The Pransky interview: Brennard Pierce: world class robotics designer and serial entrepreneur

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding his pioneering efforts in starting robotic companies and commercializing technological inventions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Brennard Pierce, a world-class robotics designer and serial entrepreneur. Pierce is currently consulting in robotics after exiting from his latest startup as cofounder and chief robotics officer of Bear Robotics. Pierce discusses what led him to the field of robotics, the success of Bear Robotics, the challenges he’s faced and his future goals. Findings Pierce received a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Exeter University. He then founded his first startup, 5TWO, a custom software company. Always passionate about robotics as a hobby and now wanting to pursue the field professionally, he sold 5TWO to obtain a Master of Science, Robotics degree from the newly formed Bristol Robotics Lab (BRL) at Bristol University. After BRL, where he designed and built a biped robot that learned to walk using evolutionary algorithms, he joined the Robotics Research team at Carnegie Mellon University where he worked on a full-size humanoid robot for a large electronics company, designing and executing simple experiments for balancing. He then spent the next six years as a PhD candidate and robotics researcher at the Technical University Munich (TUM), Institute for Cognitive Science, where he built a compliant humanoid robot and a new generation of field programmable gate array-based robotic controllers. Afterwards, Pierce established the robotic startup Robotise in Munich to commercialize the omni-directional mobile platforms that he had developed at TUM. A couple of years later, Pierce left Robotise to cofound Bear Robotics, a Silicon Valley based company that brings autonomous robots to the restaurant industry. He remained at Bear Robotics for four years as chief robotics officer. He is presently a robotics consultant, waiting for post-COVID before beginning his next robotic startup. Originality/value Pierce is a seasoned roboticist and a successful entrepreneur. He has 15+ years’ of unique experience in both designing robotic hardware and writing low level embedded and high level cloud software. During his career he has founded three companies, managed small to middle sized interdisciplinary teams, and hired approximately 100 employees of all levels. Pierce’s robotic startup in Munich, Robotise, was solely based on his idea, design and implementation for an autonomous mobile delivery system. The third company he cofounded, Bear Robotics, successfully raised a $32m Series A funding lead by SoftBank. Bear Robotics is the recipient of the USA’s National Restaurant Association Kitchen Innovation Award; Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards; and the Hospitality Innovation Planet 2020 Award.

Reimagining the post-pandemic industry of arts in the Arab world: fast-tracked digital uplift or back to business as usual?

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes of this paper are as follows: to assess the extent to which a new business concept or entrepreneurial idea represents a commercial success or practical failure, to estimate the complexities associated with the management of a partnership-based venture in the context of emerging markets, to demonstrate understanding of entrepreneurial action and strategic adaptation under the condition of uncontrollable external shocks (e.g. COVID-19) and to evaluate the pros and cons of different strategic options and provide viable recommendations for the future. Case overview/synopsis Startup entrepreneurship constitutes the backbone of the socioeconomic activity of any nation and a driver of innovation, industrial diversification and wealth generation, particularly in emerging market settings. Drawing upon narrative storytelling techniques, this case study immerses the reader into the intricacies of entrepreneurial venture creation within the dynamic startup ecosystem in the Middle East. It follows the story of a young serial entrepreneur, Omar, who decided to launch a business in the creative industry of arts in the United Arab Emirates in partnership with his friend, Ahmed. Their common venture, Mont8, showcased and promoted the artwork of budding and well-known Arab talents and was on track to become a recognizable brand in the Middle Eastern business of arts until the COVID-19 crisis shook the world taking everyone by surprise. In an attempt to build a successful post-pandemic future, Omar was convinced that Mont8 needed to fast-track its digital transformation. He envisioned an e-commerce marketplace that would empower Arab artists, designers and photographers to create customized virtual galleries on their own web-stores through the Mont8’s digital platform. Yet, Omar’s vision diverged drastically from the very conservative mindset of Ahmed, who did not want to disrupt tradition and argued in favor of a back-to-business-as-usual approach. It remains unclear whose option would be selected and whether the two partners would stay in this makeover together or rather part ways. Complexity academic level Upper-level undergraduate courses. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject Code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The Pransky interview: Charlie Duncheon, robotics serial entrepreneur, CEO and cofounder of Celltrio

