Innovation has become a cornerstone for corporate growth, yet its meaning is as varied as the methods to achieve it. From my 20+ years leading new technology initiatives across Visa, Amazon, and Alphabet (parent company of Google, Youtube…), I've witnessed everything from innovation theater showcasing superficial concepts to disruptive products that are too premature for the market. Amidst this spectrum lies a pragmatic approach to progress towards real innovation: agile development, rapid prototyping, and securing early customer and investor interest as avenues for effective results and sustainable growth.

As a new “AI supercycle” is here, the imperative for companies to place strategic bets on future growth has never been more urgent. These efforts must be executed in high volumes and velocity to reduce risks, gather enough learnings, and increase the chances of market leadership and future financial returns. 

Companies like Fortive, a Washington based Fortune 500 industrial technology company with $29B+market cap and 20+ companies including Fluke, realized the need to supercharge their growth strategies by adding an ability to co-create brand new companies to their innovation  mix—seeing the opportunity to merge corporate expertise with cutting-edge technology and startup dynamism.

The Fortive-PSL Synergy: A Blueprint for Innovation

The collaboration between Fortive and PSL epitomizes how combining corporate resources with startup agility can create an inspiring environment for innovation. In four years, the team has built five early-stage startups with TeamSense as the fastest built venture going through the PSL process in six weeks (fully remote during COVID) with paying customers. Fortive contributes its industry expertise and network, while PSL brings speed, company-building expertise, and a pool of entrepreneurial talent. This partnership is ideally positioned to build and nurture even more startups that benefit from the strengths of both domains.

Bridging the Gap Between Ideation and Execution

Ideas are plentiful, often emerging from hackathons and strategic workshops, yet they frequently stall before reaching even a minimal viable product (MVP) stage. Herein lies the strength of PSL: our proven capability to quickly validate, build, and launch companies from the ground up. Embracing the philosophy that "perfect is the enemy of good," PSL has mastered a process that efficiently transitions from concept to product, from customer interest to traction, and from idea to formed company, demonstrating that execution is stronger than strategy at every phase of building.

What PSL Brings to the Table

PSL differentiates itself by not just fostering startups but actively participating and investing in their development, from initial ideation through to strategy and execution. Our process—ideate, validate, create, spin out, scale—ensures that only the most viable ideas progress, backed by a seasoned team of builders and investors. Our recruiting ensures we identify the most ideal founder from our broad network of entrepreneurs or even from within the corporation itself.

The PSL ideation sprints with Fortive brought together a team of engineering and business teams that spent an intense week of deep dives, MVPs and live pitches to pressure test ideas into viable opportunities.

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This model offers corporations a scalable approach to rapid experimentation and investment in emerging companies. With the accelerating pace of AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), regulatory shifts, and new applications, companies must innovate more quickly and efficiently than ever before. Venture studios like PSL provide a proven framework that reduces costs, accelerates market entry, and mitigates risks, complementing other elements of corporate innovation ecosystems like M&A, corporate venture capital, and internal labs.

The Collective Advantage

The collaboration between corporations and startup studios accelerates innovation:

• Mitigates risks by providing a mechanism to build and invest in potentially high growth ideas without affecting the core brand and business units
• Taps into proven external talent to raise the bar and bring new energy into your teams 
• Offers a framework and playbooks to validate new market strategies to be able to progress or kill ideas quickly 

This partnership not only aligns with strategic corporate interests and objectives but also fosters a more effective, symbiotic relationship beyond financial investments.

Looking Ahead

The dynamic partnership between Fortive and PSL represents a powerful force in the innovation landscape, providing a structured yet adaptable framework for bringing visionary ideas to life. By combining the entrepreneurial spirit of PSL with the scale and expertise of forward thinking corporations like Fortive, this model is designed to shape the future of industries, unlocking new avenues for growth and technological breakthroughs. As we expand the corporate studio to more companies, the role of these collaborations will be instrumental in driving innovation, signaling a better future for industries ready to embrace this transformative approach.

Reach out to corporate@psl.com to learn more.