediately apparent. You don’t want to be Yahoo, which declined to engage with an ambitious early-stage company boasting a different business model: Google. What to do instead? Put specialists in strategic technology partnerships on the lookout. Have them work in collaboration with core business teams who can use these partnerships to make innovation happen. For example, many pharma companies have these types of partnership offices near MIT, and it’s an approach that can be replicated by a broad range of industries. Johnson & Johnson’s university collaborations not only facilitate investments and research partnerships, but through JLabs they also provide lab space and support services for promising start-ups without requiring an equity stake. This can give Johnson & Johnson an inside track with the start-up when the timing is ripe. The fruits of the program have been substantial — as of 2023, 840 incubations of companies in this network had yielded more than 290 deals or partnerships with J&J. (Have you used other methods to forge strategic partnerships? Please add them in the comments!)

In “The Venture Mindset”, we explore how successful companies foster innovation by prioritizing people over rigid processes. However, placing people over process does not mean that there is no process at all.     Chaos doesn't necessarily translate into innovation; moreover, it can easily destroy ideas. The design should facilitate cutting through quite a bit of the internal bureaucracy and keeping the development team small, independent, fluid, and protected from internal politics. Let's examine two examples of this principle in action: Case Study 1: Gmail at Google Google's approach to Gmail is a textbook example of the power of trusting talented individuals: 1. The project started with a single engineer, Paul Buchheit.  2. Leaders provided a vague directive: "Build some type of email or personalization product."  3. There were no strict feature lists or rigid processes.  4. Google executives supported the project and bet on its potential. Result: Gmail revolutionized email services and became one of Google's most successful products.    Case Study 2: The Happy Meal at McDonald's The Happy Meal's success shows how intrapreneurship can thrive even in traditional corporate environments: 1. Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño, a McDonald's franchisee in Guatemala, developed the concept.  2. She created a children's menu without approval from headquarters.  3. McDonald's world conventions allowed for idea exchange.  4. Executives recognized the potential and scaled the idea globally.  Result: The Happy Meal became a worldwide success and a staple of McDonald's offerings.    Here is what you can do to support the employees in your company:  1. Trust your talent: Give motivated individuals the freedom to pursue their ideas.  2. Provide resources: Offer support and necessary tools without micromanagement.  3. Create "racetracks": Design systems that allow for rapid development and testing of new ideas, with clear funding mechanisms, simple rules, guardrails, and milestones.  4. Embrace calculated risks: Be willing to bet on promising projects, even if they're unconventional.  5. Scale successes: When local innovations show promise, be ready to implement them more broadly.    How does your organization balance structure and freedom to foster innovation? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments! #stanford #stanfordgsb #venturecapital #startups #innovation #technology #founders #venturemindset 

Some of the best AI breakthroughs we’ve seen came from small, focused teams working hands-on, with structured inputs and the right prompting. Here’s how we help clients unlock AI value in days, not months: 1. Start with a small, cross-functional team (4–8 people) 1–2 subject matter experts (e.g., supply chain, claims, marketing ops) 1–2 technical leads (e.g., SWE, data scientist, architect) 1 facilitator to guide, capture, and translate ideas Optional: an AI strategist or business sponsor 2. Context before prompting - Capture SME and tech lead deep dives (recorded and transcribed) - Pull in recent internal reports, KPIs, dashboards, and documentation - Enrich with external context using Deep Research tools: Use OpenAI’s Deep Research (ChatGPT Pro) to scan for relevant AI use cases, competitor moves, innovation trends, and regulatory updates. Summarize into structured bullets that can prime your AI. This is context engineering: assembling high-signal input before prompting. 3. Prompt strategically, not just creatively Prompts that work well in this format: - “Based on this context [paste or refer to doc], generate 100 AI use cases tailored to [company/industry/problem].” - “Score each idea by ROI, implementation time, required team size, and impact breadth.” - “Cluster the ideas into strategic themes (e.g., cost savings, customer experience, risk reduction).” - “Give a 5-step execution plan for the top 5. What’s missing from these plans?” - “Now 10x the ambition: what would a moonshot version of each idea look like?” Bonus tip: Prompt like a strategist (not just a user) Start with a scrappy idea, then ask AI to structure it: - “Rewrite the following as a detailed, high-quality prompt with role, inputs, structure, and output format... I want ideas to improve our supplier onboarding process with AI. Prioritize fast wins.” AI returns something like: “You are an enterprise AI strategist. Based on our internal context [insert], generate 50 AI-driven improvements for supplier onboarding. Prioritize for speed to deploy, measurable ROI, and ease of integration. Present as a ranked table with 3-line summaries, scoring by [criteria].” Now tune that prompt; add industry nuances, internal systems, customer data, or constraints. 4. Real examples we’ve seen work: - Logistics: AI predicts port congestion and auto-adjusts shipping routes - Retail: Forecasting model helps merchandisers optimize promo mix by store cluster 5. Use tools built for context-aware prompting - Use Custom GPTs or Claude’s file-upload capability - Store transcripts and research in Notion, Airtable, or similar - Build lightweight RAG pipelines (if technical support is available) - Small teams. Deep context. Structured prompting. Fast outcomes. This layered technique has been tested by some of the best in the field, including a few sharp voices worth following, including Allie K. Miller!

