第4集 - 李石宇 / LG Nova - 硅谷企业创新领域的新秀

深度访谈科技领域最具影响力的创新高管，独家数据与全球主要及新兴生态系统的洞见，最前沿的全球技术与开放创新动态，尽在每期新节目中。欢迎收听《开放创新对话》，Mind the Bridge与行业领袖的深度对谈。

In-depth interviews with the most influential innovation executives of the tech arena. Exclusive data and insights on major and emerging ecosystems all around the world, the hottest news on technology and open innovation at a global level, this and much more in every new episode. Welcome to Open Innovation Talks. Mind the Bridge chat with industry leaders.

好的，欢迎各位。我是Marco Marinucci，Mind the Bridge的创始人兼CEO。我们是一家总部位于硅谷的创新咨询公司，在全球设有多处办事处。欢迎收听我们《开放创新对话》新一期节目——Mind the Bridge与行业领袖的对话。

Alright. Welcome everybody. This is Marco Marinucci, the founder and CEO at Mind the Bridge. We are an innovation advisor firm that is based in Silicon Valley with multiple offices around the world. And welcome to the new episode of our open innovation talks, the Mind the Bridge chat with industry leaders.

今天与我对话的是LG电子创新高级副总裁Sok Voh Rhi，更重要的是，他是LG Nova项目的负责人。LG Nova是LG为支持开放创新活动设立的组织架构。敬请锁定节目。早上好，我是Mind the Bridge的Marco Marinucci。今天我们非常荣幸邀请到LG电子企业创新高级副总裁Sokwal Re。

Today I'm sitting with Sok Voh Rhi, he's the SVP of innovation at LG Electronics, most importantly, the head of the LG Nova, kind of the structure that LG has, to support open innovation activities. So, don't miss it. Stay with us. Good morning here with Marco Marinucci from Mind the Bridge. Today we have the great pleasure of having with us Sokwal Re as the Corporate Senior Vice President for Innovation of LG Electronics.

嗨，Sokwal，最近怎么样？

Hi, Sokwal. How are you?

Marco，你好吗？

How are you, Marco?

非常好。很高兴能与你聊聊你在硅谷领导的NTTL LG Nova项目，以及LG电子开展的开放创新活动。这也属于我们与国际商会（ICC）每年联合评选的'企业创业之星'奖项范畴，LG和LG Nova正是获奖者之一。对此表示祝贺。

Very good. Very good to have you here for conversations on the NTTL LG Nova that you're leading here in Silicon Valley, and also as an extension, all the open innovation activities that LG Electronics is being running. This also falls under the umbrella of our corporate startup stars, the prices that we do annually with the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC, and LG and LG Nova is one of the recipients of those prices. So congratulations for that.

谢谢，Marco。

Thank you, Marco.

好的。让我们从LG电子这个复杂的世界开始。也许你可以先谈谈集团在整合投资或与初创企业合作方面重点关注的几个领域，然后我们再深入探讨LG Nova的定义。

Right. Let's start in a complex world of LG Electronics. Maybe you can mention a few areas where the group is focusing on integration investments or partnership with the startups, and then we can focus a little bit deeper on the definition of LG Nova.

当然。我们的使命是为LG电子在未来增长领域识别、发现并发展新业务。我们关注数字医疗、能源与ESG、元宇宙领域，以及其他任何新兴的创新行业。虽然主要聚焦这三四个方向，但我们也对其他领域持开放态度。

Sure. Our mission is to identify and discover and develop new businesses in future growth areas for LG Electronics. So we look at digital healthcare, we look at energy and ESG, we also look at metaverse areas, and we also look at any other innovative sectors that are emerging. Those are three or four focus areas, but we're open for any other areas too.

在LG电子内部，我知道还有企业风险投资部门。你是否想介绍一下初创企业在LG生态中可能遇到的其他实体？

Within LG Electronics, I know there are also there's a corporate venture capital. Do you want to mention maybe some other entities that maybe startups would encounter in the galaxy of LG?

是的，当然。LG电子是一家大型企业，但LG集团——即LG关联公司体系——规模更为庞大，它是由众多关联公司组成的集合体，LG电子只是其中之一。有一个控股公司管理着数十家LG关联企业，而LG Nova隶属于LG电子，我们是LG电子的创新部门。

Yeah, of course. LG Electronics is a large corporation, but LG as a LG group, meaning the LG affiliated companies is even bigger because it's a collection of affiliated companies and LG Electronics is one of them. And there is a holding company that holds dozens of LG affiliated companies. And LG Nova belongs to LG Electronics. So we are the innovation arm of LG Electronics.

另外还有LG CVC（企业风险投资部门），名为LG Tech Ventures，它直接向位于LG电子之上的控股公司汇报。他们的使命是从资本和风险投资角度投资未来机会。而LG Nova有所不同——我们的使命是与初创企业合作创建新业务，因此会通过协作、合作、合资等方式推进。

Now there is also LG CVC, Corporate Venture Capital called LG Tech Ventures that reports to LG Holding Company itself, which sits on top of LG Electronics. And their mission is to invest in future opportunities in terms of the capital, the venture capital perspective. LGNova is a little different. I mean, our mission is to create new businesses working with the startups. So through this process, we do collaboration, partnership, joint venture.

