Beyond The Core

How to Run a 5-Day Innovation Sprint, with Sierra Calhoun-Pollard, Ph.D., Director of Blackstone LaunchPad x UF | Professor of Innovation | CEO Winnovation Agency

In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben Yoskovitz sits down with Sierra Calhoun-Pollard, Ph.D., Director of Blackstone LaunchPad x UF | Professor of Innovation | CEO Winnovation Agency, to unpack how she designed a 5-Day Innovation Sprint that connects industry partners and cross-disciplinary teams to generate ideas, build prototypes, and test them with real users (all inside a single week). What started as a university program has become a repeatable framework that companies can use to accelerate learning, build creative muscle, and make innovation actually move at market speed. Together, Ben and Sierra co-build her full playbook live so you can adapt the same model inside your organization. In this episode, you’ll learn: - How to design and run a 5-Day Innovation Sprint that produces tangible results - Why the “How Might We” statement is the North Star of every sprint - How cross-disciplinary teams outperform experts when solving tough problems - The exact cadence Sierra uses (from problem framing → prototyping → pitching) - What to do after the sprint to keep the momentum aliveIf you’re leading innovation, transformation, or venture-building inside a large organization, this episode is your blueprint for speed, structure, and creativity that scales. --- Timestamps 0:00 — Introduction: Why this episode is different 1:30 — The story behind Blackstone LaunchPad and Winnovation Agency 5:00 — How Sierra built a repeatable innovation system 10:00 — The anatomy of a 5-day sprint 20:00 — Real examples: QR cups, Adobe Express prototypes, and more 35:00 — How to craft a great “How Might We” statement 45:00 — What to do after Day 5: turning ideas into action 50:00 — Building culture through rapid experimentation — 🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube 📄Download the full 5-Day Innovation Sprint Playbook + Watch the full live video: highlinebeta.com/beyond-the-core

Inside SEI’s 3-Step Playbook for Corporate Venture Building, with Allie Carey

Most corporate innovation programs talk a big game (and then die in PowerPoint). This episode is what it looks like when one actually works. Allie Carey, Chief Strategy Officer at SEI Private Banking & Wealth Management, joined Beyond the Core to share how she built a repeatable system for corporate innovation inside one of the world’s most established financial technology companies. In just three years, Allie helped SEI: * Go from zero to three fundable experiments per year * Build a company-wide culture of experimentation * Launch a new, revenue-generating business in just 18 months * Turn governance and compliance into enablers of speed * Replace “fail fast” with evidence-based decision-making This is execution in innovation at an enterprise scale. We built Allie’s entire playbook live, step-by-step: from how SEI aligned leadership around growth goals, to how they structured an internal Shark Tank that produced real businesses. If you lead innovation, venture building, or transformation inside a large organization, this conversation is a blueprint for how to actually move faster without breaking the system. 0:00 — Introduction: What SEI does and how it thinks about innovation 4:00 — The three horizons of growth and where SEI plays 8:00 — Building a culture of experimentation 12:00 — How SEI turned ideas into ventures 20:00 — The playbook for speeding up decision-making 30:00 — Governance that accelerates, not blocks 45:00 — Lessons for corporate innovators

How Top Leaders Go Beyond the Core in Corporate Innovation, with Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Money20/20

What does it really take to lead innovation in highly regulated industries, push beyond the core, and make financial inclusion a reality? In this episode, Marcus Daniels sits down with Scarlett Sieber [https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarlettsieber/], Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Money20/20 [https://www.linkedin.com/company/money2020/], to unpack decades of experience at the intersection of FinTech, digital transformation, and strategic partnerships. From BBVA to building the world’s leading FinTech stage, Scarlett shares the mindset, tactics, and global insights leaders need to thrive in 2025 and beyond. We cover: ✅ How to inspire executives to explore ventures beyond the core ✅ Why “experiment cheaply” can win “fail fast” ✅ The balance between FinTech speed and institutional stability ✅ Embedded finance opportunities that delight customers & drive growth ✅ Practical steps to align risk, legal, and CFO stakeholders early ✅ Global perspectives on innovation from the US, Europe, Southeast Asia & MENA ✅ Why financial inclusion is both a moral imperative and growth driver Scarlett also dives deep into the psychology of leadership, the art of words that resonate, and how to structure partnerships that keep momentum, even when timelines clash. Whether you’re in a bank boardroom, a corporate venture studio, or a scaling FinTech, this conversation is packed with actionable takeaways. 🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these #FinTechInnovation #EmbeddedFinance #StrategicPartnerships #FinancialInclusion #DigitalTransformation

