Stanford Innovation Lab

In the final episode of our “Entrepreneurship and Ethics” miniseries, Stanford professor Tom Byers asks two leading venture capitalists — Floodgate co-founding partner Ann Miura-Ko and NEA managing general partner Scott Sandell — how the VC community can incentivize ethical leadership in the companies they fund and manage.

What if entrepreneurship education placed ethics at the same level of importance as fundraising and product-market fit? In the fourth episode of our “Entrepreneurship and Ethics” miniseries, Stanford professor Tom Byers speaks with fellow entrepreneurship educators Laura Dunham (University of St. Thomas) and Jon Fjeld (Duke University) about how they’re elevating the role of applied[...]

In the third episode of his “Entrepreneurship and Ethics” miniseries, Stanford professor Tom Byers speaks with fellow professors John Mitchell, chair of Stanford’s Computer Science department, and Mildred Cho, associate director of Stanford’s Center for Biomedical Ethics. Mitchell and Cho discuss emerging ethical questions posed by advances in computer science and biomedical research, and explore[...]

In the second episode of our “Entrepreneurship and Ethics” miniseries, Stanford professor Tom Byers connects with Theranos whistleblower Erika Cheung. Together, they explore how she found the courage to speak up, and why she’s starting a nonprofit organization focused on creating ethical toolkits for entrepreneurs.

In the first episode of our “Entrepreneurship and Ethics” miniseries, Stanford professor Tom Byers speaks with Stanford lecturer Jack Fuchs and Jazz Pharmaceuticals CEO Bruce Cozadd about how strong principles can help a leader navigate a crisis. Fuchs discusses his “Principled Entrepreneurial Decisions” course, and Cozadd walks through a case study he first presented in[...]

We all hear that having professional mentors is critical to career success. So how do you identify a mentor and sustain the relationship? In this episode, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science & Engineering, and guests Tania Abedian Coke, founder of TellUs, and Lauren Ottinger of Intercom say successful[...]

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...the best skills and qualities you bring to a team! In this episode, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science & Engineering, and guests Steve Garrity of Hearsay Systems and Juliet Rothenberg of DeepMind talk superpowers. We all have them—we just have to identify[...]

When it comes to building teams, it’s all about the blend. You need optimists and realists, dreamers and doers, yes-idents and CE-nos. In this episode, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science & Engineering, and guests Justin Rosenstein of Asana and Elizabeth Weil of 137 Ventures compare notes on finding[...]

Negotiation—whether it’s over a job offer or a merger—is a dance. Each partner must be attentive to the other, and they’ve got to agree on style and tempo. In this episode, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science & Engineering, and guests Andrew Scheuermann, CEO and cofounder of Arch Systems,[...]

Employers aren’t expecting perfection. They want authentic candidates who are excited about the company’s mission and brimming with curiosity about the role. In this episode, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science & Engineering, Tess Hatch of Bessemer Venture Partners, and Josh Reeves, CEO and founder of Gusto, explain how[...]

You can’t win at office politics, but you can get better at playing the game. In this episode of LEAP!, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in Stanford’s Department of Management Science & Engineering, along with Kit Rogers of Rambus Cryptography Research and Lauren Isford of Facebook share how they’ve navigated the intricate systems of[...]

You can’t do it all, no matter what our crazed culture tells you—and there’s no shame in walking away from a commitment that isn’t working out, as long as you do it thoughtfully, respectfully, and with plenty of advance warning. In the first episode of the LEAP! podcast, Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in[...]

Join Stanford Professor of the Practice Tina Seelig on a deep-dive into how to launch your career. Tina and Stanford alumni will discuss what skills have helped them thrive, and what they wish they’d learned while they were in school. Each episode explores a particular topic, including politics in the workplace, how to negotiate, and[...]

Why look at old things in new ways? Rich Cox, Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, joins host Tina Seelig to share and discuss the listener submissions to the Stanford Innovation Lab: Innovation Challenge. People, young and old, from around the world submitted their ideas for how to create value from unmatched socks.[...]

Do you need more friction in your life? Stanford Professors Bob Sutton and Tina Seelig continue their lively discussion about the need for friction in the creative process. They share insights from research and their personal experiences about the best times to debate, when to accept a decision and move on, and tips for how[...]

Is "friction" within a team positive or negative? Stanford organizational expert and bestselling author Bob Sutton joins Tina Seelig to discuss his fascination with the tensions within teams and businesses. They also explore how much positive and negative reinforcement leaders should give to elicit the best and most creative results from others, and how to[...]