我们采用的方法之一可能涉及股权投资。在LG Nova中，投资只是工具，我们的核心使命是实实在在地创建新业务；而CVC（企业风险投资）本质上就是风险投资。

But one of the methods that we use could potentially be equity investment. So we use investment as a tool in LG Nova, but our mission is creating literally new businesses, whereas CVC, Corporate Venture Capital, it is actually venture capital.

明白了。这样对于外界的企业和初创公司来说，现在至少能看清区别了：Nova是涵盖多种潜在机会的更广泛平台，我们将讨论这些机会；而GE Tech Ventures则专注于纯粹的企业风投玩法。很棒。

Got it. Great. And so for companies, startups out there, now at least they see the difference, right? That Nova as a wider kind of umbrella with different potential opportunities, and we'll discuss those opportunities versus a pure CVC play that GE Tech Ventures is focusing on. Awesome.

或许我们可以先请你简单介绍一下自己作为高管的背景？是什么让你加入LG担任这个职位？此外，你在白宫和其他领域的一些独特经历，我认为这些也都构成了你的专业工具箱。能快速提一下这些经历吗？

And maybe to get started, why don't you give us a little bit of your background as a senior executive? What took you in this role at LG? Also, you had some interesting experience also in the White House and some other specific experience that I think you're bringing as part of your toolkit there. What is a fast mention there?

这个问题很有意思，因为我的职业历程可以说是一场通过技术创造影响力的探索之旅。研究生刚毕业时，我就创办了自己的初创公司，完成了多轮融资，是典型的风险投资支持企业，几年后公司将出售。之后我开始思考下一步方向。当时公司从事的是无线传感网络业务——现在大家称之为物联网（IoT）。

Yeah, actually that's a fascinating question because my journey as my career was sort of a journey to find way to make an impact through technology. So right out of grad school, I started a company, my own startup, and raised multiple rounds of funding, typical venture backed company, and sold the company after several years. And then I was looking for what I'm going do next. And the company was about what we called wireless sensor network. Now they call it IoT, United World of Things.

那时候还没有物联网这个概念，所以我们叫它M2M、WSN之类的术语。

That's what they call it. But back then, that word exist. So we called it M2M, WSN and all those kinds of stuff.

听起来更极客。

Much geekier.

确实。现在我更多涉足工程领域。顺便说下，我本身就是工程师出身，如果我说得太专业还请见谅——

Yeah. Now I'm getting into more engineering world. By the way, I'm an engineer by training. So forgive me if I'm-

请坐，人无完人嘛，理解。

Sit here, nobody's perfect, I'm sorry.

没关系，这个回应很棒。之后有位为白宫工作的猎头联系我，当时正值奥巴马执政时期，白宫推出了一个名为'总统创新学者'的计划，旨在引进私营领域专家，聚焦那些将决定美国未来的关键技术领域。他们希望协助产业界发展，共同扩大市场规模并提升行业参与度。而物联网正是重点关注的领域之一。

It's okay, that's a good one. Okay. So after that, a recruiter working for the White House called me and then they said, White House thinks, at that time there was Obama administration, and they have this interesting program called the Presidential Innovation Fellow, and the whole point is bringing private sector experts in the areas that the White House thinks is going to be future defining for The United States. And then they want to help industry, work with the industry to see how they can grow overall the level of the size of the market and level involvement from the industry. And one of the interested sectors was IoT.

他们称之为CPS（信息物理系统），但实际上就是物联网。他们说，你从事物联网已有十年，应该是个合适人选。听起来挺有意思。我当时真正感兴趣的是这个——当你创业时，必须保持高度专注。

So they called it CPS, Cyber Physical Systems, but it was really IoT. And they said, Well, you've been doing IoT for a decade, so you could be a good candidate. So, okay, sounds interesting. So what I was really interested at the time was this. So when you do a startup, you are laser focused.

你得开发产品、销售产品、创造营收等等。于是你成为细分领域的专家并在该领域产生影响，但总会错过观察更广泛行业影响的机会。白宫这个机会与我当时的工作截然不同，这让我着迷。于是我结束原计划，为他们工作了一年，创建了一个改善美国物联网生态的有趣项目。即便现在，物联网最大的问题仍是我所说的碎片化。

You got to build product and you got to sell the product, and then you got to create revenue and all that. So you become an expert in the narrow sector and you make an impact in the narrow sector, but you always miss the opportunity to look at broader impact, really across the industry. So this White House opportunity seemed like a complete 180 degrees from what I was doing, and I was fascinated by that. So I ended the program and I worked for them for a year to create a program, an interesting program to improve the IoT landscape of The United States. And then the biggest problem of IoT even now is what I call fragmentation.

一切都太分散了：芯片厂商各行其是，软件厂商各搞一套，服务商也自成体系。缺乏整体协调性——这正是我要解决的问题。一年后，我开始实际对接市政机构。

So everything is so fragmented. Do chip guide, they're doing their things, software guide, they're doing things, service guide, own thing. It's not really cohesive. So that was the problem I tried to solve. And then after the one year, I tried to apply to actual the municipalities.

