Global Innovation Magazine - Featuring Team Sky

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The Powerbreather a new product that has got the world of swimming talking -

Tactical Sports Software How to Put a Value on an Athlete’s Brand? -

ISSUE 10 FEB 2017

Innovating with Team Sky


FOUNDER James O’Flynn CREATIVE DIRECTOR Aidan Creed Published by SoMoGo Publishing/ admin@somogopublishing.co.uk/ www.somogopublishing.co.uk Global Innovation Magazine is published every quarter /Copyright SoMoGo Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be stored or transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means, including photocopying, scanning, or otherwise without the written permission of SoMoGo Publishing Ltd. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply official endorsement of the products or services described. While care has been taken to ensure accuracy of content no responsibility can be taken for errors and/or emissions. Readers should take advice and caution before acting upon any issue raised in the magazine. The publisher reserves the right to accept or to reject advertising and editorial material supplied. The publisher assumes no responsibility for the safe return of unsolicited photography, art or writing.

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CONTENTS 002 | FOUNDERS VOICE THE SPORTS ISSUE 004 | AMSilk & Adidas Jens Klein CEO of AMSilk talks to us about the trainer collaboration with Adidas that produced a pair of biodegradable trainers using AmSilk’s innovative material Biosteel© (a nature based high performance fibre). 006 | Brandix Brandix gives football players and clubs real time value based information coming out of playing performance and off-field digital activity. Interview with CEO Jon Rosenblatt - Jon talks about his journey from post room at Virgin to CEO of one of the most exciting start-ups in the UK.

FEBRUARY 2017

014 | Kitman Labs Kitman Labs was founded by Stephen Smith, a former Irish rugby head trainer. Starting in 2012 Stephen and the team aim to turn abstract data into real-time actionable insights, ultimately reducing player injuries and optimizing athlete performance. 016 | News A few things that caught our gaze. 018 | The Powerbreather Interview with Jan von Hofacker who talks to us about this innovative new product that has got the world of swimming talking.

020 | NYU Stern Innovators Cliff Thornton takes us back to his old University and discovers some of the exciting and innovating companies that 008 | Globall Coach some of the alumni are spearheading. The Globall Coach software has evolved from a tool devised by football coach Rafael Benitez, to become one of the most talked about companies operating within the world of football. Special Projects Manager, Ciaran Skinner, gives us the inside take on working within one of the most glamourous sports in the world, and how things are not always as they seem. 010 | Team Sky Are a British professional cycling team that compete in the UCI World Tour, and arguably are one of the most successful teams in modern sport. We talked to Simon Jones the Head of Innovation and Performance to hear about his career, and how ‘being in the right place, at the right time’ was crucial.


FOUNDER’S VOICE

THE SPORTS ISSUE As a fan of the football team, Leicester City, 2016, for me is not going to be a year that is ever going to be repeated. What I mean by this is that my little team, a team not over washed with success during its history, won arguably the greatest prize in world club football, the Premier League during 2016. 2016 brought so much happiness to this small part of the world. I watched every game with anticipation and a perplexing sense of wonder, because never, ever, had I seen my team play this way before. As a father of 3 young boys however I did have to explain to them that this doesn’t really happen to Leicester City Football Club, and that they should suck it up, because it will never happen again. 2016 also brought us Leicester City fans back down to earth because a new season started. Within this new season we have shown our old qualities again, our very old ones which means we are now losing more than we win. It’s not easy, and to quote the band ‘James’ in their seminal hit ‘Sit Down’, “If I hadn’t see such riches I could live with being poor”. Anyway, chin up. This is our sports issue of 2017, and the 2015/16 football season was my sporting moment of a lifetime. I hope you enjoy the issue as well as finding it interesting enough to dig out some of the companies and products featured. Best James O’Flynn Founder

JAMES@GLOBALINNOVATIONMAGAZINE.COM

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


Š VisitBritain

founders voice |002


GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


AMSILK & ADIDAS

Collaboration and Creation

adidas has partnered with AMSilk to develop the first

our products will have a huge

premium innovation footwear made using silk biopolymers.

effect on the protection of the

for your younger self on your

What this means in real terms is that they have together

environment, one example

first day at work?

developed the world’s first performance shoe using Biosteel®

being, the shoe we have just

fiber, which is a replication of natural silk. Take this one step

made with adidas, which is fully

Be interested and excited but keep

further and it means that the trainer is 100% biodegradable

biodegradable.

some excitement back for the

in a fully natural process. This continues the adidas’ journey

What advice would you have

months to come. Take a deep,

towards sustainable innovation – from a starting point of

How did this collaboration

virgin plastics, to recycled plastics, to its partnership with

with adidas occur?

Parley for the Oceans and now a totally new frontier of

long breath! Any books you would

investing in solutions that leverage science and nature as an

We came up with the bionic

integral part of innovation.

fiber, which has all of this environmental integrity, and we

recommend to our readers? I like this book a lot, ‘Against the

Collaborating with adidas provides a unique set of exciting

spoke to and got into conversation

Gods: The Remarkable Story of

opportunities for AMSilk, as did the initial development phase

with adidas. There was a good

Risk’ by Peter Bernstein. Risk is

so Jens Klein, CEO of AMSilk, told GIM’s James O’Flynn.

connection and the relationship

so important in business and we

developed. The product that came

often forget that, this book places

out of this work with adidas looks

risk front and centre and I found it

cool and it has all the properties

to be really useful.

Tell us about yourself Jens.

of a high-performance shoe, I grew up in the south of

and at the same time you have

What words of advice have a

Germany with 2 sisters and

a fiber which is biodegradable

family member given you?

studied business administration

and unique. The future of this

at University. I worked as a

material is really exciting.

