Podcast Summary: "Roland Austrup on Turning R&D Into Real Growth"

Podcast: The Digital Executive, Coruzant Technologies
Host: Brian (Coruzant Technologies)
Guest: Roland Austrup, Chief Growth Officer, Inventure
Episode: 1160
Date: December 1, 2025
Duration: ~10 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode features Roland Austrup, Chief Growth Officer at Inventure, a company known for building and operating standalone firms around technologies sourced from inside multinational corporations. The discussion centers on how to effectively commercialize R&D, why most corporate innovation fails to reach the market, and the macro- and technological shifts shaping the future of industrial growth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lessons Learned Scaling Industrial Technology (02:01)

• Lead Times & Risk in Industrial Tech:
  Roland emphasizes that many growth leaders underestimate the long lead times, high capital intensity, and slow customer adoption cycles inherent in industrial technology.
• Conservative Buyers:
  Industrial customers require reliability, warranties, a robust supply chain, and risk mitigation before committing to new technologies.
• Adaptive Execution:
  Leaders must be especially adaptive when innovating or disrupting, as “you don’t know what you don’t know.”
• Don’t Assume “If You Build It, They Will Come”:
  Both customers and capital require active engagement strategies and risk mitigation.
• Notable Quote:

  “Don’t assume if you build it, they will come. And that’s both in terms of the customer and capital… You have to have a capital strategy internally as well and you really just have to mitigate…a lot of the risks before you decide to embark on scaling.”
  — Roland Austrup [02:01–03:21]

2. Inventure’s Unique Commercialization Model (03:57)

• Contrast with Venture Capital:
  Traditional VC uses a “spread betting” approach—invest in many startups with the hope some will succeed. Inventure, by contrast, creates and operates a small portfolio of companies, sourced from proven (but under-utilized) multinational R&D.

• Deep Partnership with Multinationals:
  Their approach unlocks validated technologies, often with the originating corporation acting as an early customer or providing a “pathway to market.”

• Focus and Execution:
  Inventure isn’t just investing, it’s building businesses as owner-operators.

• Notable Quote:

  “In our model we are the owners and operators of the businesses we create and we are not investing in first time entrepreneurs…We’re 100% focused on a systematic approach of working with multinational corporations to unlock technologies they’ve developed.”
  — Roland Austrup [03:57–05:22]

• Why Corporate Venture Falls Short:
  Traditional corporate venturing is often trapped by internal silos and vertical structures, stifling real innovation.

• Notable Quote:

  “Part of the problem with corporate venture is that they're spawned from within an organization that has more vertical structures and they're not necessarily attuned to innovation and entrepreneurship.”
  — Roland Austrup [05:52–06:19]

3. Barriers to Turning R&D into Commercial Success (07:02)

• Innovation vs. Core Business Alignment:
  Large companies excel at incremental improvements, but struggle with innovations that don’t fit established business models.
• Risk Tolerance & Silos:
  Corporations are designed for predictable ROI, not high-risk, high-uncertainty ventures.
• Need for Cross-Organizational Collaboration:
  True innovation thrives in horizontal, collaborative environments—not vertical, siloed ones.
• Role of Inventure:
  Inventure operates as a bridge, translating validated corporate R&D into entrepreneurial execution and real-world market impact.
• Notable Quote:

  “We are a bridge between corporate R and D and entrepreneurial execution to get disruptive technologies to market. So we really unlock commercialization pathways for major multinationals.”
  — Roland Austrup [07:02–08:24]

4. Macro and Technical Forces Shaping Industrial Growth (09:06)

• Macroeconomic “Headwinds”:
  Issues like slowing growth, inflation, geopolitical instability, and an aging workforce create challenges.

• Technological “Tailwinds”:
  Industry 4.0, AI, automation, and robotics provide powerful productivity gains, likely to offset those macro headwinds.

• Reshoring and North American Advantage:
  Reshoring is boosting domestic innovation—Inventure’s model capitalizes on this trend by creating North American productivity solutions from global corporate R&D.

• Notable Quote:

  "You’ve heard the term Industry 4.0…AI, industrial robotics are going to create incredible pathways to improve productivity…that I think is a big tailwind. And that can more than offset macroeconomic headwinds.”
  — Roland Austrup [09:06–11:01]

• Optimism and Uncertainty:
  The future is unpredictable, but understanding “where the fault lines are” gives innovators an edge.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Risk Aversion in Industry:

  “Buyers are generally very conservative and move cautiously…there’s a trust building and validation period before adoption.”
  — Roland Austrup [02:01]

• Strategic Focus:

  “You have to mitigate a lot of the risks before you decide to embark on scaling in industrial technology.”
  — Roland Austrup [03:21]

• On Unlocking Corporate R&D:

  “Large corporations are very good at R and D that incrementally improves what they’re doing, but it’s not necessarily geared towards innovation.”
  — Roland Austrup [07:02]

• On Future Trends:

  “The future is uncertain. You really can’t predict. What you can do though, is understand where the fault lines are and take advantage of that.”
  — Roland Austrup [09:06]

Important Timestamps

• [02:01] – Roland shares lessons on scaling industrial tech, risk mitigation, and capital strategy.
• [03:57] – Comparison of Inventure’s model to traditional VC and explanation of their deep engagement with multinationals.
• [07:02] – Barriers to corporate innovation and how Inventure bridges the gap.
• [09:06] – Macro and technological forces shaping the next decade: Industry 4.0, AI, and reshoring.
• [11:35] – Episode closes with Roland’s optimism for the future of industrial growth.

Tone and Language

• The conversation is insightful, candid, and pragmatic, with Roland offering specific, experienced-based advice about scaling deep-tech businesses.
• The tone is collaborative and slightly technical, but accessible to listeners with a business or tech background.

This episode is a must-listen for executives, innovators, and anyone interested in how breakthrough technologies can be systematically commercialized to create significant industrial growth—especially in an era defined by both tremendous headwinds and unprecedented technological opportunity.