这后来发展成了智慧城市计划。我为此工作了五年，创建了当时联邦政府规模最大的智慧城市项目。后来LG电子联系我说：『你整合500家机构、与200家企业合作，推动数百个真正改变智慧城市和物联网格局的项目，何不把这份专业能力用于开拓私营领域的新业务？』

So it became a smart city initiative at that point. So I've done that for five years. I created the largest federal government smart city program at that point. And then I got a call from LG Electronics and said, Hey, you seem to be doing something great, pulling 500 organizations together and working with 200 companies, creating hundreds of projects that is really changing the landscape of Smart City and IoT. Why don't you apply expertise to create new businesses in the private sector?

好的，所以这就是

Okay, so that's what

回归私营领域。

Back to the private sector.

没错。当时LG显然在寻找下一个风口——就像所有企业都在追问『下一波增长点在哪里？』我的使命变成了：不仅要找到新的增长引擎，还要培育它，真正把新业务做起来。

Exactly. And then LG was obviously really looking for the next big thing. So just like every company, what is the next wave? What is the next growth area? So my mission became, okay, let's find the next growth engine, and not just find it, but also nurture it, and also actually grow the new business.

我就是这样创建了LGNova。

That's how I created this LGNova.

完美。我觉得这是个很好的过渡来聊聊LG Nova。你提到这是多少年前的事，我们理一下时间线。LG Nova是什么时候创建的？

Perfect. I think that's a perfect segue on then LG Nova. You're talking about how many years ago, just to get a little bit of a timeline here. When was LG Nova created?

是的。我来这里才一年半多一点，不到两年。所以LGNova是在一月份创建的。

Yeah. So I've been here only a little bit over a year and a half, so less than two years. So LGNova was created January.

好的。

Okay.

严格来说我们才十六个月大。

So literally we are about sixteen months old.

天啊。

Oh my gosh.

所以大概二十二个月吧，我想。

So yeah, twenty two months, I would say.

好的，所以你们在行动之前就开始准备了。我很荣幸受邀成为发布会演讲嘉宾之一，但某种程度上也是因为你们在硅谷举办的创新节正值疫情期间。另外需要澄清的是，LG Nova总部虽设在硅谷，但具有全球视野，对吗？没错。

Okay, so you're starting walking before you And start I had the pleasure to be invited and be one of the speakers of the launch event, but to some extent it was also because of the pandemic before of the innovation festival that you hosted here in Silicon Valley. Then also to clarify, LG Nova has a head in Silicon Valley, though has a global view, correct? Correct.

我们的办公室确实设在硅谷，但业务范围覆盖全球。不过正如你所想，由于我们身处美国，与北美机构和初创企业的互动会频繁得多。但可以说我们投资组合中的初创企业约半数在北美，另一半则来自欧洲、亚洲等世界各地。

So we are located, our office is located in Silicon Valley, but our reach or our scope is global. Although, as you can imagine, since we are in The United States, we have a lot of interactions with the North American entities and startups much more. But I will say about half of our startup portfolio companies are in North America, but the other half are coming from Europe, Asia, all over world.

确实。从我们的合作经验来看，无论是与政府还是企业，特别是通过在韩国的直接业务，我们经常与LG、现代、三星这些国际集团打交道。这些大型企业集团现在也都致力于与初创企业的整合协作，不过它们的主要业务总部大多仍设在韩国。

Yeah. And it seems to me, I mean, we've been on the receiving side and the collaboration sides of both governments and corporates. And obviously with a direct presence in South Korea, we encounter LG, as well as the Hyundai and Samsung of the world. So it's the large conglomerates that are also now working on the activities of integration engagement with startups. A lot of them tend to have really still the headquarters of the main activities back to South Korea.

但LG Nova似乎并非如此。为什么选择硅谷？这是既定决策，还是你们基于资深经验提出的建议，认为首先落地硅谷更具战略意义？

Doesn't seem to be the case, at least with LG Nova. Why Silicon Valley? Was it already decided or was also part of your seniority in bringing on board and saying, this makes sense to have it and localize in Silicon Valley first?

首先让我解释LG Nova成立的初衷——虽然之前已经提过。核心在于LG电子在韩国制造业表现优异，但他们希望拓展服务和平台等新领域。纵观这些新兴服务业态，美国至今仍是——未来可能持续保持——这类新型服务商业模式创新的中心。因此从LG管理层角度来看，在北美设立这类创新机构是顺理成章的决定。

So let me first explain why this LG Nova was created, which I already did. But the point was, okay, LG Electronics is doing well in Korea, mostly in manufacturing. But they also want to look at other sectors like service, platform. And if you look at all these new service and platform businesses, US still, and we may continue this way for a while, dominates new creation of this new type of service businesses. So I think for LG's leadership perspective, it was natural to say, Okay, we should have this kind of initiative in The United States or North America.

接下来的问题是选址。在美国境内——这也是我提供建议的环节——虽然美国有多个创新集群，但管理层也认同硅谷目前仍是创新中心的核心地位。

But then the question becomes, should we put it? So in The United States, and that's where I provide some input. I mean, I'm sure senior leadership already had in mind, okay? Well, there's great clusters of innovation in The United States, multiple of them. But still, we believe Silicon Valley is the center of the innovation at this point.

这就是我的建议，也是我们最终落户于此的原因。

So I suggested that and that's why we're located here.

