Dave Franchino and I had the opportunity to catch up with Adam Elsesser, the CEO of Penumbra, a medical device company focused on neurological and vascular conditions. We were interested in talking with him about innovation and how things have changed for him and his company as a result of the uncertainty driven by the Covid epidemic. Adam shared some very interesting insights on culture, prioritization and working with uncertainty. Below are a few highlights:PurposeA strong, clear mission creates efficiency and focusAdam’s career shifted from real estate law to running medical device companies. What drove him then and now is creating a company that had a meaningful purpose and developing it from an abundance mindset. Helping people is doable.ScalingPenumbra has grown to a 2,800-person company. Adam has worked to maintain a start up mentality by hiring people who are entrepreneurial and want to work on something that matters.Finding opportunitiesThe key is listening, trusting your friends and colleagues when they say something is a good idea, it’s worth looking into with an open mind. Adam shared a story about falling down the first time he put on a VR headset and seeing the possibilities for stroke rehab. Not being afraid of being embarrassed by situations where you’re not in control and don’t have all the answers is a key to discovering new opportunities.Prioritizing ideasA sort of strategic opportunism (nimble, focused based on broad mission and business viability) are the philosophies behind Penumbra’s new product development efforts. Adam has created a broad group that is able to decide and prioritize. They are not looking to build their portfolio by extension or competition but by curating things that really matter.Trust-based cultureThe pandemic has forced Penumbra’s leadership to be better communicators. When hiring, they look for certain traits, such as leaders that are self-aware, humble, and are able to be wrong.

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Innovation at Penumbra: Adam Elsesser

Co-hosts Dave Franchino and Stefanie Norvaisas talk with Kevin Conroy, President and CEO of Exact Sciences, a Madison-based biotech. Under Kevin’s leadership since 2009, the company has grown from three people to more than 4,200. Their flagship product, Cologuard, is a proprietary multi-marker test for the early detection of colorectal cancer. In this interview, Kevin talks about the challenges his company has faced during the pandemic and how they quickly developed a Covid-19 test and partnered with the state of Wisconsin to make it widely available. He also discusses the opportunities that the growing acceptance of telehealth is opening up directly reaching consumers and increasing the rate of screening.

Innovation at Exact Sciences: Kevin Conroy

Co-hosts Dave Franchino and Stefanie Norvaisas talk with Julie Norvaisas, Senior Director of User Research at LinkedIn, the world's largest professional social network with 675 million members worldwide. Julie talks about how a strong, transparent, and inclusive culture helps her foster creativity and a shared sense of purpose among her team of researchers and writers, who work in disparate locations around the world.

Innovation at LinkedIn: Julie Norvaisas

Co-hosts Dave Franchino and Stefanie Norvaisas talk with Kim Sponem, President & CEO of Summit Credit Union, one of Wisconsin's largest credit unions. Kim talks about Summit's member-driven focus on innovation and the importance of creating fun in the workplace to nurture innovation.

Innovation at Summit Credit Union: Kim Sponem

Innovation at Stryker: Scott Sagehorn

Co-hosts Dave Franchino and Stefanie Norvaisas talk with Vance Strader, Chief Group Engineer in Advanced Engineering for Harley-Davidson. Vance discusses how innovation takes shape at a company with an iconic brand and devoted consumers. From starting the LiveWire Lab in Silicon Valley to develop electric motorcycles to user research around the world, Harley is actively exploring the future of two-wheeled transportation to keep its brand vibrant in its second century.

Innovation at Harley-Davidson: Vance Strader

Co-hosts Dave Franchino and Stefanie Norvaisas talk with Ian Robertson, Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dean Robertson discusses the challenges of leading a diverse group of constituencies at an educational organization, and what it takes to remain responsive to the evolving needs of employers and students.

Innovation at UW-Madison College of Engineering: Ian Robertson

In this conversation, Jonathan Spangler, CEO & Founder of Ciari Guitars, talks about the importance of doing the research to establish a market, acquiring a patent for the unique points of your product if possible, and de-risking the innovation process at every phase. Spangler's company, Ciari Guitars, recently launched the first pro-player, gig-ready travel guitar. It folds mid-neck so it can easily fit underneath an airplane seat. Spangler's background is as a patent attorney for primarily medical device companies and clients. Starting his own music-based company has been the adventure of a lifetime.

Innovation at Ciari Guitars: Jonathan Spangler

Host Dave Franchino talks with Will Biederman, head of emerging project for Verily Life Sciences, a division of Alphabet (parent company of Google). Will discusses the advantages and shortcomings of having innovation-focused teams and the need to give every employee time to be creative.

Innovation at Verily: Will Biederman

Host Dave Franchino talks with Lee Visci, recently retired from a career of engineering leadership at General Motors. Lee discusses the challenges of keeping innovation alive at a giant company like GM and shares stories about her work at Saturn and on the Volt. She shares what it was like to keep her team focused during the tough bankruptcy years and how smaller companies can take some of what she's learned and apply it to their own innovation efforts.

Innovation at GM: Lee Visci

Host Dave Franchino talks with Jake Leach, Chief Technology Officer at Dexcom, a pioneer and leader in continuous glucose monitoring systems for people managing diabetes. Jake discusses the challenges of the medtech startup world and what it takes to keep improving your product, year after year, for more than a decade.

Innovation at Dexcom: Jake Leach

Host Dave Franchino talks with Ryan Rist, Director of Innovation, at American Family Insurance. Ryan talks about the challenges and opportunities that go with building an innovation team within a big, established company in a highly regulated industry. Just a note that Ryan mentions Design Concepts several times during the interview. Design Concepts changed its name to Delve in August 2019.

Innovation at American Family Insurance: Ryan Rist

Host Dave Franchino talks with Cynthia Bachmann, Vice President of Engineering and Product Development, Kitchen & Bath, for Kohler Co. Cynthia talks about the challenges of fostering a culture of innovation in a company with 150 years of history.

Innovation at Kohler: Cynthia Bachmann

Host Dave Franchino talks with Dan Murray, Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer for SafetyNet, a financial services startup that spun off from CUNA Mutual Group. Dan discusses the philosophy and methodologies his team uses to create new businesses within CUNA's Horizon Three Innovation Center.

Innovation at SafetyNet: Dan Murray

Hosted by Dave Franchino, a design firm leader and entrepreneur, this podcast digs into the challenges around design, product development, leadership and innovation. In our first season, Dave interviews leaders on what it takes to create a corporate culture of innovation.

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Delve Talks

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