☕️ Innovation Espresso #63
AI attention spans, MWC 2026 weirdness, 100 life hacks, and the usual shots of corporate venturing news!
Welcome to Innovation Espresso, a quick yet powerful dose of curated news, articles, videos, reels, newsletters, and podcasts that I’ve found particularly interesting throughout the week. While I focus on Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing, you’ll find this quick yet potent dose covers more ground. Enjoy with your morning coffee!
💊 Innovation Pills
📱 Ready for the mobile circus? Here is what to expect from MWC 2026, from rollable phones to the truly bizarre.
🔄 Sam Altman’s latest pivot? Check out why everyone is talking about ClosedOpenAI and the shift in the AI landscape.
💸 The case for being a cheapskate: A provocative look in defense of not paying for AI while the hype settles.
🌊 Cutting the cord—literally: We might be saying goodbye to the undersea cables that built the modern web.
🤖 Love in the age of Silicon: They’re in love, but they don’t speak the same language—thankfully, AI is playing matchmaker.
☢️ War games get a brain: Anthropic is navigating the ethics of military AI and nuclear strike simulations.
💅 The new digital shills: Chatbots Are the New Influencers Brands Must Woo in their latest marketing blitz.
☕️ Your weekly sip of Corporate Venturing News
🚀 Wayra’s 15th Anniversary & MWC 2026 Strategy: Telefónica’s Wayra is doubling down on “growth together” and deep business unit integration. Telefónica
🏛️ CFDA and OpenAI Launch Fashion Innovation Hub: The Council of Fashion Designers of America is teaming up with OpenAI to bridge the gap between high fashion and high tech. CFDA
📈 Italian Open Innovation Market Hits €902 Million: Italy’s ecosystem grew by €160M last year, signaling a major shift toward Venture Clienting. EconomyUp
🧬 Mapping the CVC Literature: Prof. Dr. Tobi Gutmann and his team have released a systematic review of academic research on the CVC unit lifecycle. They’ve shared a structured supplement mapping methods, hypotheses, and key findings to help the community build better venturing units. Tobi Gutmann on LinkedIn
🛡️ JumpCloud Launches CVC to Fight AI Fraud: A classic defensive move, using CVC to quickly source and integrate cutting-edge security tools. JumpCloud
📹 Something to watch
🧠 The Engineering of Addiction: Enrico Tartarotti breaks down the "insane" psychology and physics behind short-form video and why you can't stop scrolling.
🎧 Something to listen
🤝 Breaking Innovation Barriers: I sat down with Gijs van Wulfen to discuss why most innovation dies from organizational resistance and how to actually get management to say "yes."
🛠️ Something to try
📊 Instant Infographics: If you need to turn complex data into visual stories without spending hours in design tools, check out this guide on creating instant infographics. It’s a game-changer for innovators who need to communicate impact quickly and clearly. Try Instant Infographics
🤔 Did you know?
🧠 The Mechanics of Machine Focus: A breakdown of the Attention Mechanism, the core science behind how LLMs weigh information. Read the full breakdown
🥐 Espresso is not enough?
📈 100 Tiny Tweaks for a Better Life: A masterclass in the "marginal gains" philosophy applied to your daily habits. Read the full list
☝️ The most clicked link from last time?
The Rise of RentAHuman, the Marketplace Where Bots Put People to Work
📣 Want to be featured on Open Road Ventures?
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See you next week,
Davide
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