明白了。你一开始提到了数字健康、元宇宙游戏、电动出行、显示技术和智能生活这些重点领域。没错。请告诉我们这些行业聚焦点，同时也请说明你们内部的组织架构——如果你们有不同的业务子集，因为考虑到这些项目大多是首次推出，我认为这套体系正在我们讨论的过程中逐步成型？

Got it. You alluded at the very beginning the areas of focus of digital health, metaverse gaming, electric mobility, display, smart lifestyle. Correct. Tell us so that's to focus more on the industries, but tell us how we are structured inside if you have different subset of activities, because this is something that I think has been building as we speak, considering that most of those programs are the first editions?

是的，这是个非常有趣的问题。因为如果你仔细想想，我刚才提到的所有这些领域——数字健康、元宇宙等等——这些都是我称之为新兴领域的范畴。从定义上来说，你很难用非常结构化的行业视角来看待它们，毕竟这些都处于起步阶段。所以我们与初创企业合作的部分工作，就是要识别这些领域的发展方向。我们的基本理念是：大多数大企业——即便不是全部——他们采用的创新或新业务创造方式，都是我们所谓的'由内向外'模式。

Yeah, so that is a fascinating question because if you think about it, all these sectors that I just mentioned, digital health and metaverse, these things are what I call emerging new areas. And by definition, you don't have a very structured industry perspective because that's like its beginning. So part of our job and a part of our process of working with startups is to identify where it's going. So the basic philosophy is this. Most of the large companies, probably most, if not all, they use what we call the inside out approach for innovation or creating new businesses.

他们通常会在实验室投入研发资金，然后提出一些有趣的成果，认为其中某些可以转化为实际产品进行销售。这就是通常的'由内向外'模式。但问题在于，这种方式在过去五十年可能有效，但现在更需要协作创新——人们通过集体讨论和合作来产生新创意。

They typically spend R and D funding in a lab, and they come with something interesting, and they think one of them can turn to a real product and sell it. That's usually what happens. That's what I call inside out. Now, the problem of that approach is that kind of inside out worked for the last probably fifty years, but now there are more collaborations. I mean, people discuss and collaborate to create new ideas in a group setting, in a collaborative setting.

过去四、五到十年间，创新生产方式已经发生了巨大变化。所以我们采用的是'由外向内'模式：我们引入初创企业，让他们主动提出合作构想，而不是由我们来规定合作方向。这种方式之所以有效，特别是在我们刚谈到的这些新兴领域，是因为我们（LG电子）承认自己并非全知全能——事实上我们可能知之甚少。

So the method of production of innovation has changed a lot since the last four, five, ten years. So what we do is what we call outside in. So we bring in startups, we ask startups to tell us what they want to do with us, instead of we telling them what do you want to do with us. So why it's effective is because in the sectors like emerging sectors, like we just talked about, because we don't know everything. And frankly, we may know very little as LG Electronics.

市面上有成千上万的初创企业，他们活跃在各个细分领域。他们会主动找我们说：'我在数字健康某个细分领域是专家，有个合作构想，而LG电子恰好具备相关资源'——这就是我们实现协同创新的契机。当我们观察这些寻求合作的初创企业时，有趣的发展趋势就会自然浮现。

There are a lot of startups, hundreds and thousands of of them. They work in all different kinds of small sub sectors. And they come to us and say, Hey, I'm an expert in this very small segment of digital health. And I think I have an idea to work with And LG Electronics has these kinds of assets they can provide, and that's where we bring this together. And if you look at all these hundreds and thousands of startups that we are trying to work with and come to us, interesting trends emerge out of that.

所以长话短说（抱歉说了这么多），与其由我们来定义这些细分领域，我们更希望让初创企业来定义。而且不是一两家初创企业，我们要看整个生态系统的动向——资金流向哪里、初创企业更关注哪些领域、创始人们的兴趣点在哪里——这些才是我们的指路明灯。

So, short answer, sorry, for long and short answer is, instead of us trying to define what those self sectors are, we want startups to define it for us. And not just one or two startups. We want to see the landscape and where the money is flowing, where the startups are more interested, where those startup founders are interested. That's going to be the guiding light for us.

从实际操作层面来说，如果我是一家已经开发出产品或部分成果的初创企业，看到了与LG（具体到这个案例是LG Nova）的合作机会，整个流程是怎样的？既然你们期待初创企业主动提出合作方案，那你们如何接受这些协作提案呢？

On practical term, if I'm a startup that I have developed products or part of it and they see an opportunity in partnering with LG and LG Nova in this case, what is the process? How do you accept collaboration proposals if you are expecting startups to tell you what the proposal can be?

确实如此。这就是我们'重大挑战'项目的意义所在。我们有一个名为'重大挑战计划'的项目。'挑战'这个词可能有些误导，因为我们并不是在做一个传统意义上的挑战项目。我们实质上是与这些初创企业共同制定新的商业计划。

Absolutely. So that's where our Grand Challenge program comes in. So we have a program called the Grand Challenge Program. The word challenge is a little misleading because we are not sort of like you are not doing it like challenge thing. We are essentially working with these startups to co create new business plans.