My parents always told me to

some time, and earned an MBA

What is your companies

Especially when you work in a

whilst in New York. I grew up in

approach towards

small organisation like AMSilk,

Stuttgart. Working in America

innovation?

‘walking the talk’ means a lot, it is

management consultant for

walk the talk and to be reliable.

was great, New York is one of my

really important.

favourite cities.

In general innovation is an effort which takes years so you need

What are you currently

Tell us about your work

good leadership and resource

working on?

at AMSilk

management. Innovation should

I am CEO of AMSilk, where we

We have great ideas of course,

take our product to the world

are providing silk biopolymers

but it boils down to making it

and to make it available to people

with unique functional properties.

happen, to bringing it to market

everywhere. We are really proud

We are producing them

and that takes time and effort.

of it and we think that it can have

sustainably using a patented

We encourage our staff to come

a definite impact in so many

and optimised biotechnological

forward with ideas which is also

different future products and

process, which is very mindful

really important for innovation.

innovations.

regarding the use of energy

We want to be a major player with

be part of your business strategy.

and carbon. This makes us a

our products so we have to be

leader in the field of industrial

quite diligent and focused upon

biotechnology. We hope that

the innovation process.

The most important thing is to

AMSILK & ADIDAS |004


Brandtix

IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN.

Brandtix are the sports industry’s first ever global index

Brandtix was created a year ago,

based and individual. Things are

platform, for real time athlete brand value analytics. What

to solve the challenge I had at

going really well.

does this mean? In short Brandtix take several streams of data

EA Sports which was working

in relation to athlete’s, from their performance and sporting

with sport talent to endorse a

What were the challenging

prowess to their social media value and combine them to

product, but never really truly

parts of the journey?

enable understanding in relation to each athlete’s brand.

understanding the value of the

If that still doesn’t make sense, it all becomes much clearer

brand on 2 legs. So, if I look at

The tough bits are trying to

from talking to their CEO Jon Rosenblatt, which is what

Ronaldo, Lebron James or Rory

convince investors that you

Global Innovation Magazine did.

Mcllroy they are brands, they

are going to disrupt a very

just happen to also be humans.

established consultancy and way

We would end up spending a

of business. Sports as an industry

Tell us about yourself

well. That then got the head of PR

fortune with consultants in the

is the most exciting sector in

to realise that I could be good for

past trying to work this out and

the world. However as forward

I grew up in Liverpool, until

them, as I was good at talking to

often all we got were very old

thinking as they are , only last

I was about 13 then I moved

people. That is what PR is isn’t it?

reports, based upon old thinking

year was a billion dollars spent

down south. I was educated in Hertfordshire from 13 to 18

that didn’t really produce value. It

in sports technology which is not

Literally from that day on I was

dawned on me that to understand

a lot of money if you compare the market and compare it next

at Aldenham school. Did my

in the video games business for

an athlete’s value on any given

A-Levels there, and ended up

about 20 years. I worked for big

day you had to take lots of data

to other markets like fintech.

doing a theology degree at Oxford

corporations like EA Sports and

streams and put them together

Sports sponsorship on its own

Brookes. When I was 21 I knew

Ubisoft. At EA Sports I become

in real time. So, with someone

is worth 60 billion dollars and

that theology wasn’t going to be

Marketing Director for Europe

like Ronaldo for example we

yet only a billion was invested

for me, and I always wanted to get

and Asia. Amazing time and

are taking performance data i.e.

in the tech side of things. It is

into entertainment, I wasn’t sure

amazing years.

how he performs on the pitch,

changing though. This is where

and blending the on-pitch stats

the opportunity is for us.

So why start Brandtix?

over the course of a period of time, together with his social

What is your current

I did feel like there was an

media statistics, where the fans

business model?

opportunity being missed, I have

are coming from, when and how

I landed a temp job in the post

always been analytic and insight

they are engaged, and wrapping

Clubs may take our product for

room at Virgin Interactive which

driven. In marketing I think you

sentiment analysis around this to

one player, or a brand may take

was Richard Branson’s original

can be either creative or analytic

understand the fans discussion.

if for all their boot wearers, there

gaming company. I was basically

and I am very analytically driven.

We have built a 24/7 index

are lots of different kinds of

how or when it would happen but I knew that it was for me, music, TV, Video games that whole world was so exciting.

in the post room but part of my

For any Chief Marketing Officer

currently of 1500 footballers

customers and opportunities. We

job, i.e. delivering mail meant that

today I think you need that perfect

across the Premier League and

sell a subscription to our product

I got to meet lots of interesting

blend between art and science

Champions League. We are now

which provides incredibly rich

people, lots of the executives, and

and if you have got that you’re

looking at branching this out

data and the opportunity to get

I got to know some of them quite

onto a winner.

across multiple sports, both team

insight via reports. Subscription

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


to our dashboard, reporting and

Leading by Alex Ferguson was

customisation of our tools are all

brilliant. I think he was one the

areas that customers can buy.

most incredible leaders the world

We want to be across all sports

has ever known.

and this is our ambition but presently we are football and

Do you have any words

Formula One focused. We are

of advice for people

looking at moving quite quickly

looking to follow their

into other areas though. No

business dreams?

one does quite what we do, by wrapping up sentiment data and

I think ‘focus’ is something which

performance data to come up

needs to be at the forefront of

with one overall score. There are

what you are doing. 30 people will

some great data sports companies

give you 30 different bits of advice

around sponsorship and social

so if you try and follow everyone

indexing, but our advantage is

you will get nowhere.

that we are unique. How is the business going? Do you find it a challenge to get the right staff?

