Episode 3: An Inside Look at Inside CVC - Innovation, Ecosystems, and the Road Ahead

Welcome to Episode 3 of Inside CVC! In this special behind-the-scenes edition, co-hosts Steve Schmith and Philipp Willigmann sit down—finally together on the mic—to talk about the "why" behind Inside CVC.

If you’re just tuning in, this is your chance to meet the minds behind the podcast. Steve and Philipp share the story of how the show came to life, reflect on their shared background in corporate innovation, and offer a candid look at what’s shaping today’s global venture and open innovation landscape.

You’ll hear:

• What sparked the launch of Inside CVC
• The mission and vision behind U-Path
• Key takeaways from previous guests, including J. Carl Ganter on water security and Benjamin Qiu on tariffs and geopolitics
• A thoughtful dive into current trends impacting corporate venture—from the rise of "venture clienting" to AI-native investments and deep tech
• What to expect in upcoming episodes, including exclusive interviews from the 2025 CVC Open Innovation Summit hosted in February

Whether you're a corporate venture leader, innovation strategist, policymaker, or investor—this episode sets the stage for the journey ahead.

🎧 Listen in and connect with us at u-path.com or on your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

Steve: 0:00

Hey, Philip.

Philipp: 0:02

Hey, Steve. How are you doing?

Steve: 0:04

Doing pretty good. So we did it. We launched a podcast together.

Philipp: 0:08

Well, man, we have been talking about this for such a long time. And I mean, with so many ideas, but I'm super thrilled that we are talking about the intersection of corporate innovation, venture ecosystems. And yeah, getting this off the ground with you is amazing.

Steve: 0:25

Oh, man, we really talked about some pretty neat ideas, everything from sort of taking road trips around the country and looking at innovation at the center of mobility. And to me, I thought it was always, you know, the theme of innovation has been the central theme. So all of that experimentation, all of those ideas, all of those conversations, honestly, I couldn't think of a better way that we were finally able to bring something to life with inside And honestly, right, we're already at episode three, which if you're just now tuning into the first time to InsideCVC, that might sound a little bit weird. But as experimentation goes, as innovation goes, we sort of made some adjustments based on opportunities that were afforded to us. So we'll dive into that in a little bit more in today's conversation. We've got a few things on today's agenda. So what else are we going to be talking about today, Philip?

Philipp: 1:24

Well, I think, you know, giving our audience really some background on, you know, why is this episode number three, who you and I are, how do we know each other? Absolutely. Yeah. Why are we doing this? What is this all about? And yeah, really talking through also what UPaaS is about and how it's all connected to the CVC and innovation ecosystem. And yeah, really kind of like setting the stage for inside CVC.

Steve: 1:54

This is going to be a whole lot of fun, particularly, like you said, with everything that's going on in the world right now. The pace of innovation continues to accelerate. So why don't we get into it? Welcome to Inside CVC, a podcast where we explore the latest trends, business issues, and geopolitical disruption and uncertainty impacting the business of corporate venture capital. I'm your host, Steve Smith, and along with fellow host, Philip Willigman, we're bringing together leaders in venture capital, entrepreneurs, educators, and leaders in public policy to talk about how vast ecosystems of partners are working together to drive and scale cross-border open innovation. Our show is brought to you by Inside CVC. Insights helping shape tomorrow. So, Philipp, it occurs to me that while this is our third episode, this is really your first time on the show. So why don't we start there? Introduce yourself to the audience.

Philipp: 3:11

Thank you, Steve. And again, super excited to do the show with you. Well, I have been spending most of my career in the innovation, transformation and scenario planning space. From early days when I worked in German automotive company and a fleet management company, all the way from working in professional services, strategy consulting, it was always around the question, what is next? You know, where's the world going? How does the future look like? And how do we build towards this future? Which included Topics like M&A, obviously a lot of strategy, but building partnerships, creating ecosystems, specifically, you know, some of the work we did together around the future of mobility, but also then thinking through how do you kind of test and bet and create, yeah, create solutions in some of these white spaces by partnering with startups, investing in startups, building startups, incubating new ideas, And that's what I've been doing for most of my career. And on the other hand side, I'm very, very closely connected to topics of nature, sustainability, and doing things in a good way and driving impact to create positive change. And bringing these two things together, I would say, is part of who I am and what I'm trying to do in the world.