通常会有六到八周的开放期，我们在此期间接收初创企业的提案。他们提交提案后——实际上不仅限于初创企业，有时上市公司也会提交，因为他们认为这是与LG电子合作的绝佳机会。我们会逐一审查这些提案。

So there's a period, typically six to eight weeks, that we open up and we receive proposals from startups. And they send their proposal. And it's not just startups, there are sometimes public companies they send proposals because they say, Well, it's great a opportunity to work with LG Electronics. So they do that. And we go through and review those proposals.

我们会评估企业资质。对我们而言最关键的是合作创意——如何实现1+1大于2的效果？虽然初创企业本身的资质很重要，但更重要的是：你如何构想这项业务与LG的结合？

They look at companies. And most important thing there for us is what is the collaboration idea? What is the one plus one that can be three or four? So, we look at the quality of the startups themselves, it's very important. But what is more important for us is how can you imagine this combined business with LG?

他们如何看待LG能提供的助力？当然除了资金（这是大家都想要的），但远不止于此。通常他们真正渴望的是业务增长。实际操作中我们会通过特定评审流程来评估。

And then what do they think LG can help to make it work? Of course, in addition to capital, everybody wants capital, that's one thing. But that's not the only thing. Usually, they really want to grow their business. And then, practically speaking, when they do it, we look at it, there's a certain process of reviewing.

当我们筛选出几十家初创企业入围名单后，由我们的EIR（实际上是有过创业或风投经历的员工）主动对接并分配到具体企业。呃...

And once we come out with a short list, usually dozens of startups, then our EIRs, actually our employees who have been in startups, who have been venture capitalists themselves, they reach out to them and they get assigned to startups. Ups.

驻场企业家，即EIR。

Entrepreneurs in residence, EIRs.

这些企业家作为EIR，会与初创企业共同制定联合商业计划。这个计划可能很简单，比如初创企业说'我有个传感器，能否接入你们的家居系统？'或者'我有一款医疗设备'。

Entrepreneurs are EIRs. And then they co create this joint business plan with the startups. And the joint business plan could be simply like, start ups say, I have a sensor. Can I connect this sensor to your home system? Or I have a medical device.

我能把这个连接到你们的医疗平台吗？比如说如果你们有的话。然后我们共同推向市场。这就是一加一大于三的效果。在我们完成这个商业计划流程后，如果这个计划被选中，大多数情况下我们会考虑股权投资。

Can I connect this to your medical platform? If you have, for example. And then we go to market together. So that's where one plus one becomes three. Now, after we go through this business planning process, if this business plan is selected, then we consider equity investment most of the cases.

一旦我们做出决定，通常会进行投资。同时我们会组建自己的团队来实际推动业务发展。这就是与众不同的地方。投资对我们而言只是工具，只是整个方程式中的一小部分。

Once we decide, we typically invest. And then also we put our own team behind the actual development of the business. So this is where it becomes very different. Investment is a tool for us. It's just a small piece of the equation.

真正的关键在于我们会在LG Nova内部专门组建业务团队，与初创公司共同发展这项业务。这才是区别所在。

What really comes is we literally create a business team in LG, Nova, to work on growing this business with the startup. That's the difference.

明白了。让我梳理下这个流程的时间顺序。首先是筛选阶段，会有开放申请期。你们有固定截止日期吗？还是采用滚动式审核流程？

Got it. So let me recap the timing of how these things are consequent. So first, there is a selection, there is an opening. Do you have a deadline or is that a rolling process that you

是的。第二年的申请截止日期几周前刚结束，但我们理解一年一次的截止日期对很多初创公司不太适用，所以并不理想。因此明年我们考虑改为滚动审核制。

always Yeah. Have So the the second year deadline just wrapped up a few weeks ago, but we also understand that once a year deadline is probably not applicable to many startups, so it's not ideal. So next year we are considering making a rolling basis.

滚动审核制。然后是评估环节，根据评估结果你们会选定一批公司进行深度合作，至少会派驻创业导师与公司对接，共同制定商业计划，或者探索其他合作形式。具体实施方式可以多样化，可能是风险客户关系，也可能是潜在联合开发。在此基础上可能还会追加股权投资。但时间投入方面有硬性要求吗？还是根据具体合作情况灵活调整？

Rolling basis. Then there's an evaluation case, Then as a result of this evaluation, you decide a subset of companies that you want to commit, at least to commit to have an entrepreneurial residence of your own people being associated with a company, writing a business plan together, or how that collaboration can look like, and can have different implementations. It can be just a venture client, it can be potential co development, I guess. And then on top of that, maybe also some equity investments. But is there a commitment of time or can that vary based on collaboration to collaboration, right?

对。我们尽量完成这个周期流程。我不想称之为评估，因为评估听起来像是我们在单方面审核。实际上完全不是这样...

Yeah. So we try to finish that cycle. I don't want to call it evaluation, because evaluation sounds like we are actually just reviewing it. So that's really not

你们正在做的事情。我猜我们的工作涉及对一项合作的评估。

what you're doing. We work It's with an evaluation of a collaboration, I assume.

是的，关于合作机会。通常需要三个月左右的时间。明白吗？所以我们正努力在三个月内完成，具体取决于合作的层次和范围。显然，如果规模很大，就需要更多时间来讨论和协作。

Yeah, of collaboration opportunities. That typically takes about three months. Okay? So we are trying to finish it in three months, depending on the level and the scope of the collaboration. Obviously, if it is really big, then it takes more time to discuss and collaborate.