It has been a huge challenge we are a young start up in a very

I think that we have been really

competitive space, but we are

lucky, in the sense that we have

getting traction now. Since the

been able to attract talent that

start of the season things have

want to work on really cool

been going great. We have been

products. Developers that we have

voted one of the best tech start

met in the past perhaps, whilst

up’s in the world, we are getting

they may have had the experience

there but to do anything properly,

and expertise, have perhaps found

it does take time.

that it can be culturally quite different to go from working in a bank or insurance company to working for a start-up. We are seeing more and more interest in people wanting to work for us. Any books that you would recommend?

BRANDTIX |006


Globall Coach

Coaching on a Global Scale

Soccer or football as us Brits prefer to call it, has no shortage

professional sports arena to help coaches with the delivery of tactics. We

of money floating around it, and you would think that

make life a lot easier and give great presentation options. It’s a central hub

would equate to an eco-structure that was at the forefront

for all the ideas and tactics towards the development of the team. When we

of innovation, and development. Well, that’s not quite as

start to show people the product people start to get enthused and it starts to

you would probably think, but things are accelerating at a

click and people get excited. The software looks the same on all platforms

massive pace currently. There are a number of start-ups and

and people are really responsive to it.

more established companies that are focusing on technology, software and analytics to support the beautiful game.

The tactics come from the coach, they may have analysed the opposition, they may have an idea as to how they will approach the game, but it’s when

Globall Coach are one such company, who are taking the

they tell the players this, when we come in. They can use Globall Coach and

coaches thoughts on tactics and approaches towards the

create animations really quickly. Every coach can have a log in and share

game and making them adaptable and visualised for all

with other staff and players.

staff and players to see. In the old days, a manager would move magnets around a board, or use a marker to illustrate tactics. Globall Coach enables this all to be done digitally, via software. Global Innovation Magazine spoke to Ciaran Skinner, special projects manager at Globall Coach to get his take on how football has evolved to embrace this new type of technology.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself Ciaran? I’m the special projects manager, the man in the middle between the users of software, clubs, coaches etc. and my colleagues at Globall Coach. Our new ideas all come from the users, so it’s my job to ensure that the customers are happy with it and to feedback any improvements that are suggested. Feedback tells us that our product is the closest thing to football that is out there. I’m 25 and a massive fan of football, grew up in Sheffield and went to university in Liverpool and studied human biology. I came across Globall Coach via a previous job, and I told them that I loved the product, started working for them, worked really hard and naturally fell into the role that I do now. Can you give us an overview of the product. There is nothing else out there like us, and we don’t really have many rivals, paper and pen perhaps, because if you need to get ideas out of your head as a coach then that’s what you probably use. We are designed for the

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


Where did the idea come from? Our CEO worked for the football coach Rafael Benitez, as part of his staff. Rafael needed to get some of his tactics across as part of an event and the idea came from there. It came from inside football. The insight that we get from all parts of the game is so valuable, we can come up with ideas but if I talk to a professional coach we get to hear direct what is needed. As we are unique we can’t necessarily borrow or innovate from others who are doing the same thing, because no one really is doing what we do. It must be a dream job for a football fan? It is, yes. Although for other fans looking in the reality is probably not quite what people would imagine. Its hard work but rewarding, particularly working with customers, coaches, players and getting feedback and then using that to improve the product. What is the business model? It’s an annual license, so we have one product for professional football, but this market is not as big as you would think. We have another product called Globall Coach Junior which is for the grass roots teams. It is popular in America where they have an incredible amount of youth players and the market is really big for that particular product. Do you have a particular approach towards innovation? We have an in-house development team, they are really talented so it’s great to be working with them. We are honest, so if we can’t do something we are quite upfront, which I think is refreshing. We work with Agile in short sprints and iterate constantly so there is value being delivered all the time for customers. We can get fast feedback from customers this way and rather than doing all the planning up front with slow delivery, we are fast because we are delivering after every sprint. Is there any advice you wish you would have had at the start of this journey? I have worked really hard and the software is becoming successful and getting better. You just need to make sure that you focus on what is needed ‘now’ for the customer. Sometimes people miss the focus on the product, and developing it via speaking to the customer. That’s really important. I was always think that football gets a bad reputation and that it gets hit with a big stick, but other sports can learn a lot from football. There are some really clever things going on at the moment. Learn more about Globall Coach at their website www.globallcoach.com

GLOBALL COACH |008


GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


Innovating at Team Sky

‘Innovation is very seldom this eureka moment, it comes from a lot of hard graft’. Team sky are the cycling team that need very little introduction. Suffice to say that they are the cycling team that the man on the Clapham omnibus could name. What is also quite well known about this cycling team is that they have a culture of success, of perfection and endeavour to reach the very top, and you don’t get to that place without innovation being part of your dna. To that end it made perfect sense for Global Innovation Magazine to talk to Team Sky’s, Head of Performance Support and Innovation, Simon Jones, to get the lowdown on innovation at Team Sky.

Tell me a bit about yourself Simon?

really the career path in sport that there is today, unless you were a pro.

I come from Bristol. I was a really keen cyclist from a young age,

I went to Cardiff University in

from about 11 that was my passion

1992, I managed to get on that

and I always used to watch the

course without having a massive

cycling on television, particularly

science background. I learnt quite

the Tour de France. Academically,

quickly and realised that physics

I wasn’t great at school, I always

was a massive part of cycling, and

just wanted to be a bike rider, I

found that really interesting. My

grew up on the edge of quite a

interest wasn’t in the academics

rough part of Bristol and my

per se, but really in the application,

memories of school are not great

so taking the science and applying

to be honest.

it to particular situations.