How to Build a High-Conviction Venture Inside a $1 Trillion Enterprise, with Sharon Rodriguez, CEO of HighPeak Al

What does it take to build a truly independent, high-growth startup inside a 150-year-old financial giant and then spin it out? In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben and Marcus sit down with Sharon Rodriguez, CEO of HighPeak Al. Sharon shares how she's building a nimble venture within the constraints of a legacy organization, and how she’s setting it up for long-term independence. From day-one infrastructure decisions, to managing governance and incentives, to building a playbook that’s now influencing Prudential’s broader innovation efforts, Sharon offers a rare, transparent look into what it really takes to turn a corporate venture into a standalone success.We cover: ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Intro: Building ventures inside legacy orgs 01:00 – The origin of HighPeak: AI, data, and adjacent opportunity 03:30 – Why Sharon took the job: Backing, challenge, and belief 06:00 – The “tax” of corporate venture: Compliance, slowness, and trade-offs 08:30 – Building a 5-person elite team with startup DNA 10:00 – Fractional talent vs full-time hires in a regulated environment 12:00 – Incentives without equity and the plan to spin out 14:00 – Structuring for spin-out: LLC vs C-Corp, IP, and investor readiness 17:30 – Building independent infra to stay nimble and credible 19:00 – Governance, budget autonomy, and internal alignment 22:00 – From longevity to retirement insights: broadening the product vision 24:30 – Communicating enterprise value inside the mothership 26:00 – Applying Series A/B benchmarks to a corporate venture 28:00 – Playing the long game: Expanding the market vs just selling Prudential30:00 – Why this was always about adjacencies 32:00 – Innovation vs stagnation: Why corporates need to build ventures 34:30 – Challenging the status quo inside large orgs 36:00 – The origin (and evolution) of the HighPeak playbook 39:00 – Why static playbooks can’t keep up 40:30 – What’s next: potential for multiple products or spin-in ideas 42:00 – Sharon’s advice: Start with a blank sheet of paper 🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these #corporateinnovation #venturebuilding #startupstrategy #spinouts #prudential #highpeak #beyondthecore #venturestudios

How Corporations Should Actually Deploy AI, with Sidney Madison Prescott

Most companies are diving into AI without a map. So how do you turn hype into meaningful transformation? In this episode of Beyond the Core, Ben and Marcus talk with Sidney Madison Prescott, Founder & CEO of MIRROR | MIRROR & ADRIATIC HARVEST, about the real state of enterprise AI. We explore how companies are navigating chaos, where AI pilots actually work, how to build digital-human hybrid teams, and why visionary leadership, not just technology, is the real unlock. We cover: ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Intro: Turning AI hype into action 01:00 – Agentic AI = RPA 2.0? 04:00 – The truth about automation and “cool branding” 06:00 – Why AI isn't new and that’s okay 09:00 – “Just do AI” is not a strategy 12:00 – Start with business goals, not tools 15:00 – What AI outcomes are you really buying? 18:00 – Hybrid teams: scaling without more headcount 22:00 – The cost of hesitation and poor leadership 24:00 – How to frame AI as employee empowerment 27:00 – Could your next board member be an agent? 31:00 – The power of co-creation: inside and out 33:00 – Where to start: the unexpected case for finance 37:00 – Why AI wins in finance unlock everything else 39:00 – Final hot take: consolidation is coming 🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these #EnterpriseAI #AgenticAI #CorporateVenture #DigitalWorkforce #AutomationStrategy #BeyondTheCore