Steve: 4:44

It's hard for me as I think about it to believe that we've known each other already a decade. The fact that you and I have spent time both professionally and I think getting to know each other personally in markets around the world. And one thing that I have always, always appreciated about you and known about you is... is that you have this passion for doing good, for purposeful, for doing good things. And it's clear in all the work that you do and that I've had the opportunity to sort of be part of as well as be as well as watch, but also have known you the way that I do and the stories that we've shared. I know it's a very deep part of your DNA as well. So thank you for sharing that story.

Philipp: 5:29

No, of course, Steve. And I mean, not only that we both have German roots and had great moments actually talking about what that means, but also kind of like our work together when we were back at Deloitte really kind of like changing the dialogue. And I think that's also part of why we are together here. But Steve, why do you not talk a bit about what's your background and introduce yourself to the audience?

Steve: 5:59

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm... I'm a lifelong storyteller, and I've had the opportunity to do that on multiple platforms. But I think what has been very passionate about to me in terms of where to tell those stories, where to create those stories like you, has been this notion, this area around building things, around innovation, around looking at the world and seeing perhaps on the surface these sort of disconnected things that are going on and be able to, I think, connect those dots, if you will, and look at the world and be excited about these ecosystems, a word you used earlier. So my entire career has been in manufacturing and automotive, everything from an automotive supplier to the longest point in my career, and that was the time that you and I spent at Deloitte, a little bit of time with a media organization, a data and advertising organization and really being able and being at the forefront of not only innovation strategy, but also I think the power that comes from telling stories around innovation has been something that I have been passionate about my entire career.

Philipp: 7:21

Thank you, Steve. And tell me, why do you think, you know, The show is important to you. I'm so excited that you followed my ask and you said you'd jump on a plane and come down to do the show with me. But what motivated you?

Steve: 7:42

It's a few things, right? I continue... to believe as a manufacturing champion that it boils down to a notion that says that I believe, and there's really empirical evidence, centuries of it, that validates this point of view that says the more advanced a society, the more advanced the products a society builds, the more prosperous that society's economy, and essentially then as a result, the more prosperous the people, the citizens of that society, And so for me, like you, it's about doing good. And I think there's so much opportunity when you think about innovation and multiple parties coming together to create these ecosystems of innovation. And what I'm really excited about right now is we are in a very, very interesting, some would call it disruptive time, some would call it an uncertain time, some would call it a time that is just rife and full of opportunity to grow. I couldn't agree more with you, Stephen. I think

Philipp: 8:58

I mean, one of the reasons why I decided to do the work and create UPaaS as an entity is also really that I realized that the corporates and the corporate venture and open innovation groups don't always have a seat at the table, especially when it comes to some of these major topics we'll talk about, geopolitical changes, what is really happening around AI sustainability um you know some of these major topics which really impact everybody on this planet and bringing this group together and bringing not only the voices of people in this space together but also bringing experts on the show who can really help everybody to understand how you know how we can work together how we can build strong bridges I think it's a really unique way of tackling this. Let's jump into it and talk a bit about what we have in our books for the next couple of months.

Steve: 10:07

For sure. And you already touched upon it, experts, as we as we open the show, this is this is episode three. And we've already had two of those experts on the show. And those episodes are available. You can find them on upath.com if you're listening and you're interested. And again, you can find the show on any of your favorite podcast platforms. I do want to dive into that. But But before I do, I want to take a bit of a little bit of an off ramp. And that is is that our listeners have heard UPath referenced a couple of times. Before we dive into the speakers that we've already had, the guests we've already had on the show, and talk a little bit about what's coming up, what we're going to cover in future episodes, let's spend a minute. Why don't you tell the audience about UPath? What's the purpose? It's a purpose-driven organization. I already know that there is a lot of good behind that organization. So why don't you talk about, share a little bit about the purpose of the organization? What's the mission? and so on.