I followed my passion for cycling

Do you live in the

and raced in France for a year as

Bristol area?

an amateur, I wanted to be a pro but didn’t make it. My friend then

I do. I moved back recently after

told me about a degree course

spending years in Manchester UK,

called ‘sport science’. I managed

and before that some time

to get enough A-Levels for me to

in Australia.

think about pursuing that course. Back then though there wasn’t

TEAM SKY |010


What did you do after

looking at things that we

will always be key for us here, it

Are there any books or films

University?

know will have an impact. Our

is so important.

that you would recommend

framework keeps us focused and I got a job with British Cycling,

to our readers?

in line with our culture.

Modelling and prediction are

time basis, after seeing the ad

What is the culture at

do lots of work around, looking

exploration, so the film

in the Guardian newspaper. I

Team Sky?

at strategies around team and

‘Interstellar’ was great. I am quite

individual performance, then

aware of the science behind it, at a lay level at least, so I got it.

as a sports scientist on a part

also another key area that we

remember flicking through and

A really like space and space

seeing the advert and being

I guess it is one where people are

looking at how we can implement

surprised to even see such a job.

never satisfied. We are always

those key findings into the field

There really wasn’t many jobs

thinking about how we could do

of competition. Once we start

In terms of books I am more of

in this area of sport back then.

better, never standing still. The

thinking about problems we

a scanner and a flicker rather

So, that was that, I did that for

reason why? is perhaps that

often find those small gains,

than a book reader. However I

a few years and that was just

we just don’t like to lose, and

those marginal gains are really

was listening to a podcast by Dr

before the lottery money came

if you don’t like losing that’s a

important as we win and lose on

Michael Gervais the other day

into the system. I then became

great impetus for change and

that basis.

which was good, all around the

The things that failed, are always

I can recommend your readers

an endurance coach, without

review. That’s the unsexy bit

too much experience of doing it

of innovation, there is a lot of

psychology of high performance,

beforehand actually. My career

intensity and soul searching. No

the good ones to look back on

looking into that and checking out

really has been about being in

one is settling for second best.

as well. We tried to implement

his work.

Any examples that you can

displayed to the riders through

You can find out more about Team

Tell us about your role at

share with us as to how you

various visual technology, heads

Sky at www.teamsky.com

Team Sky.

have improved aspects of

up display that kind of thing, but it

performance?

wasn’t quite there at the time. It’s

scan in regards to knowledge.

If you’re looking at innovation

at that particular time, was just not

Looking for things that will

from a continuous performance,

working 100%. We got some great

right place at the right time.

some ideas around having data

I support the team, and I horizon

not a new idea, but embedding it

improve the performance of the

improvement perspective, then

feedback though from the riders

team is perhaps the easiest way

there have been lots of examples

and that’s all part of the process

as to how we have improved.

of development. Innovation is

Aerodynamics for one, we

very seldom this eureka moment,

to describe what I do. That sounds quite wide.

worked quite closely with other

it comes from a lot of hard graft,

organisations on improving

but we are intensely focused and

It is, but we have a performance

things in that area, Jaguar the car

we are always searching for new

framework so I’m always

manufacturer for one. This area

opportunities for improvement.

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


“we just don’t like to lose, and if you don’t like losing that’s a great impetus for change and review”

TEAM SKY |012


Kitman Labs

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES

Kitman Labs are on a mission. To enable elite sports teams to

their team. We have over 30

to get people on board with that

win through injury reduction. In capturing relevant athlete

people with a unique blend of

and getting people to understand

data and applying algorithms grounded in scientific research,

skills working on this day in and

where we wanted to go. Trying

their products and services provide actionable insights on

day out. This is something that

to get people to believe in the

injury risk that allow coaches and staff to take preventative

our clients find valuable.

opportunity and that we could

training and treatment actions before injuries occur. In doing

capitalise on it. That took lots of

so, teams can improve player availability and deliver stronger

It sounds like you cover a lot

effort. Very definitely for us, we

team results.

of data points, how do you

didn’t have a business background

James O’Flynn spoke to Founder and CEO Stephen Smith

make it easy for a team when

so it was a big jump to running a

dealing with this much data?

company, but I think that people

We learn their workflow, the

and passionate and that the

while he was traveling in Sydney Australia.

Do you want to tell us a bit about your background?

understood that we were excited environment that they work in,

approach that we took had some

on this we realised that we needed

and the demands that are placed

knock-on implications for not

a solution to mitigate risk that was

on them so we can help teams

only elite sport, but for consumer

very individualised. To this end, I

focus on the biggest areas of

driven spaces as well. So yes, it

My background is that I worked

founded the company and looked

impact. It is all about speed as

was hard in the early days but we

in professional rugby for my

to involve scientists and engineers,

you may only see your athletes

are not unique, most companies

entire career. I have always been

to provide the unique approach,

for a short window each day, so

have those challenges to overcome.

fascinated by sports medicine. I

that is Kitman Labs.

collecting the data easily is crucial.

started working for Leinster rugby where I was responsible for injury

It would be good to get an

prevention and rehabilitation for

overview of Kitman Labs.

the club. We put a lot of emphasis

Our solution means coaches don’t

Do you have a particular

have to double handle data, or

approach towards innovation

spend hours extrapolating data.

in the company?

We came from that background,

on getting athletes back to work

We are a sports and data science

we lived it and we are on a mission

Innovation is at the heart and soul

as soon as we could. The bottom

company, we produce software

to make things better by reducing

of what we do, and I think that if

line though, was how could we

and tools to manage sports

injuries in the teams and athletes

we don’t innovate as a company

prevent injury in the first place?

science needs, and we are a data

that we work with.

