In Episode 4 of the Collaborative Business Podcast, I have a conversation with John Bell. Recorded in December 2013, this episode features John, who was back then responsible for strategy and business development at Philips Research.
Today, he serves as the CEO of HighTechXL, the Netherlands’ premier deep-tech venture builder. HighTechXL addresses societal challenges by combining groundbreaking technologies and entrepreneurship. John is also a part-time Professor of Strategic Alliances at Tilburg University.
In this episode, John delves into the broad definition of alliances and establishes a connection between selecting an alliance partner and an innovation partner. He shares valuable lessons learned by Philips from their experience with strategic alliances and explains how they ensure these lessons are embedded within their organisation.
John also offers insights into why he believes smaller companies might gain more from their experiences than larger ones. He suggests that large companies could benefit from establishing a central office to capture and disseminate these learnings throughout the organisation.
John concludes the episode with the thought-provoking quote, “If you have seen one alliance, you have seen one alliance.” He emphasises that every alliance is unique, and even after establishing over 35 alliances, he continues to learn from each new one.
And he closes off with a great advice:
I would say as a big company, even as a small company, invest in the learnings, invest in building some capabilities because each alliance you as a company do better, even 1% or 10% better, typically gives you millions of additional revenues or profits.
So it’s an easy investment.
Connect with John Bell:
Website: hightechxl.comLinkedIn