Philipp: 11:08

Of course, as you know, I'm always, you know, not doing a great job, you know, talking about myself and always more focused on, you know, putting the spotlight on others and bringing others together. But so YouPass, so first off, you know, the name I created with some close friends of mine, we were brainstorming what is kind of like the right name to talk about transformation. And and to really talk about lasting and sustainable transformation. And I was inspired actually by Theory U, which is an approach which was introduced by Otto Schama, a professor at MIT, who was kind of really trying to transform for the long term and really helping corporations, but also culture and society to make changes towards good. And that was kind of like one of the reasons why we picked the name because I've spent a lot of time being a consultant in my life, and I always felt it's very short-lived. You go in, you do some work, and then you're left, and everything is kind of back to where we came in. And the work I want to do is kind of like really lasting transformation. and really helping organizations and groups to make that shift towards doing good. So that's about the name. And then obviously, my background has been in corporate. I've been working with family companies. I've been working with the German middle market, the big Fortune 500s, all around the world. So I've seen corporate inside out. And I haven't seen much conversation about this. And I haven't seen people who are really helping to bring this group together. So the intent of UPaaS is really connecting corporate venture or corporate innovation leaders. And, you know, on the one hand side, give them a platform to build trust and talk. On the other hand side, also work with them and share my advice and my experience and the experience of the platform members to help them with their transformations and really be a partner in the long term to drive the transformation of these organizations and groups towards a better world.

Steve: 13:39

Yeah, I think that last sentence or those last few words summed it up, driving towards a better world. Again, not surprising. You are a very positive and very purpose-driven individual. And so thrilled that YouPath is a, you've created YouPath and you have this platform, you have this organization that is focused on helping companies and leaders and families do better. So yeah, thank you for sharing that. And you had mentioned earlier, and you and I, in late February, you hosted or UPath hosted the second annual CVC Open Innovation Summit. And actually, that's going to be the conversation of our next two episodes. We're going to go through the two-day agenda. But one of the things that really was interesting to me, as I observed, was that close-knit, as you described, that goal you're trying to create as part of And that was on full display down at the summit earlier this year. And again, we'll talk about that in the next two episodes. But again, we're at episode three today. And why that is, is because when we were down there, we had some interviews with a lot of the folks there. I think we had 15, 16 interviews overall. And one was so impactful that I thought it was important to get the story out. Not only the story, but the storytelling. Teller in terms of it was such a captivating story, and it was one that is so important, a topic that, as our speaker said, should be on the top of the agenda for boards of directors everywhere, and one that he thinks is critically important to leaders in CVC. And that was J. Carl Ganter and his conversation on water scarcity and security. Really a great episode to terrific storyteller. And so I think you and I had talked about it. We listened to the story and we thought that would be the very first one. We had to get that story out.

Philipp: 15:48

I mean, absolutely. And the funny part is like, Carl and I We met this year the first time in a coal mine in Luxembourg on our way to Davos. And when I told him about the CBC summit, he was like, oh, I've never heard about, you know, the summit. But he was like, super energized and immediately said, yes, I want to be there. I want to kind of talk about the topic of water security, energy security and food security, because these are some of the most important topics which impact all of us around the world. And yeah, I was also happy to hear that he is in for a podcast. So if you haven't listened to it, please take a listen. It's a really powerful conversation about why corporations cannot ignore the crisis anymore and he provides some great insights and ideas for all corporate leaders in M&A, venture, investments, innovation, sustainability, how can they help and tackle this situation.

Steve: 16:58

Yeah, it's really critical. And I think on the surface, you ask people, hey, is water security, is water scarcity important? Is that something we ought to think about? And I think most people would say, of course. What was really interesting to me was how detailed and how He went into the conversation, but also went in in a way that was very, I think, meaningful in terms of what corporate leaders need to understand the urgency of the situation in water security. But also he's very clear in that conversation in terms of there is opportunity to do better. He's already seen a lot of this innovation. And so if you've not gone and listened to episode one, please do. It is a very, very good story, a captivating story. But moreover, I think it really sets the foundation as an example of the types of stories we're trying to bring to Inside CVC.