The sports science evolution was

science company. We are unique

just kicking off, we were the first

in the sense that we place injuries

northern hemisphere team, I think, to start using GPS, so we were

we are dead. There are plenty of tools out there to collect and

Having the idea for the

store information but what we

at the centre of what we are doing,

business is one thing but

are doing is trying to be smart

we relate all the data we collect

making it a reality

about it, and build upon this to

very forward looking. However, at

back to injury events. What this

another matter.

deliver back a layer of knowledge

the start we had all this data and

allows us to do is to customise

and insight that powers decision

we didn’t know how to interpret

the data and how teams use it, to

Yes, there were lots of challenges

making. Innovation is key and

it to fully utilise and understand

make important decisions around

in those early days to be honest.

drives everything we do. I don’t

what it meant. I decided to start

their athlete’s performance.

Everyday. I think at the start we

drive this on my own, all the team

a Masters looking into research

Teams don’t just get software

were trying to paint a vision for

know it themselves and they drive

around athletic injury and based

from us, we are the team behind

what we were doing, and trying

and push innovation everyday.

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


We very definitely operate as one

different challenges, but no, it’s

overcome. If you want to have a

team. We are proud of this, we are

really superb. We work across

go, and if you have a strong sense

all passionate about this, and we

21 different leagues and we are

of belief and passion then go all

look for people to challenge. We

touching all corners of the world,

in, 100%. Other people can’t tell

certainly don’t want ‘yes’ men or

India, New Zealand, Europe etc.

you about the sense of pride that

women working here. We want

We are disrupting, it’s different

you will feel either, when you

staff with strong personalities and

and really rewarding. We work

take those first few steps towards

ideas. We are lucky as that’s the

across every kind of sport really,

success. We are working with

kind of people that are at the core

track, field, soccer, cricket and

really inspiring teams and athletes

of our company.

rugby to name a few.

across the globe. To look back

They are quite hard things to

Are there any books or films

judge in an interview when

that have really influenced

it your all, that’s my advice for

you’re looking for staff, things

you in some way recently?

other people who are considering

and see how far we have come is

like talking truth to power?

incredible. Just go for it and give

making the leap into business. Yes, there are 2 books that I am

It is difficult and you don’t always

passionate about. One is called

get it right. We involve numerous

‘Legacy’ which is about the All

people in the interview process.

Blacks. I absolutely love it, it

What we are looking for is key

is fascinating. Success doesn’t

traits and a cultural fit. Once

need to mean arrogance which is

someone has showcased that

something that for me the New

they have the right skill set we

Zealand Rugby team never had.

look at things like personality. If

They were hugely successful but

they don’t fit with us we won’t be

very grounded and I think that’s

able to nurture them. It hugely

a book by James Kerr. The Talent

important that they can get along

Code by Daniel Coyle is also great

with us and if they can that’s a

and it is about how you can find

great foundation on which to build.

talent in sport, looking at coaching, genetics etc. Fascinating read if

So how is the business

you are interested in coaching.

progressing? Are there any words of advice Great. We have been going for 4

you wish you had heard at the

years now. Our first 2 years were

start of this journey?

very much bootstrapped, there were only 2 or 3 people working

Nobody can prepare you for

here. Now we have more than

how hard things will be or

30 people which introduces

the problems you will have to

KITMAN LABS |014


GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


NEWS Project ANT-ARCTIC-LAB

A few things that caught our gaze GT2 - Introducing the

Let it Grow, Let it Grow

GT Spreader The ANT-ARCTIC-LAB is a highly

This undertaking will be another

ambitious yacht building and

extreme sailing adventure for

We love stories about real people

Let it Grow is an innovative initiative developed by Royal

sailing challenge that highlights

skipper Norbert Sedlacek Koch,

at GIM. Those stories when

FloraHolland. It offers ‘innovators’

several industrial developments

which will take him more than

someone has burnt the midnight

a platform by developing new

which bring more sustainability to

34.000 nautical miles and around

oil, designing a product and

applications for flowers and

the marine industry.

seven months on his 60ft. racing

pushing a business are the ones

plants. Promising innovations are

yacht Open60. He will navigate

that connect most strongly to us

given that helping hand needed

The goal is to sail a 60ft. yacht,

through the most dangerous

and here is one such story.

single-handed, nonstop and

waters on our planet, through

to realise a concept or idea. Ideas like ‘Sprinklr’ which delivers

without assistance from Les

ice, stormy waters, the doldrums

Tim Hudson, Owner/Inventor

seasonal boxes with a special

Sables d’Olonne (FRA) to the

and many more. Good Luck

starting by dumping salt on his

selection of plants taken directly

Arctic, through the Northwest

Norbert from all at Global

counter and using cardboard

from sustainable growers to the

Passage, down the Pacific Ocean

Innovation Magazine.

to spread it out. Then creating

consumer’s home. The Sprinklr

and passing Cape Hoorn to

a small bench top prototype in

app helps them keep the plants

circumnavigate the Antarctic

his home shop, the concept of

green, making it easy and fun to

continent. After rounding Cape

spreading aggregate at reduced

create a green oasis at home.

