Dive into the dynamic world of finance with our latest analysis highlights, exploring hot topics from the fintech funding industry.

Mapping the contextual fintech evolution (Calcalistech)

Noam Inbar, a Partner at Viola FinTech, discusses the evolution of embedded finance and emphasizes the shift towards contextual finance for a more personalized customer experience. While embedded finance has shown potential, it often lacks significant value beyond basic distribution. Contextual finance, on the other hand, focuses on integrating financial services into the customer’s primary goals, delivering personalized and timely experiences. Inbar highlights examples of contextual finance in insurance, financing, and banking, illustrating how it enhances the customer journey. Read more

The Illusion Of Alignment: Why Your Strategy Execution Is Failing (Chief Executive)

In the quest for effective strategy execution, frequent communication alone does not guarantee shared understanding among teams. Shared context, or a common understanding of strategic goals and priorities, is essential. To achieve this, leaders should simplify communication, define success criteria clearly, encourage open discussions, and address challenges transparently. By fostering shared context, organizations can enhance alignment and drive more effective execution of their strategies. Read more

Ventures Should Solve Problems, Not Chase Hypes (Medium)

In today’s fast-paced corporate venture landscape, the allure of emerging technologies often overshadows the fundamental goal of solving real-world problems. This article advocates for a shift in focus, urging corporate ventures to prioritize problem-solving over technological hype. By understanding and addressing genuine market needs, ventures can create meaningful value for their customers. The article highlights the dangers of falling into the “hype trap” and emphasizes the importance of grounding innovation in a deep understanding of the problem and its context. Through real-world examples, it illustrates how ventures can succeed by aligning technology with solving tangible problems. Ultimately, by adhering to these principles, ventures can lead the way towards a new era of impactful and sustainable innovation. Read more

Innovation Accounting is for Everyone (Innovation Accounting Book)

Innovation accounting, once seen as a luxury reserved for mature innovators, is now recognized as relevant for companies at all levels of innovation maturity. While basic governance is essential, even novice companies can benefit from tracking indicators like the number of ideas in their innovation funnel to gauge interest and investment in innovation. Competent companies with some governance in place may track indicators like the suitability rate of each stage in the innovation funnel to understand the effectiveness of their system. Expert and leader-level companies, with fully developed innovation systems, may track indicators like the new product vitality index to assess innovation’s contribution to growth and sustainability. Measuring innovation is not a one-time switch but a journey that evolves with the company’s needs and capabilities. Therefore, it’s crucial for companies to start measuring innovation now and continually improve their practices over time, just as the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today. Read more

Overcoming Common Challenges to Disruptive Innovation (Harvard Business Review)

The article delves into the persistent struggles companies encounter while striving for disruptive innovation and provides insightful strategies to surmount these obstacles. It identifies four prevalent challenges: grappling with uncertainty, emphasizing market development, securing stakeholder support, and cultivating a culture conducive to disruption. By effectively tackling these challenges, organizations can substantially improve their prospects of achieving successful disruptive innovation initiatives. Read more

Sustainable Innovations – How To Close The Say-Do Gap (Innov8tors)

Businesses face a significant gap between consumers’ desire for sustainable products and their actual purchasing behavior. While the majority express interest in sustainability, only a small fraction follow through with sustainable purchases. Understanding diverse consumer segments—Super Sustainable, Conflicted, Relaxed, and Anti-Sustainable—is crucial for tailoring strategies. Overcoming barriers like price sensitivity, convenience, lack of awareness, cultural norms, and product performance concerns requires targeted approaches. Developing a growth plan involves strategic portfolio development, segment-specific marketing, partnerships, consumer education, and transparent monitoring. By integrating sustainability into innovation processes and product portfolios, businesses can differentiate themselves and capitalize on opportunities for growth in a sustainability-focused market. Read more

Building Capacity For Breakthrough Innovation (Innov8tors)

Breakthrough innovation revolutionizes industries by introducing radical changes, as opposed to incremental improvements. Gina O’Connor outlines a roadmap for fostering breakthroughs, emphasizing a clear understanding of innovation types and the need for specialized approaches. Organizations must cultivate a culture of ambidexterity, balancing exploration and exploitation. They need dedicated teams and supportive structures for breakthroughs, not just sporadic efforts. Developing innovation capabilities involves a multifaceted approach, integrating organizational structure, culture, and strategic intent. Leaders play a crucial role in championing innovation and overcoming organizational resistance. Challenges include technical and market uncertainties, resource allocation, and resistance to change. Lufthansa’s Innovation Hub exemplifies how organizations can scale innovation capabilities and culture, emphasizing behavioral transformation, skill development, and reshaping operating models to embed innovation into the organization’s DNA. Read more

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