Wellspring Blog

The world is growing smaller. In a globalized economy, companies cannot sit back and rely on local market dominance. The opening up of capital and talent for startups and the removal of barriers to competition from foreign firms means that today’s established leaders are facing a market assault... Read More

The tech scouts we work with have shared their deepest fears and past blunders. Here’s some strategies to avoid the same fate: Read More

Technology scouting remains vital for the innovation of organizations, yet you do not consider yourself to be a tech scout. Maybe you should. Although it may not be in your job title, tech scouting is most likely embedded in your job description. Even though there are few dedicated tech scouts,... Read More

“The Biotech industry is, by its very nature, a live representation of the trophic cascades and a field that ruled by pure Darwinism,” as I noted at the “start-ups and tech transfer” roundtable session during the American Society for Cell Biology in San Diego, CA last year. Read More

Nearly every Olympics, we hear about a new broken world record in one sport or another. While much of this can be attributed to better training, coaching, and dietary techniques, the headlines never focus on the impact that technology has on these records. Although we like to believe that new... Read More

Identifying cutting-edge technology is simply the first step of technology scouting. The key to effective tech scouting is to capture the right opportunity at the right time. We assembled a list of five tactics to help you streamline your process. Read More

Is it time to rethink the nearly twenty-eight-year-old technology readiness level (TRL) framework? The TRL is by far the most popular evaluation framework for corporate technology scouts, but although it can easily be applied to a wide range of opportunities, the generality of the system ignores... Read More

The electric utility industry is experiencing sweeping, radical restructuring. Legacy bulk-power grid systems are becoming obsolete. As the bulk-power grid wears out, investment is failing to keep up with deterioration. Add on a growing population and more extreme weather, and the power grid is... Read More

Knowledge assets are the critical inventions, patents, or personal expertise that catapults your innovations to market. This could be a collaborative discussion or the discovery of a new formula leading to your company’s most competitive product. In an increasingly innovative world, companies must... Read More

Companies are entering new markets based on technology or consumer behavior trends to remain competitive, which requires collaboration with external partners. Johnson & Johnson’s Medical Device unit that saw a quarterly sales increase of 1.3 percent to reach $6.1 billion last year credits the... Read More