Imagine learning to code with no internet connection. Or creating a business plan from behind bars. Beverly Parenti, co-founder of The Last Mile, joins Tina to share the challenging journey of bringing innovation and technology training to prisoners. Can constraints fuel creativity? When does structure provide stability and opportunity? Tina and Beverly reflect on this[...]

In this episode, host Tina Seelig challenges you to apply the lessons on brainstorming that were shared in the last three episodes of Stanford Innovation Lab. She reveals an assignment that requires you to look at something old in a brand new way. The most innovative ideas will be showcased on the final episode of[...]

Let go of judgment in order to leap to your boldest and most innovative ideas. Emily Ma, from Alphabet’s X, joins host Tina Seelig to discuss how unlikely combinations of ideas can lead to breakthrough solutions to the thorniest problems… And, how to you take advantage of bathroom breaks to reset the agenda. This is[...]

What can MadLibs teach you about brainstorming? Emily Ma, from Alphabet’s X, joins host Tina Seelig to discuss how simple word choices in brainstorming profoundly influences what ideas are generated. They discuss what questions you can ask to squeeze out more diverse ideas, and how do you keep your team from falling back into incremental[...]

What are the essential ingredients for a brainstorm? Before the Post-its go up and ideas start flying, the best facilitators engage in a healthy dose of planning. Emily Ma, from Alphabet’s X, and former IDEO designer, joins Tina to discuss how to energize teams to generate their best ideas. Plus: should you bring that funky[...]

How is launching a new romance like starting a business? Oh, let us count the ways… On this Valentine’s Day, host Tina Seelig serves up some playful thoughts on the similarities between starting a venture and falling in love. Plus, she whispers sweet nothings in our ears, hinting at what is to come for this[...]

If you really want to win at negotiation, stop fighting and start listening. In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, host Tina Seelig speaks with Margaret “Maggie” Neale, professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, for answers to the burning questions about negotiating. Is emotion your most powerful tool? When does deference earn you[...]

What if you removed failure from your vocabulary? Patricia Ryan Madson, Improv pioneer and retired Stanford University lecturer, sees improvisation - and the art of "yes, and" - as a route to innovation. In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig meets with Patricia to discuss re-framing experiences as experiments and practicing attentiveness.

Imagine a collective brain shaped by human insights and powered by technology - that's crowdsourcing. Michael Bernstein, computer scientist at Stanford University, explores how to harness crowdsourcing to tackle daunting challenges. In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig meets with Michael to discuss examples of successful crowdsourcing, tools to gather collective insights, and[...]

What makes a story stick with you? From campfires to boardrooms, master storyteller JD Schramm studies the habits of powerful storytellers and teaches students at Stanford business school how to captivate audiences. In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina and JD discuss how entrepreneurs and executives use stories to motivate teams and drive business.

Diversity in tech has become a national conversation. In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig speaks with software engineer and diversity advocate Tracy Chou. Tracy graduated from Stanford with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, and was an early employee at both Quora and Pinterest. In this episode, Tracy talks about her[...]

What does the next generation of venture capital look like? In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig speaks with venture capitalist Chi-Hua Chien. Chi-Hua started his career working in startups, and entered the VC world through roles at Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins. He recently started his own VC firm, called Goodwater Capital.[...]

“The enemy of delivering a product is trying to deliver the perfect product.” In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig interviews Gabriel Parisi-Amon, co-founder of Nebia, where he focuses on building breakthrough shower nozzles that are beautifully designed, create a luxurious experience, and use only 25 percent of the water. During this conversation,[...]

What is the number one cause for failure in early-stage startups? Team issues! In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig interviews executive coach Michael Terrell. Michael is the founder and managing partner of Terrell Leadership Group, and co-author of The Inside Out Effect, which focuses on effective leadership. In this conversation, Michael shares[...]

In a world where consumers are inundated with information, how can a company use social media to stand out? In this episode of Stanford Innovation Lab, Tina Seelig interviews Clara Shih, CEO and co-founder of Hearsay Social, and author of two books on social-media strategy. Clara discusses the history and future of social media, highlighting[...]

People in Silicon Valley often talk about failing fast. But what exactly does that mean? In this pilot episode of STVP’s new podcast series, Stanford Innovation Lab, Professor of the Practice Tina Seelig interviews serial entrepreneur Alberto Savoia, who describes how to fail smart. Based on his experiences founding two companies, as well as his[...]