Convincing Your Company Leaders to Invest in New Technological innovation

Human selection earning is a challenging phenomenon. Lots of research on the subject matter spotlight the parameters defining our psychological processes, even if they cannot absolutely reveal them. These reports generally uncover that we can be guided towards an final result that we know is towards our most effective pursuits. And this is the situation in business enterprise, much too.

It is uncomplicated to watch corporate selection generating as some thing steeped in watchful thought — a binary process led by knowledge and most effective exercise. Nevertheless, businesses are in the end operate by individuals. Professional development is decided by the options that we make, possibly by itself or as a team.

As a end result, the unpredictability of the human brain can affect a selection of small business choices. This is even additional pronounced when processing the results of technological know-how-linked decisions, which teases out just about every dimension of our psyche. This is since for a lot of providers, especially tiny and mid-sized corporations, new tech is still extremely considerably a leap into the unidentified.

Sometimes, when confronted with a challenging selection, we need to have a catalyst to drive us to make it. The Covid-19 pandemic, for case in point, accelerated technologies adoption in a lot of corporations, who took the leap and embraced new electronic instruments to survive. When a lot of modest-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) set up web-sites or e-commerce platforms to approach on line orders, a considerable portion have been a lot less ready to acquire the plunge.

I just lately collaborated with Xero on a behavioral science review that explored the psychological obstacles to electronic adoption. It observed that there remains a resistance to change and a skepticism towards know-how that prevents widespread uptake. This is despite the clear rewards it gives.

The Aspects Driving Electronic Apathy

Whilst 6 out of 10 firms claimed to be assured when embracing new technology, there was also a crystal clear perception of apathy, with only three out of 10 contemplating themselves worse off if digital financial commitment is postponed.

It’s no shock that things this kind of as expense, and the availability of proficient personnel, can stall the pursuit of digital tactics. A lot more astonishing, nonetheless, was the observed inertia all around technologies (primarily at instances that necessitate digitalization to remain agile), which can be described by psychological things holding business enterprise leaders back again.

Comprehending Resistance to Improve

Immediately after a turbulent few of many years, from the pandemic to political upheaval, you could believe that mid-sized firms would be accustomed to frequent improve. Offered the near-regular condition of flux, it would be truthful to presume that they may be a lot more ready to embrace new procedures or applications to get them selves back again on monitor, adapt and prosper in an expanding electronic economic system.

Alternatively, numerous continue to opt to maintain the standing quo. According to the Xero study, a terrific selection of companies even now grapple with the “hassle factor” —

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How Amazon decides which climate tech start-ups to invest in

Amazon bought the naming rights to rename Key Arena to Climate Change Arena.

Source: NHL Seattle

If Amazon is going to achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, it’s going to need to rely on new technology. To spur the process along, the company has a $2 billion venture capital fund to gather and grow climate tech start-ups.

Watching where Amazon is investing is one way to track innovation in the space. It can also give investors a sense of what parts of its own business Amazon intends to prioritize in the future.

“A lot of what we invest for is three to five years out,” Matt Peterson, the head of The Climate Pledge Fund at Amazon, told CNBC. “We try to look around corners to see where our needs are going to be and where the needs of other companies are going to be. I mean, with with a 2040 time horizon, you know, you can’t really afford to look one or two years out, you have to think long term.”

The Climate Pledge Fund, which was announced in June 2020, is funded entirely with money from Amazon’s own balance sheet. For Amazon, the priority is more about incubating the technologies it will need to meet its own climate objectives — making money is good, too.

“If happens to be that the companies we invest in do well and they become the next Tesla or they return a multiple of our investment, then that’s great. It shows that it’s a validation of what it is, but it’s not the main focus of the fund relative to the broader strategic goal,” Peterson told CNBC.

It’s also open to investing in companies at many different stages, and has invested from seed-stage up to series B rounds. “We can invest a million dollars in the company or invest over $100 million in the company,” Peterson said.

Amazon is not alone in investing in climate tech. The space has seen a five-fold increase in investment dollars to $32.3 billion in 2021, up from $6.6 billion in 2016, according to a recent report.

On Wednesday, Amazon announced new investments in Resilient Power and CMC Machinery and a second investment in Infinium. Amazon has previously announced investments in CarbonCure, Pachama, Redwood Materials, Rivian, TurnTide Technologies, BETA Technologies, Ion Energy, and ZeroAvia — bringing the total tally of climate tech start-ups Amazon has invested in to 11.

Amazon is still accepting applications for start-ups looking for funding. The company plans to make investments both large and small.

Here are five areas within climate tech that Peterson told CNBC Amazon is looking to invest in and how those areas track with Amazon’s current or future goals.

Food and agriculture investments

Food production requires a ton of land and fuel, food waste and spoilage result in methane emissions, and dairy and meat production releases in CO2 and methane emissions — all of which are problems for

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