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