Hoorn a second time, the journey

speeds began.

will continue north through

Find out more at

the Atlantic Ocean to the final

When it came to slow speed

destination of Les Sables

deployment of gravel on driveways,

d’Olonne (FRA).

www.royalfloraholland.com

farm yards, and small towns, TJM Trucking needed a solution. TJM’s

ANT-ARCTIC-LAB challenge will

solution was to create a product

take place from July 2018 until

that gives an operator the option

February 2019. To succeed, the

to spread aggregate at reduced

yacht will be built using 100%

speeds yet still allowing the trailer

sustainable and/or recyclable

to haul other material, killing 2

materials.

birds with one stone. For more information go to www.mygtspreader.com

NEWS |016


The Powerbreather

Experience Swimming and Snorkelling in a new dimension

The Powerbreather is an innovative sports tool for swimming,

In 2003 things changed and

As part of the testing, did

triathlon and diving. No matter how long and intensively you

my friends approached me to

you get good feedback

swim, it supplies you with optimum oxygen without water

look at being a shareholder, and

from people?

infiltrating - in contrast to conventional snorkels. The upshot

a driver behind launching the

being that you can improve your technique and concentrate

product. I thought about it, put

Oh yes, people that used the

on swimming rather than getting a mouthful of water, or a

together a business plan to try and

product gave us awesome

less than optimal lung full of air.

understand the product and market

feedback. People are really

better. That brought us to where

happy with what we have done.

Global Innovation Magazine spoke to Jan Von Hofacker, the

we are now, we really think that we

Yesterday I got feedback from

Managing Director behind the AMEO Powerbreather.

have a product that is the snorkel

one of our customers who lives in

Mark 2.0, a second-generation

America and they told me: “the

snorkel, which can generally

Powerbreather revolutionizes

A little about your

Many years ago, I visited a friend

change the understanding of how

swimming, thanks for the

background Jan please.

who showed me a prototype,

to swim in the future.

invention”. That kind of feedback

Sure, I was born in Munich

mouthpiece. My friend said try it.

just 2 pipes, left and right and a

is invaluable and brilliant to hear. What problem does this solve,

Germany, I’m 53 years old. I

We were in the Balearic Islands

what does it give us that we

The challenge is also about

did an apprenticeship in a bank

so I went for a swim, but I wasn’t

didn’t have before?

education though, as yes, it is

initially, as a first step then I

a great swimmer. Although I do

studied economics. I started a

a lot of sports, my best marathon

Most people have the problem

snorkel but it has many new

more expensive than a normal

business in the financial sector,

was a 2:43 hours. 200 metres

that when they front crawl, as

benefits which a conventional

it was a financing company for

crawling was ok but after that I

an exercise, they are not able to

snorkel does not have. It is about

family owned businesses, we were

used to get exhausted if I swam

breathe properly, the technique is

changing people’s perception and

quite successful. We started with

much more. What I found when

very hard. Turn left, turn right and

once they try it people love it.

3 people, me and my partners

I tried the prototype was that I

breathe. This is a great challenge

and ended up having around

improved immediately, it was

for most people. You could use a

Did you face any particular

50 people employed by us. The

a ‘wow’ moment, I was able

snorkel but you are not breathing

challenges in starting up

crash in 2008 was dramatic for

to crawl half an hour without

in 100% fresh air, particularly

the company?

all businesses in financing, this

taking a rest. That was my first

as your intensity increases. Our

was an important experience

experience with the product. The

product gives you the chance to

It is an innovative product and the swim sector has big players in

though, for being an entrepreneur.

owners of the patent, my friends,

front crawl for longer distances

That’s what I am. I love being

were looking originally to just

with a good quality of air, and a

it, who have their own products

an entrepreneur, building up

sell the patent, but I thought

freedom that allows you to get

for swimming. If people have

companies and that is in part why

it needed to be developed to

into rhythm and flow. Longer

bought a product for 35 years

I decided to do this once again

a sellable level and often big

distance swimming, free and calm,

at a certain price and all of a

with the Powerbreather.

companies don’t wish to do this,

while watching the beauty of the

sudden, a new product is out

so that’s why some years passed

underwater world. We at

which costs more, then this is a

So how did you get involved

and the Powerbreather still

AMEO call this new experience

challenge, although it has new,

with the Powerbreather?

wasn’t on the market.

‘swim trekking’.

highly valuable benefits for the

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


user. Also, coaches and trainers,

skiing, running, cross-country, as

team with lots of skills, but always

Powerbreather people’s lives have

getting them to use the product is

well as for asthmatics.

remain focused on your core goals.

been enriched. Perhaps after a

So how is the business going?

Are there any books or films

reconnected to swimming and

something to address. Change can be tough for people to adapt to,

period of illness people have

but this is normal and something

that you would recommend?

found peace this way, and this

we continue to work on.

Yes we are happy with how things

Does the product allow you to

every month and we are seeing

our product is ‘The Big Blue’.

Find out more at

improve your cardiovascular

more and more connectivity

When I swim with the product

www.powerbreather.com

performance?

in our core markets which are

I really connect with this film.

Europe, UK, USA and Australia.

We are not just about making

combine technique and interval

What advice would you have

are more than that, we have a

training as you always get 100%

for young entrepreneurs?

vision, which is about connecting

fresh air. There is a membrane

The most important thing,

with the elements, connecting

to give you lung muscle training

alongside creating a realistic

with the planet and the sea. Our

which is available on some of the

business plan is to be focused

feedback from customers has said

Powerbreathers. In other words,

from the beginning. We have so

to us that since using the

are progressing, volume goes up

There are several benefits. You can

means a lot. An old movie that connects with

money here at the company, we

you can adjust the membrane to

many ideas, so many challenges

allow more or less oxygen through,

and opportunities but you need

which is a lung muscle training

to remain focused. You

technique. This respiratory

need a great

training is very good for all kind of sports – swimming, triathlon, boxing, football,

POWERBREATHER |018


NYU STERN Innovators

Alumni Paving the Way to the Future in Energy Monitoring & Management and Digital Media Software

By Clifford M. Thornton, New York University, Leonard

business education leader as well as a positive force for social

N. Stern School of Business, BS Business Administration,

change (i.e. corporate responsibility).