Philipp: 17:57

That's also the spirit of episode number two. And we are trying to not just interview CVCs and open innovation leaders with our podcast. Here, the idea is really to bring critical topics. And so episode number two is about the recent developments on the tariffs in the world, specifically driven from the US. And we have had an amazing expert. I couldn't think of anybody better who really understands the US side, the European side, as well as Asia, specifically China. And Ben, who has been on the show, gave an incredible overview and I'm really excited that he also shared it in so much detail and pointing out the implications for corporates, especially global corporations in the manufacturing space, but also folks in the US, companies who are headquartered in Europe. What does it mean on the global lens from China-US relations? So I hope you're all going to listen in and share the episode and share your thoughts. It was a fascinating conversation and I even woke up at 1 a.m. in the morning to be able to be part of the discussion.

Steve: 19:18

Oh, the joys in the early mornings of recording guests and interviewing guests around the world. But this is a global topic. So yeah, absolutely excited about Ben. And I think the other thing that really stood out to me in that episode was we closed with offering advice to organizations wherever they might sit on the value chain. Everything from certainly CVCs down to startups that might be looking to drive innovation and grow in this environment. We covered all of that. So that was episode two, really timely, really important. Luckily, we were able to get that out without too much changing between when we recorded it and when we were able to actually air it.

Philipp: 20:09

Yeah, it was terrific. And also, true global partnership. Ben being in Japan, you in the US, I'm currently in Europe. So it was great teamwork. And I hope everybody really enjoys the show.

Steve: 20:25

As they say, it takes a global village, doesn't

Philipp: 20:27

it? It definitely does.

Steve: 20:33

When you look at broadly around global innovation, open innovation, what are some of those trends that you're watching right now that are critically important to those corporate CVC leaders and frankly, everybody working in this space?

Philipp: 20:48

Well, that's a pretty loaded question. I'm trying to answer it maybe twofold. One, what I'm seeing generally right now in the corporate venture and corporate innovation space from a organizational perspective in regards to what are companies and corporates doing, and then maybe also talking a little about what type of trends and what type of investments I'm seeing in working with some CBCs, being on some of the advisory boards of some CBCs in the US and Europe. So coming back to the first part, There has been a lot of talk on corporates closing their CVC units or the innovation units in the US as well as in Europe. And yeah, I've heard a lot of people who have left CVC in the last couple of months due to the pressures, due to the economic environment changing. And we saw this at the CVC summit even though that we are completely oversubscribed. You know, a bunch of people who signed up early informed us weeks before that, yeah, actually their CVC units were closed or the teams were reduced, which is, of course, a very short-term thinking approach. You would assume, especially in times like this, this is a great investment opportunity, especially in the venture space. When you go into some more volatile environment, you can make good investments typically because you identify, you can see the winners and some of the valuations might not be so crazy as long as you're not into the AI or robotics space, what we have seen lately. But definitely a lot of uncertainty in the CVC space when it comes to who is doing CVC, but also who is actually investing. A lot of CVCs are out there who are managing the portfolios, but they haven't actually done so many investments. But on the other hand side, I've just, you know, recently been in Europe, but also heard this in the US, some new CVCs come to the market. And especially in Europe, I'm seeing that CVC is going, you know, from, you know, big corporations, you know, blue ships more into the middle market, family offices who are opening CVC units and are investing into the future or starting to invest into adjacent markets, which is, I think, great and a fantastic development and needed and many, many more, I think, need to follow to bring this innovation outside in. And yeah, then I've seen this trend also on the organizational side, just being at a couple of innovation summits in Europe and also the one we hosted in Miami, that there is a trend towards less investing in startups right now but more partnerships or how especially in germany and in europe experts talk about this adventure clienting creating strong partnerships between corporate units and startups to either reduce costs, drive efficiency, or get an uplift in revenue, or even creating completely new business models by bringing the corporate and the startups together. So that's just a bit of an overview of what I'm seeing from an organizational perspective. When we talk about... where CBCs are investing in or what are focused on, it's obviously a vast majority of themes. One of the big topics and everybody is talking about AI and yeah, really, you know, investing in AI startups. And I think what I've seen is that CVC have done quite a bit of investments in AI native startups and also looking into kind of how does AI and some of the foundational models are impacting, you know, robotics. And it's, you know, one of the big, big topics where CVCs have invested in. But the question there is, of course, we talked about this at the CBC Summit, is like how defensible is the IP? And are there real use cases? And I think there's a bit of an awakening right now that, you know, before you actually, you know, make investments in AI startups, it's important that your organization is ready to really embrace AI. And, but yeah, so that's one big focus. Other area I've seen obviously being biased by looking at manufacturing, automotive, transportation quite a bit. But it's continuing to be around. Circular economy, climate tech has been a big piece. And CVCs are moving more also into creating partnerships here before they do investments or even partner with other corporates together to make investments and really create products which have a powerful impact. Yeah, I would say this is, you know, some, some of the topics, um, and maybe last but not least, uh, deep tech, um, also has been on the rise in some of the big automotive companies, uh, recently announced investments in, in robotics. Um, you know, space, uh, has been a big, uh, big piece as well as defense, um, where investors are kind of like really supporting, you know, the deep tech of bringing physical and digital, um, aspects together. Um, has been a big piece for corporates looking into. And we'll have to see if corporates are the best investors in the space, but certainly I think corporates need to have skin in the game because ultimately the big corporations will probably be those who will scale some of the solutions around deep tech as well as climate tech.