If you’re starting a new partner program, your first partners are not going to be Deloitte, Salesforce and Snowflake. I’ve helped 20+ startups build their partner programs. Everyone asks “How do we partner with [insert sexy logo w/huge customer list]?” That’s the wrong question. The correct question is, “How do we find the RIGHT early partners?” The ones that will drive value quickly and prove that partnerships work for your business. The answer can always be found with… Your customer. They’re already working with these partners. So, go listen to sales and CS calls. Dive into support tickets. Talk to your AEs and CSMs. Talk to the customer themselves. Find the gaps. The unmet needs. Map out your customer’s ecosystem. Ask, “What does our customer need that we don’t provide?” Find the sweet spot where your gaps and your potential partners’ capabilities align. This overlap is where you create value for everyone. Your customers are excited. Your product becomes stickier. Your partnership puts points on the board. It’s a win-win-win just waiting to happen. Start here and you’ll hit the ground running. Resit the urge to just chase the biggest logos. Build a program that delivers value throughout the customer journey. This will be your fastest path to success.

The insurance industry is opening its doors to innovation. Here’s why it matters. Years ago, Symbility, now a part of CoreLogic, pioneered the concept of an open ecosystem, allowing new tech vendors to seamlessly integrate via API. This move was revolutionary, fostering innovation and collaboration across the industry. We saw a similar approach from #coresystem vendors—many of which have established robust partner hubs to streamline integration and drive innovation. Today, it's exciting to watch giants like Verisk Property Estimating Solutions (Xactware) embrace this approach, creating a more collaborative and efficient ecosystem. What does this mean for our industry? 🏡 For Policyholders: Faster, more accurate, and more transparent claims resolutions. With data flowing seamlessly between systems, policyholders experience quicker claim settlements and clearer communication throughout the process, enhancing trust and satisfaction. 🏢 For Carriers: Increased efficiency and better customer satisfaction. Open ecosystems allow carriers to leverage the best solutions on the market, reducing manual work, minimizing errors, and improving overall workflow. This leads to more efficient operations and a better customer experience, ultimately strengthening the carrier’s competitive position. ⚙️ For TPAs and IA Firms: Streamlined processes, reducing friction. With integrated systems, TPAs and IA firms can handle claims more efficiently, reducing the time spent on data entry and verification. This not only speeds up the claims process but also reduces the potential for discrepancies and errors, ensuring more accurate outcomes. 🔨 For Restoration Contractors: Access to the latest tools, ensuring jobs are done right the first time. Integrated platforms give contractors access to advanced tools and real-time data, enabling them to assess and repair damages more accurately and efficiently. This leads to better service quality, fewer reworks, and stronger relationships with clients and insurers alike. An open ecosystem benefits everyone, driving the insurance industry forward into a new era of transparency, efficiency, and collaboration. It’s an exciting time to witness these changes! #InsurTech #InsuranceInnovation #APIIntegration #ClaimsManagement

Being agile and innovative is crucial for success in the constantly changing business landscape. Nick P. of Cloud Engineering at Fidelity Investments has shared a revolutionary approach called "empowered federation," which distributes the ownership of standards and best practices, allowing small groups to lead technical excellence and innovation within organizations. The Federated Model consists of three key elements: 1. Steering Group: This group comprises 5-10 members who are knowledgeable and passionate about specific technology problem areas. They align with the organization's technical needs and promote adopting best practices and standards inspired by open source projects. 2. Focus Groups: These groups work autonomously within their domain and help scale the steering group's strategy across the organization. They consist of engineers and technologists who help drive the adoption of best practices and standards. 3. Community: The heart of the model, where individuals collaborate, share knowledge, and network to foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Accelerating Adoption: The key to adopting new practices and standards is education. The model emphasizes the importance of demonstrating the value of these practices in real-world settings, building strategies transparently, measuring progress with clear metrics, and continually returning to education to drive innovation. Embracing a culture of knowledge sharing and best practices is crucial for agility and engineering excellence. Federated groups, supported by passionate communities, offer a robust framework for nurturing such a culture. https://lnkd.in/g_QcfuB5

Too many organizations are treating collaboration and innovation as separate efforts. But real breakthroughs come when the two work hand in hand. Take Procter & Gamble. When A.G. Lafley took over as CEO, he made a bold bet. Half of their new products wouldn’t come from internal R&D but through collaboration with outside partners. That decision led to game-changing innovations like the Swiffer Duster, a product P&G didn’t invent but improved through a partnership with Japan’s UniCharm. It was a win for both companies and a $100 million success in just four months. P&G didn’t stop there. They flipped traditional outsourcing on its head by creating an outcome-based partnership with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) for real estate and facilities management. Instead of squeezing suppliers for the lowest price, they worked together to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. The results? Award-winning collaboration, smarter buildings, and a competitive advantage built on trust. The future of business won’t be won by lone geniuses waiting for lightbulb moments. It will be won by companies that build highly collaborative relationships to unlock the full potential of their partners, suppliers, and employees. If innovation feels stuck in your organization, maybe it’s time to rethink how you collaborate. #Collaboration #Innovation #Leadership #Trust #FutureOfWork