Marketing, 1997 Stern has a strong influence on business throughout the I believe that people are at the heart of innovation.

world since many of its Alumni originate from all corners of

For example, when we think of electric lightbulbs, we

the globe. Through its evolution and expansion, it now has

automatically think about Thomas Edison and when we

multiple partner programs throughout Europe, Asia, and

think about flight, we think of the Wright Brothers. For it

Australia. Besides working to provide its programs throughout

is individuals who conceive of a new product and service

the world, Stern is also dedicated to fostering an innovative

and then work tirelessly to develop it, structure a team and

and entrepreneurial environment. One of the key components

organization around it, and eventually bring it to market.

of Stern’s innovation engine is its W.R. Berkley Innovation

These innovators are driven by identifying an unmet market need, a better way to do something, or a way to make their business more competitive.

Lab, launched in 1982. The lab’s website describes its objective, “Through an array of co-curricular activities, the Berkley Lab equips students, alumni, and researchers from across NYU’s campus with the skills, know-how and ability to launch and

My Alma Mater, New York University, Leonard N. Stern

grow sustainable ventures.” Luke Williams, an internationally

School of Business (i.e. known to most as “Stern”) has

recognized authority on innovation leadership and author

been traditionally known as a “finance school”. This

of “Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation

perception is driven by many of its graduates flocking to

in Your Business” (FT Press, 2011), is the Executive Director

positions with investment banks and corporate finance

of the W.R. Berkley Innovation Lab. He is also a Clinical

management positions. However, in recent decades, Stern

Professor of Innovation & Marketing.

MBA programs have greatly expanded related curriculums and now 20 distinct specializations are offered, including

In order to provide some real-world examples of NYU Stern

Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Stern, a New York City

Alumni who are carrying the torch of innovation for the school

based business school, is ranked within the top-20 business

I would like to present you with two related interviews. I asked

schools for MBAs and within the top-5 for undergrads by

these Alumni both about their perceptions of innovation as a

U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, it is ranked third in

profession and endeavor as well as how they are pushing the

business research contribution by the School of Management

boundaries of innovation to strengthen the companies which

at the University of Texas at Dallas. Stern has been a leading

they are affiliated with as well as bring to market advanced

business school in the United States and throughout the world

and previously unavailable products and services. Our

for over a century as it was established in 1900 and it is a

discussions generated a great deal of insights on innovation

founding member of the Association to Advance Collegiate

as well as the market and technological forces which are

Schools of Business. Stern’s current Dean, Peter Blair Henry,

supporting and driving the need for their commercial

an economist, is dedicated to maintaining Stern’s stature as a

products and services.

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


Interview with Felix Lipov, Lead Software Developer, Enertiv, Inc. What does innovation mean to you from both historical and modern perspectives? Innovation is a function of time and place of where you are. For example, the iPhone or Android. It’s about seeing something new; a new perspective which is not familiar. What aspects in the field of innovation fascinate and motivate you? Creative endeavor and new technology. It’s what you do with it. Connecting the dots. Taking these things and putting it together. Things that motivate me regarding Enertiv are developing a system for managing data that represents energy use and building understanding from there. New technologies, whether they be sensors, connectivity, data and servers are reaching price points, where they can now be effectively leveraged together in new and novel ways. At the same time, data in itself is no longer interesting, but rather how can we take disparate data sources and derive insights from their interaction. Please tell me about both your company’s existing and soon-tobe-released products/services. According to the EPA, 40% of energy in buildings is wasted. We believe one of the key reasons for this is that there is not adequate transparency for building managers in terms of how much energy their buildings are using. We want to bring the percentage of energy that is wasted down to zero and to give building managers a way for them to stop throwing money away. Enertiv provides software and solutions for monitoring energy consumption of commercial real estate. These properties have not had at their disposal the type of analytics that we offer. Data without analytics doesn’t equate to insights. Typical buildings with a handful of data points cannot provide insights into its operations. Enertiv’s solutions provide direct, real-time understanding of what’s going on, maximizing operational efficiency, while keeping tenants comfortable. We are working to build better sensors, software, and analytics, leveraging existing data streams and adding more as necessary to get the pulse of a building. We call this “Enertiv AI”, as in asset intelligence. Right now, a lot of buildings are “working in the dark.” We work mostly with commercial building managers and owners as well as Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). Our thinking with all of this is, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” What is your company’s vision or roadmap for these products/services?

NYU STERN |020


Collecting much more granular information. Collecting anomalies on building equipment failures. An example is an internal ventilation fan. There’s a lot that can go wrong in commercial buildings. Motor failures. Our software allows building managers to see what’s going on so that they can isolate the problem. We’re also doing more benchmarking - here’s how it could or should work. Tying the various data stream to provide real-time notifications. We also want to create solutions that work across the board. Please discuss some of the trends in your field or forces which are driving the technology which your products/services rely upon? Building more power plants, which depend on fossil fuels are not sustainable. The electrical grid as we know it will be driven on the basis of data. We feel that more effective management of energy consumption is a key part of this equation. We also want to make our customer’s property more valuable. We are asking ourselves, how do we leverage this information and gain 8-15% energy savings. Do you see any disruptive technologies in your field on the horizon? Enertiv is disruptive. What we have done has been too hard and too expensive for other entities in the past. We feel that the Enertiv team and technology can now accomplish these things. Enertiv was launched in 2011, so we have been doing this a fairly long time. We have familiarized ourselves with granular data across a large cross section of equipment over many years such that we can quickly identify problems, solely by looking at data. That knowledge continues to grow as our algorithms learn over time. Is there anything else that you would like to add? Yes, Enertiv is the first New York company to get into the NYSERDA Real Time Energy Management (RTEM) program. This program offers commercial properties, which purchase our solution with up to a 30% subsidy from the state of New York. The realization is coming that to optimally run a building, more data is necessary, as well as the insights that Enertiv that can provide to guide operations to the max. Company Website: www.enertiv.com

Interview with Richard Napoli, CEO – ObjectFrontier Software (OFS), Inc. Company Website: www.objectfrontier.com What does innovation mean to you from both historical and modern perspectives?

