Tools & Frameworks for Innovation Ecology
A (re)introduction to InnoEco
If you’re receiving this newsletter for the first time, it’s because you found our Pharma Interest Navigator on LinkedIn and asked to be included in the conversation. Thanks for joining us!
Whether you’re a new, regular, or occasional reader, I thought it wise to take an opportunity to (re)introduce you to InnoEco.
Thanks for reading!
Steve
Welcome to Perspectives on Innovation Ecology (InnoEco) a monthly(ish) newsletter from the venture team at Portal Innovations.
At its core, InnoEco is about adapting concepts and insights from the field of ecology to interrogate the nature and structure of innovation in the 21st century. Our posts fall into one of three categories: 1) Ideas & Reflections are short essays that approach broader topics through a wider lens; 2) Tools & Frameworks are case studies of software tools or cognitive frameworks we’ve found particularly helpful, including our own tool, Portal Stargaze; and 3) People & Places are profiles of individual innovation ecosystems and innovators that we find particularly interesting, exciting, or illustrative.
I’ve shared links to three exemplary posts from each category, below, to give you a sense of what to expect, as well as a launching off point.
Whether you’re a founder, a scientist, an investor, or an administrator - or, God help you, all four - I hope that our posts will encourage you to think about big-I Innovation in a new way, while furnishing you with some new tools for practicing your trade.
Ideas and Reflections
WHAT IS INNOVATION ECOLOGY? - A short introduction to the organizing principle of this newsletter: applying tools and concepts from the field of ecology to better understand the nature and structure of innovation (big-I).
THE ROOTS OF INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS - Do innovation ecosystems, like natural ecosystems, undergo “ecosystem succession”? If so, where does the modern research university fit in? How has that changed over time?
NAVIGATING UNIVERSITY STARTUP ECOSYSTEMS - A simple framework for university-embedded innovators. Who to talk to, where to find resources, and where not to waste your time.
Tools and Frameworks
CAN AI SPOT PATTERNS IN SUCCESSFUL INNOVATORS CAREERS? - Our first Stargaze case-study, and a great introduction to how Stargaze works. Zooms in on the career of David Ahlquist, the Mayo Clinic inventor behind Cologuard and Exact Sciences.
WHERE SHOULD I LOOK FOR INNOVATION? - A conceptual introduction to Stargaze, our new quantitative approach to modeling innovation ecosystems and discovering under-the-radar inventors/inventions.
MATCHING RISING STAR INNOVATORS TO PHARMA AREAS OF INTEREST - How Stargaze creates a bridge between academic innovations and industry-validated unmet needs.
People and Places:
FINDING BIOTECH BREAKTHROUGHS IN ATLANTA - How you can use Stargaze to map out an innovation ecosystem and quickly zero-in on RisingStar innovators.
STARGAZE RISING STAR: ZACHI ATTIA - Jeremy Langsam interviews Zachi Attia, a pioneering Mayo researcher who is bridging the gap between AI tools and cardiologists.
STARGAZE RISING STAR: ZHENPENG QIN - Jeremy Langsam interviews Zhenpeng Qin, a mechanical engineer at UT Dallas who is reframing how we think about drug design.