所以有时会延长到六个月，但通常我们尽量在三个月内完成这次合作机会的讨论。

So sometimes it goes up to six months, but usually we are trying to wrap up this collaboration opportunity discussion in three months.

明白了。回到Nova的范围，你一开始提到我们的目标是创造影响力，对吧？这可以通过不同方式衡量。或许这也相关，你在组织架构中向哪个部门汇报？在LG电子内部你向谁汇报？

Got it. Back at the scope of Nova, you mentioned at the beginning, our scope is to create an impact, right? And that can be measured in different ways. And maybe that's kind of related also, which part of the organization do you report to? Who are you reporting to within LG Electronics?

没错。我想向听众说明的是，LG电子是一家公司，但其内部有四个子公司。明白吗？每个子公司都有自己的盈亏账目，运营方式就像独立公司一样。内部设有C级管理层架构，CEO、CFO和CSO等高管管理这四家子公司。

Absolutely. One thing that I want to explain to the audience is that LG Electronics is one company, but inside of that, there are four sub companies. Okay? Each sub company keeps their own P and L, so it operates like its own company. And inside there is this C level structure, CEOs and CFOs and CSOs that sits on top of these four sub companies.

我们向首席战略官(CSO)团队汇报，该团队直接向CEO汇报。还有个有趣的情况是，LGNova这个团队实际上是由现任全球CEO创立的，他去年还是CSO。

And we report to CSO group. So Chief Strategy Officers group who reports directly to CEO. What is also interesting is this group, LGNova, was actually created by current global CEO, who was the CSO last Yeah, the So

你们当然会全力支持，因为这是他创建的，我们理应成为后盾。

you definitely have the buy in because it's something that he created, so we might as well be behind it.

是的。所以，有趣的是，这种结构之所以重要，是因为除非你直接向高管层汇报，否则有时很难保持创新方向。我不是说这不可能，只是当你与子公司合作时，他们有自己的季度损益需要维护。

Yeah. So, yeah. So interestingly, the reason this structure is important is because unless you are reporting directly into C levels, sometimes it is hard to maintain the course of innovation. I'm not saying it's impossible. It's just that when you work with sub companies, they have their own P and L they have to maintain every three months.

这确实很难做到。很多时候我们的活动需要以年为单位来衡量，而不是按月计算。因此，让我们直接向全球总部高管层汇报是一种非常有效的结构。

And then it's a hard thing to do. So many times our activities has to be measured in years, not in months. So it is a very effective structure to have us reporting to C levels in the global headquarter.

100%同意。那么基于此，成功的标准是什么？如何衡量成功？你期望每年向CEO汇报什么，并认为这是多年累积的进展？

100. And so with that said, how does success look like? What's the measure of success? What you're expecting to report to the CEO on a yearly basis with the idea that it's progress over a number of years?

是的，有几点需要说明。首先是实际的成功衡量标准，即我们的使命是创建新业务。这意味着我们需要在未来领域为LG孵化新的业务单元或业务线，比如数字健康和ESG等领域。

Yes. So there are a couple of things I have to talk about. So the first thing is a practical measure of success, meaning, okay, our mission is to create new businesses. Meaning that we have to churn out new business units or new lines of businesses in the areas of the future for LG to grow in the future. So like digital health and ESG and all these things.

这更多是实际的成功标准：你创建了多少业务？与多少初创企业合作创建了这些业务？这些就是关键指标。

So that is more of a practical measure of success. So how many businesses you create? How many startups you work with to create those businesses. Those are the ones.

当你说创建新业务时，其中一种选择也可以是建立新的合资企业。

When you say creating new businesses, one of the options is also to create a new joint venture.

哦对，我应该更明确些。是的，任何合作商业机制——合资企业、重大投资（我们一直进行股权投资），或者比如我们收购这些公司的大部分股权几乎形成合资，又或是创建初创企业深度参与的全新实体，有时也会直接进行并购。

Oh yeah, So I should have defined it a little better. So yes. So any collaborative business mechanism, joint venture, and the major investment, we do equity investment all along. But let's say, what about we acquire a big chunk of those companies and almost become a joint venture, for example. Or create a completely new entity that startup is heavily engaged in, or sometimes go directly to M and A, for example.

所有这些选项都是可用的。在某些情况下，它会形成强大的商业关系。这些选项的可用性正是我们衡量成功或流程成果的标准。此外，这里还涉及一些更具哲学意味的衡量标准。也就是说，作为企业，赚钱显然很重要。

All these options are available. And in some cases it becomes a strong commercial relationship. So all these options are available and that's our measure of success or it's outcome of the process. Now, there's a little bit more of a sort of like philosophical metric too there. So meaning, okay, making money is important, obviously, as a business.

但赚钱的方式多种多样。问题在于：你选择在哪个领域开展业务？将业务重点放在哪里？我不确定在座各位是否了解，LG有一套被称为'LG之道'的行为准则。

But there are many different ways to make money. And the question is, where do you launch your business? Where do you focus your business? And I'm not sure whether a lot of you know about this, but there's something called LG Way. So it's an LG Code of Conduct.