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


Innovation is the offspring of both necessity and dreams. We are driven to innovate either when we are pressed against a wall with a problem or when we dream of what life could be like. People tend to stick with what they know unless they are compelled to change. The Wright Brothers, for example, dreamt of the wonders of flight and worked hard to build a device to enable that. In the digital world which I’m involved with, we’re seeing a type of renaissance in our industry. In the next 100 years, our world will change at a pace not seen since the original Renaissance period in the 15th century. Looking back before that time, most knowledge was passed on through apprenticeship and it took years to learn and master. But once the printing press was invented in 1440 and people learned to read, they were able to more quickly learn what was already out there in their field and then build on top of that knowledge. That led to an explosion of ideas and inventions that spurred on the Industrial Revolution. The software world was in the pre-Renaissance period until recently because there was no repeatable framework available until around 2010. Up until then, the hardware, software, and networks kept changing dramatically every 10 years and we had to start over and rebuild everything. But, since around 2010 (which corresponds to the introduction of the iPad and the emergence of real cloud computing), software developers finally have a robust framework of mobile devices, cloud computing, and APIs that are truly leverageable for the first time. So we don’t have to reinvent everything each time we build new software. This saves a great deal of time and as a result, dramatically speeds the development time and shortens the release cycle. So we have entered a digital Renaissance period now where we can use robust technology to do basic (development) chores and focus on the important new stuff instead. In the past, we had maybe one software release per year and it was a big effort. Now, we can do a release within a week or even a few days. These days, for example, Amazon releases new software every thirty seconds! What aspects in the field of innovation fascinate and motivate you? I like to think in terms of business needs. For example, when contemplating a new product, a key question to ask is “What one thing in the industry is impossible to do today, that if you made it possible, would change how an industry works”. On example is 3D Printing. With this amazing technology, for example, you no longer have to worry about running out of spare parts. You can just get the specs and print out the part locally.

NYU STERN |022


As far as ObjectFrontier, we’re a software engineering company supporting multiple industries. One question that I like to ask is, “What assumptions are baked into the industry that we can break with

Because of the tremendous amounts of data that is being generated in certain fields, we are doing a lot of work in data science. The new technologies in this space allow us to digest many trillions of bytes of

new technology? For example, prior to ride-sharing companies like

data in near-real time. For example, a single flight across the Atlantic can

Uber and Lyft, there was a high barrier to entry in the taxi industry.

generate petabytes of data (i.e. due to all of the monitoring equipment

There were a lot of associated costs to get into that business; obviously

that is now standard on commercial aircrafts). So, with all of this data

that has all changed now.

available, the question then is, “How do you aggregate it up and find patterns quickly so that decisions can be made at the right time?”

The thing about innovation and business is that everyone wants to be the next Apple, but the reality is that very few will. I like the Edison

We’re developing software to harness the latest in Natural Language

approach to innovation, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety

Processing and Machine Learning Tools such as Spark to give us the

nine percent perspiration.”

speed and insight we need for all this data. And given that this data crunching involves a lot of regression analysis and mathematical

Please tell me about both your company’s existing and soon-

modeling, we have a number of math and statistical wizards on our team.

to-be-released products/services. Do you see any disruptive technologies in your field on We don’t actually sell products, we sell software engineering services

the horizon?

to build digital products for our customers to help them drive their revenue. Once we complete a project, our customers own the software

That’s the exciting thing about the technology industry and the time

we built. One key and successful project that we worked on was for

period we’re in now-there are MANY disruptive technologies emerging

a major sports network that covered the PGA Championships. In

right now. The two that we’re investing the most in right now are

order to improve their viewership (i.e. which is correlated with

Augmented Reality (think Pokémon Go) and IoT (Internet of Things).

advertising dollars), we developed a special TV app for them. Viewers

Both of them are already exerting pressure on existing businesses to

could download this app to their SmartTVs. Then, while watching

think in new ways and are enabling new business models to emerge.

Tiger Woods tee off, they could pull-up his scorecard and standings, using their TV’s remote-control. This made the game an interactive

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

experience for them. The client won an “Appy Award”, sponsored by MediaPost, for this effort, and we were happy to have built it for them.

We need more creative thinkers to enter the technology arena and bring their unique perspective. In my day, people stayed away from

What is your company’s vision or roadmap for these

technology as something too geeky. But now, technology is everywhere

products/services?

and can be used in so many amazing ways. So, for those of you out

As I mentioned earlier, we provide software engineering services to our

part of the digital Renaissance age that is just beginning!

there deciding where to make your career, I encourage you to become clients but the intellectual property (IP) is theirs. So consequently, I can’t share any plans we have to enhance our customers’ products. I will say in general, however, that we are heavily invested in mobile, cloud, data analytics, and augmented reality (AR) technologies that we utilize in our customers’ products to help them execute their digital transformation strategies. Every company is now faced with transforming and reinventing their business model with modern technology that engages their customers in new ways - think Uber, NetFlix, Betterment, StichFix, etc. and we are in the business of helping companies like those to envision and execute that transformation. Please discuss some of the trends in your field or forces which are driving the technology which your products/ services rely upon?

GLOBAL INNOVATION | FEB 2017


NYU STERN |024



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