Steve: 27:25

So much opportunity. in the themes that you talked about, certainly opportunities for investment, opportunities for growth. Thank you so much. These conversations we're going to have and plan to have, I think, are very timely given the backdrop of those trends that you talked about. So why don't we wrap today's show with that? I think we've done a great job introducing folks to what the show is, your trends on things that are sort of shaping the future of CVC globally, shared a little bit about who our guests have already been, and I think we've got a lot of great content coming to our audience. Next episode, we'll cover day one of the CVC Open Innovation Forum. That was hosted on the campus of Miami University in February. The show after that, we will talk about day two of the agenda. We'll even hear from some of our guests from some of the interviews that we recorded at the summit. So with that, Philip, I assume we want people to find us, share their feedback, ideas for stories, simply just connect with us. So where can folks find InsideCVC and where can folks connect with us?

Philipp: 29:13

We are really looking forward to feedback, ideas, so please reach out. You can find us on our website, www.uminuspass.com. Then, of course, you can find the podcast on all major platforms on Apple, Spotify, and so on. And, of course, feel free to reach out to us directly to me on LinkedIn. It's the easiest way. It's Philip Willigman, and that is wi.com. L-L-I-G-M-A-N-N. It was two Ns, so it's a German way, which is sometimes a bit difficult for our international audience. But yeah, I look forward to hearing from you guys. And over to you, Steve.

Steve: 30:01

You know, when I spell your name in my head, I get a sort of little metric, a little, it's like a little dance number. There is a pattern in when I spell your name and in my head, but, but like you, the curse of, of a German last name, you can find me on LinkedIn as well. First name, Steve, last name, S C H M I T H. It's that last H that tends to throw people for a loop. So Steve Smith, S C H M I T H on LinkedIn, connect with me, share your ideas, share your feedback you have a topic to cover you want to you want to join us as a guest on the on the show please reach out to either Philip or me we would love to hear from you so with that that's episode number three sir I can't think of a better friend a better partner a better expert to you know not only launch inside CBC but I think we're going to tell a lot of interesting fun and compelling stories along the way

Philipp: 30:59

thank you so much Steve absolutely The same from my side and look forward to the conversations in the future.

Steve: 31:07

That's it for today's show. You can catch InsideCVC on your favorite podcast platform or by visiting upath.com. That's the letter U hyphen path dot com. Thank you for joining us on InsideCVC. Insights that shape tomorrow.