Unleashing The Superpower That Is Intrapreneurship

While Ericsson has been in existence for 147 years and does not have an innovation problem, it faced an intrapreneurship problem where talented individuals would leave the company to start their own ventures outside, resulting in zero value creation and the loss of brilliant people.

In response, it established Ericsson ONE to identify game-changing ideas and provide support, coaching, and financing to turn them into unicorn-sized growth businesses.

A Structured Approach to Intrapreneurship

The team at Ericsson ONE follows a structured approach to intrapreneurship with several stages. They begin with the lean startup methodology as the foundation. Employees submit ideas through the open ideation platform, Ideadrop, and these ideas are evaluated for desirability, feasibility, viability, and alignment with Ericsson's growth strategy. Promising ideas go through a rigorous incubation process where intrapreneurs receive funding, coaching, online training, and access to resources such as Ericsson technology platforms, patents, and a global network of customers and talents.

The selection process is highly competitive, with less than 1% making it into the Ignition stage. At that moment, they transition from Ericsson ONE to become an acceleration unit within the business area. They receive larger investments to scale up and launch commercial offerings that meet market and customer needs. Throughout this journey, a culture of experimentation, risk-taking, rapid iteration, and an obsession with value creation and customer value is fostered.

In evaluating ideas and projects, they consider four main criteria: desirability, feasibility, viability, and impact. Desirability revolves around whether the idea addresses a real problem and if people are willing to pay for it. Feasibility focuses on the company's ability to execute the idea, including technology, go-to-market strategies, distribution channels, and access to talent.

Viability assesses whether there is a sound business model that can scale and has defensibility to sustain over time. Impact emphasizes the contribution to Ericsson's vision of improving people's lives and the planet.

In the idea-phase, desirability is most important, with feasibility and viability becoming most important in the later phases of prototyping and productizing. Impact has equal weight throughout.

Examples of Ventures at Ericsson ONE

The accelerator maintains an always-on portfolio of around 20 to 30 projects, with 25 currently in progress. One notable project is the Ericsson Connected Recycling solution, which aims to turn trash into cash through IoT and AI, revolutionizing the waste industry. Ericsson Connected Machine Vision accelerates machine vision adoption in smart manufacturing, increasing production accuracy from 95% to 99%.

Another venture called Safe Work modernizes and automates safety for field workers, utilizing IoT and AI to save lives and reduce workplace injuries and costs. External Mobility focuses on utilizing network capabilities to improve efficiency and safety measures for drones, enabling solutions like remote inspection and hotspot delivery.

Ericsson ONE had its first successful graduation in December of last year with Ericsson Digital Human, a passion project led by intrapreneur Parth Radia. It started as a way to connect more meaningfully with his grandmother, who lived 8000 miles away. Parth envisioned a cost-effective and scalable solution using smartphones and XR headsets to create photorealistic holograms and enable 3D calling. The investment in 2020 grew exponentially during the pandemic, and the team developed a human scanning rig in LA to build a database of humanity, with the potential to enable the creation of new services for a market worth $4 billion.

They are also planning to roll-out their first AI-enhanced video API, allowing real-time translation on any video call, making language nearly universal. The technology would allow for dynamic language translation while capturing facial expressions.

These ventures are true examples of the power of intrapreneurship, with the potential to drive significant impact on industries and communities worldwide. If we look back, how is success being measured, and what are the results so far?

Results Achieved So Far

Since its inception, Ericsson ONE has engaged over 11,000 employees, collected over 3,000 ideas, and made over 250 investments. They have made it easy for employees worldwide to participate, with teams in Stockholm, Silicon Valley, and Beijing to support and engage with employees globally.

In addition to the team and intrapreneurs, the success of Ericsson ONE is also attributed to the 750-member ambassador community, drawn from all across Ericsson, who actively support and extend Ericsson ONE’s reach. These independent innovation champions help with idea sourcing, idea vetting, and staffing. The diversity of backgrounds and disciplines among ambassadors brings different perspectives and strengths to the table.

Value creation is measured firstly through new business value, including pipeline development and estimated returns, with projected valuations of projects ranging from $400 million to $2 billion by 2025.

Secondly, customer intimacy is measured through thought leadership, speed of learning, and customer engagement, with 35 customers signed up on early adopter agreements and 13 programmatic customers involved in multiple stages and projects.

Lastly, brand value is measured through Net Promoter Score, with a recent score of 39 indicating strong support and satisfaction from intrapreneurs. The coaching, mentoring, and training provided by ambassadors, coaches, and the enablement team contribute to this support, and intrapreneurs feel confident in their ability to transition back to their previous roles with new skills and connections.

Finally: Accepting Failure As Learning Experience

Embracing failure as a valuable learning experience is a core principle at Ericsson ONE. It encourages intrapreneurs to try and fail rather than not trying at all, fostering resilience and perseverance within teams. Failure has led to more innovation and creative ideas, shaping future decisions and actions.

One example of a failed project was a device that aimed to unify all smart devices in homes, combining connectivity, entertainment, PC gaming, and the power of 5G on one platform. Despite investing heavily for two years, the project was ultimately discontinued in 2021.

Three key lessons were learned from this experience: prioritizing listening to end-users over distribution channels, understanding the readiness of the market and stakeholders for bold moves, and acknowledging the high costs associated with creating a hardware and software platform category creator. These insights highlighted the importance of informed decision-making and understanding the scale of ambitions before embarking on such endeavors.