LG的愿景是在控股公司层面定义的。本质上，我们想做的是创造影响力。我们希望通过创新来提升生活质量——这就是我们的目标。因此当我们选择健康、ESG、元宇宙（包括职业再培训等领域）这些未来方向时，始终关注的是：如何帮助人们？

And LG's vision is defined at the holding company level. Essentially, what we want to do is we for impact. We want to innovate to improve the quality of life. So that is our goal. So that's why when you choose these future areas like health, or ESG, and in metaverse, which includes reskilling and training of the jobs, for example, we always pay attention to, okay, how do we help people?

如何改善世界并提升生活质量？这不是能用数字简单衡量的绝对标准，但它已融入我们的基因。

How do we improve the world and improve the quality of life? So, it's not a sort of absolute metric you can write down in numbers, but it is in our DNA.

明白了，非常清晰。我知道你们才运营几个月，但在首轮合作中是否有值得分享的进展或成功案例？

Got it. Very clear. So I know that you're in the first months of operations, but maybe there are some progress or success stories that you feel like sharing in this first wave of collaborations?

当然。去年我们启动了首届'重大挑战计划'，收到了约1300份初创企业提案。初创企业和创始人对我们的关注度让我非常感激。经过刚才提到的筛选流程，我们最终选择了10家企业（这些信息已在官网上公开）与我们共建联合业务。

Yeah, of course. So last year we started the first Grand Challenge Program and we received about 1,300 startup proposals. And I'm really grateful to the level of interest that startups and founders are paying attention to us. Now, we went through the process we just mentioned, and we selected 10 companies. It's on our website, it's public information, to create joint businesses with us.

这些企业涵盖医疗健康领域（约5家）、ESG类型（约3家以能源为主），还有几家专注元宇宙中的培训与技能重塑领域。通过这个流程，初创企业得以成长——在3-6个月的周期内，已有几家公司通过此途径被收购。

So, those companies include healthcare. About five of them are healthcare companies. About three of them are ESG type of companies, energy focused, and a couple of them are metaverse, mostly in those training and reskilling areas. So, through this process, startups evolve, right? So we, for a three to six months process, actually a couple of companies got acquired through this process.

确实会发生这种情况，是的。

It happens, yep.

这种情况确实会发生。所以这是件好事，非常好的事。这意味着我们正在与合适的合作伙伴对话，这就是我们的看法。我们合作的这些初创公司实力雄厚，不仅我们认可，其他人也认可，确实是优秀的合作对象。

It happens. So it's a good thing. It's a very good thing. That means we are talking to the right partners, that's how we see it. And those startups that we are working with are strong and they are seen not just by us but by others, really good companies to work with.

说点题外话，当我看到这些初创公司逐渐取得成功时，我感到非常兴奋，看到他们发展真是令人激动。不仅仅是因为我们想与他们合作，更是因为我由衷地为这些新兴初创企业和创新成果感到高兴。他们获得认可，取得成功，如今已成为市场的真正推动力。我不确定这是否回答了你的问题。

So a little bit of a side story, but when I see those startups being more successful as it goes, I feel really excited about it, thrilled to see them. Not because we just want to work with them, it's just because I'm just so happy to see these new startups and new innovations come. They get recognized, they become successful. They actually now become real drivers of the market out there. I'm not sure I'm answering your question.

不，不。我是要

No, no. I'm to

稍微保留一点，但这个

keep a little bit, but this

确实取得了进展。作为连续创业者，现在又站在企业世界的另一端，你对那些初创企业的创业者有什么具体建议吗？关于在与像你们这样的大企业打交道时如何取得成功？

is There's definitely progress. Last question here as a serial entrepreneur and now to the other side of the table of the corporate world, do you have any specific suggestions for entrepreneurs of startups out there in how to be successful while dealing with large corporates like yourself?

是的。这可能是最重要的问题，也是我能给听众（如果听众现在是初创企业创始人）最重要的答案。与大企业合作时，有利有弊。好处是如果合作得当，潜力巨大。弊端则是初创企业创始人最讨厌的一个词——耐心。

Yes. That is probably the most important question and most important answer I can give to the audience, if the audience is a startup founder right now. When you are working with corporates, there are upsides and downsides. The upside is the potential is huge if you work with them correctly. The downside is the word that startup founders hate the most, which is patience.

许多初创企业创始人都会明白这一点，因为大企业的行动速度往往不如你所愿。这并不是因为企业内部人员对快速行动不感兴趣，而是整个系统设计就是缓慢的。明白吗？因此我们LGNova充分理解这一点。

And many startup founders are going to know this because corporates do not move as fast as you want. It's not because corporate people in corporate are not interested in moving fast. It's just the system was designed to be slow. Okay? So, we, as LGNova, recognize that.

我曾是初创企业创始人，与许多大型企业合作过，非常清楚那种感受。有时候你会觉得自己就像闯入某个领域的小孩，而那里盘踞着800磅重的大猩猩，难免会有些畏惧与他们合作。我完全理解这种心态，因为我曾身处其中。所以我的建议是：与大企业合作时，请思考他们真正需要什么。

I was a startup founder. I worked with a lot of larger corporations and I know exactly what it feels like. Sometimes you feel like you are jumping into the sector that you are a small kid and there's an 800 pound gorilla out there, and you are sometimes a little afraid to work with them. I completely understand that because I want this on that side. So, my advice to them is when you are working with a corporate, please think about what they will be looking for.

