Getting started at Softtek, we thought, was going to be our most difficult challenge. Turns out that we were completely wrong. The sheer concept of innovating is both energizing and inspiring. Getting excited about innovation or ‘something big’ was easy – executing on that promise is where the challenge lies.
We must have erased our white board over a hundred times before we realized a working model for Innoventures. Our model not only needed to inspire ideas, but also had to have the capacity to develop and launch initiatives. We had to be dependably rigorous and yet agile to accommodate and support a multitude of opinions, hypotheses, judgments, or objectives. We also had to be flexible enough to work with an existing culture of innovating within the parameters of an assignment.
After weeks of going back and forth, we decided on establishing a quarterly program to provide continuous engagement, encouragement, and support. The program embodies the following stages:
Our 200 member strong Yammer community, internal to Softtek associates, is already creating a storm. Further, with a planned Hackathon later this year, we expect to bring forward some of Softtek’s keenest minds to work together to deliver investable ideas.
Our intense bootcamp combines a virtual training program and pertinent mentorship. Mentors, spread within Softtek, work with our associates to advance both the entrepreneur and the venture. Each initiative is examined through a demanding set of deliverables, primarily aimed to assess the market, engage with customers, understand resource requirements, and determine financial prospects. The objective is simple – to identify a path to fruition.
Lastly, the Idea Launch stage is entirely about empowering innovators to emerge as prepared decision makers outside the boundaries of Innoventures. With access to Softtek’s legal, financial, and sales teams, access to Softtek’s facilities, technologies, and resources, and the ability to launch independent business units, our associates are privileged and challenged at the same time with the tools to succeed.
In the weeks ahead, we will share our journey, our innovation, stories of our mentors, and the stories of a community coming together to innovate.
