Big organisations love to talk about innovation. They set up labs, hire “transformation” teams, and run hackathons. 

Yet inside many companies, the best ideas still die in PowerPoint decks or get buried in cautious business cases.

In this week’s episode of The Business of Tech, I talk to Gravity cofounder James Boult, an innovation specialist who has spent years inside large New Zealand organisations, watching this play out in real time. 

Boult’s verdict is that most corporates are structurally set up to smother genuinely new ideas, even when the will – and the talent – is there.

Boult’s core advice is to treat every significant new idea as if it were a venture‑backed startup inside your organisation. That means giving it a dedicated budget, a finite runway, clear deliverables, and hard stage gates where the project must “earn” the right to continue. No more quietly funding side projects from the core P&L. No more open‑ended experiments that drift for years without real customers.

The gatekeepers and the fear factor

Instead, project owners should be forced to pitch for the next tranche of funding just like founders fronting up to investors. That shift, says Boult, changes behaviour overnight. Teams become sharper on the problem they’re solving and far less likely to hide behind internal politics or legacy metrics.

The episode also digs into the human side of corporate innovation – the “gatekeepers” who can make or break new ideas. These people aren’t cartoon villains. They’re often acting out of fear about budgets, risk, or their own roles. Boult explains how to identify them early, understand their motivations, and design an innovation process that works with – rather than around – those emotional realities.

For frustrated “intrapreneurs” who feel like they’re “going mad” inside a big company, Boult offers a practical playbook for testing startup thinking without immediately quitting the day job. And for senior leaders, he lays out why outsourcing innovation, spinning up venture arms, or re‑branding old projects as “agile” won’t work unless the underlying incentives and governance change.

If you work in a large organisation that talks a big game on innovation but struggles to ship anything truly new, this episode is required listening. Listen to The Business of Tech wherever you get your podcasts. 

 

Big organisations love to talk about innovation. They set up labs, hire &ldquo;transformation&rdquo; teams, and run hackathons.&nbsp;
Yet inside many companies, the best ideas still die in PowerPoint decks or get buried in cautious business cases.
In this week&rsquo;s episode of The Business of Tech, I talk to Gravity cofounder James Boult, an innovation specialist who has spent years inside large New Zealand organisations, watching this play out in real time.&nbsp;
Boult&rsquo;s verdict is that most corporates are structurally set up to smother genuinely new ideas, even when the will &ndash; and the talent &ndash; is there.
Boult&rsquo;s core advice is to treat every significant new idea as if it were a venture‑backed startup inside your organisation. That means giving it a dedicated budget, a finite runway, clear deliverables, and hard stage gates where the project must &ldquo;earn&rdquo; the right to continue. No more quietly funding side projects from the core P&amp;L. No more open‑ended experiments that drift for years without real customers.
The gatekeepers and the fear factor
Instead, project owners should be forced to pitch for the next tranche of funding just like founders fronting up to investors. That shift, says Boult, changes behaviour overnight. Teams become sharper on the problem they&rsquo;re solving and far less likely to hide behind internal politics or legacy metrics.
The episode also digs into the human side of corporate innovation &ndash; the &ldquo;gatekeepers&rdquo; who can make or break new ideas. These people aren&rsquo;t cartoon villains. They&rsquo;re often acting out of fear about budgets, risk, or their own roles. Boult explains how to identify them early, understand their motivations, and design an innovation process that works with &ndash; rather than around &ndash; those emotional realities.
For frustrated &ldquo;intrapreneurs&rdquo; who feel like they&rsquo;re &ldquo;going mad&rdquo; inside a big company, Boult offers a practical playbook for testing startup thinking without immediately quitting the day job. And for senior leaders, he lays out why outsourcing innovation, spinning up venture arms, or re‑branding old projects as &ldquo;agile&rdquo; won&rsquo;t work unless the underlying incentives and governance change.
If you work in a large organisation that talks a big game on innovation but struggles to ship anything truly new, this episode is required listening. Listen to The Business of Tech wherever you get your podcasts.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The Business of Tech, hosted by leading tech journalist Peter Griffin. Every week they take a deep dive into emerging technology and news from the sector to help guide the important decisions all Business leaders make.

Issues such as cybersecurity, retaining trust after a cyberattack, business IT needs, purchasing SaaS tools and more.

New Episodes out every Thursday. Follow or subscribe to get it delivered straight to your favourite podcatcher.

@petergnz

@businessdesk_nz

Proudly sponsored by 2degrees Business!

 

The Business of Tech, hosted by leading tech journalist Peter Griffin. Every week they take a deep dive into emerging technology and news from the sector to help guide the important decisions all Business leaders make.
Issues such as cybersecurity, retaining trust after a cyberattack, business IT needs, purchasing SaaS tools and more.
New Episodes out every Thursday. Follow or subscribe to get it delivered straight to your favourite podcatcher.
@petergnz
@businessdesk_nz
Proudly sponsored by 2degrees Business!
&nbsp;

The Business of Tech

A discussion with innovation expert James Boult about how ideas are killed in big companies and how to avoid them dying.

Why big companies kill good ideas – and how to save them

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/53187675-a4ee-4e2d-ae9a-b42c015d6a8a/transcript