不同企业追求的目标各异。可以说99%的企业合作都聚焦于如何立即创收——如何将你的技术融入我的业务。但若你合作的正是这类企业，就必须设法满足他们的要求。而如果初创企业选择与我们LGNova这样的机构合作，我们更注重长期业务发展。

And now a lot of different corporates look for different things. Some corporates, I would say 99% of the corporate collaboration is going to focus on, okay, how do we create revenue right away? How can I get your thing into mine and do the thing? But if that's the type of corporate you are working with, you have to figure out how to meet their requirements, how to work with them. If the startups are working with a different organization like us, LGNova, we are more of a long term business growth organization.

我们不看中下个季度的营收，这不是我们的目标。合作方需要与我们共同描绘未来数年的发展蓝图，而非仅关注眼前。重点在于我们能共同构建什么，而不是'请投资我的公司，然后唯命是从'。

We are not looking for revenue next quarter. That's not what you're doing. Then they have to work with us to paint the picture of the vision of how these two organizations come together in next coming years, not just a month. And what can we build together? It's not about, Oh, please invest into my company, then I'll do whatever you want to do.

这不是我们追求的合作模式。我们倡导的是伙伴关系——初创企业应与我们共同构思未来五年能携手创造的愿景。期待我们能共同打造价值数十亿美元的事业，这才是我们真正的诉求。

That's not what you're looking for. We are trying to say, It's a partnership. Startups, please work with us to create and illustrate the vision what we can build together in the next five years. Hopefully, we can grow to billions of dollars business together. That's what they're looking for.

回到你关于初创企业应注意什么的问题。创业者很容易陷入自身需求：今天需要资金就必须融资，产品必须立即上市，这些都可以理解。

So, going back to your question of what should startups pay attention to? Usually, it's very easy to be hogged down into their own thing. So, okay, I need money today, so I have to get money. Yeah, understand. I have to get my products out today, so understandable.

但与大企业合作时，我的建议是主动沟通了解他们的需求。就我们而言，我们寻求的是真正共建业务。合作方应该与我们探讨如何共同实现目标，这或许是最重要的建议。若能达成这种合作，资金自然会随之而来——比如我们也愿意进行投资。

But when you are working at corporate, my advice is please try to talk to them and see what they want, what they need. And in case of us, we are trying to really build business together. Then they should be able to talk to us and discuss how to build that thing together. I think that is probably the most important, most advice I want to give. And if that happens, money comes and typically follows, like us, we are willing to invest, too.

基本上是的，'耐心'这个词通常与初创企业的DNA相悖。但如果能找到共同高效成长的路径，耐心就另当别论了。我认为你们承诺建立合作关系，并特意称他们为'创业驻场者'而非企业客户经理，这本身就是一种明确的表态——你们希望以创业者的方式开展合作。

Basically, yes, patience is a word that goes typically against the DNA of a startup. But patience, if there's a route to extremely effective growth together. And also I think the fact that you commit to associate, the fact that also you nominally call them entrepreneurial residents rather than account managers of a corporate, I think is already an express communication that you want to deal entrepreneurially with

马可，这是有意为之的设计。作为搭建平台的一方，当我与大型企业交流时，经常遇到这类企业——我对企业本身没有意见（毕竟我自己也长期在企业工作），但正如你提到的，他们的客户管理效率低下，因为他们不理解初创企业的处境。所以我专门招募了新的驻场创业者（EIRs），这些LG的全职新员工都有初创企业和风投背景，他们和我一样理解创业者面临的挑战。

And the Marco, that is by design, okay? So I knew I was on the setup side. So when I talk to large corporates, I typically meet this corporate nothing against the corporate because I'm the corporate too, who's been there for a long time and doing account management, as you just mentioned, not very effective because they don't understand what startups are facing. So that's why I literally recruited his new EIRs and they're full time employees in LG, but they are new employees that have background of startups and venture capital. So they understand what startups are facing as much as I understand.

他们确实经验丰富。太棒了，索科。再次感谢你的见解和演示，祝贺你们取得的进展，期待看到LG Nova未来的发展。

They've been there. Excellent, Soko. Listen, thanks again for the insights and the presentation. Congratulations again in your progress and looking forward to see where LG Nova is going to.

马可，我们非常珍惜这次机会。这实在太棒了，我真心想与初创企业共同打造卓越的新业务——这就是我们的目标。

So, And Marco, we'll forward I really to the appreciate this opportunity. And then it's awesome. And I really want to build a new business. It's an excellent and awesome business with the startups. That's our goal.

完美，保重。

Perfect. Take care.

谢谢。

Thank you.

好的，希望你们喜欢这次对话。下期节目将由我的合伙人阿尔贝托·内蒂与sap.io的华金·冯·格茨进行对谈，敬请关注我们的频道，不要错过。

All right. Hope you have enjoyed this conversation. Next episode, we'll have my partner Alberto Neti that will be having a discussion with Joaquin Von Goetz of sap.io. Don't miss it and follow us on our channels.

感谢您今天与我们相聚，我们下期《开放创新对话：Mind the Bridge与行业领袖访谈》再见。

Thank you for being with us today and see you in the next episode of Open Innovation Talks Mind the Bridge Chat with Industry Leaders.