Breaking Through the Valley of Death: A Practical Guide for R&D Leaders on Turning Technical Success into Commercial Reality
- Resource Type
- Audio Presentation/Podcast
- Publish Date
- 11/18/2025
- Author
- Innovation Research Interchange
- Topics
- Innovation, R&D, Risk Management
- Associated Event
- <strong>Innovation Leaders Speaker Series</strong>
Thought Leader Interview with Colin Scott
November 2025
This IRI podcast episode features Colin Scott of Innventure discussing how R&D leaders can reduce risk, be highly selective, and decide when to stop projects before committing major resources.
Colin explains the needs‑led approach, critical factor assessment, and prioritization techniques, and shares the PureCycle case as an example of successful external commercialization. He closes with a mindset shift: let the market problem, not the technology, drive your decisions.
Colin leads Innventure’s DownSelect analysis – our proprietary, systematic methodology to evaluate opportunities to commercialize transformative, but proven, technology solutions that meet significant market needs; select the most viable opportunities; and use the analysis to construct a roadmap to launch and develop Innventure Platform Companies that execute those plans with a high probability of success. Previously, he held executive positions in private equity growth and startup ventures. Colin spent the first 10 years of his career with XL TechGroup (XLTG), where he managed the DownSelect analysis before becoming a member of serial management teams for various XLTG NewCos in renewable fuels and medical diagnostics. Colin earned an MBA in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, and he graduated with a major in Electrical Engineering and minor in Physics from Duke University.