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal as a method to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding his pioneering efforts in the industrial robot industry and the commercialization and challenges of bringing robotic inventions to market. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The interviewee is Charlie Duncheon, CEO, Cofounder and Chairman of the Board at Celltrio, Inc, a manufacturer of automation-based solutions for the life sciences industry. Duncheon shares his nearly 40-year journey as a robotics industry executive and entrepreneur, including his achievements and challenges. Findings Charlie Duncheon received a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. At Monsanto, the first company he worked for after college, he worked his way up to be the Chairman of the Corporate Robotics Task Force. Duncheon then chose to work for the startup Fared Robot Systems, Inc., where he became the VP of Sales. In 1984, he joined Adept Technology at its inception and became Senior VP. About 20 years later, Duncheon founded his own consulting company, Duncheon Associates, and from the multiple consulting contracts he executed in automation, he was asked four different times to serve as the company CEO of the new companies: Artificial Muscle, Inc., EIG America, Grabit, Inc. and Celltrio, Inc., the last three which he also cofounded. Originality/value Charlie Duncheon, with a passion for robotic engineering and love for new challenges, led seven different robot companies to successful growth. His major accomplishments include establishing an unprecedented worldwide channel of 100+ integrators while at Adept Technology, growing Adept to $100m+ revenues and an initial public offering; being promoted to CEO of Artificial Muscle, Inc., later acquired by Bayer Material Science LLC; founding EIG America and transferring lithium battery technology from EIG Korea to the US market; and cofounding Grabit, Inc., raising two venture backed rounds of several million dollars. Duncheon is the recipient of the Joseph Engelberger Award for Leadership in Robotics. He is currently an Executive in Residence at Purdue University and a mentor for Plug and Play Tech Center. He was elected President of the Robotics Industries Association (RIA) and served a total of eight years on the RIA Board. He holds patents for automated material handling and electroadhesion grippers. His proudest accomplishment was the successful publication of his book, Reflections of a 5th Grade Girls Basketball Coach.

Charlie Gladstone, rentier or entrepreneur? A case study of contemporary ‘Aristocratic Enterprise’

Context, including social class is an emerging topic of interest in entrepreneurship studies. According to prevailing orthodoxy, to be upper-class is to be anti-enterprise. Aristocrats are defined through their ownership of land and rentier status and portrayed as conservative being focused on stewardship of their estates, rather than engaging with enterprising activities. This case challenges this traditional perception arguing that aristocrats can pursue an entrepreneurial approach to stewardship in contrast with traditional, low-risk, estate management. The focus is upon aristocrat Charlie Gladstone to explore this phenomenon. Charlie is both rentier and serial entrepreneur who engages his entrepreneurial efforts on the economic reinvigoration of his estates and expanding portfolio of entrepreneurial ventures. The case demonstrates that the enriched human, social and economic capital available to the upper-class can be exploited in an entrepreneurial manner.

Pluralist Behavioral Economics

Open-minded is identified as an economic key quality in the 21st century due to special abilities in the dissemination of innovations. The impact of dissemination is increasing due to the rise of the creative class including the open-minded. The long-term consumer profile—the most open-minded state of cognition—is identified as simple living contrasting consumerism. The modern prototype of an entrepreneur is “pilot-in-plane” à la Saraswathy, who fits best to the open-mindedness personality. Open-minded entrepreneurs strive for revenue of capital (ROI). A simple ROI formula is presented for business check by entrepreneurs. In all, four heuristics are presented for the doughnut agent. The chapter is complemented by a portrait of the serial entrepreneur Martin Thorborg and a minireview of the author and specialist of “Simple Living” Ole D. Nielsen.

Open Innovation and Serial Entrepreneurs

With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the role of entrepreneurs has become more crucial than ever. As a result, an open innovation model is suggested here that can promote serial entrepreneurs by answering the following question: “How does the serial entrepreneur in open innovation conditions continuously identify business opportunities?” This question is answered through an in-depth case study of Medison from 1985 to 2016, as Medison is not only a representative Korean medical device company, but is also a representative example of serial entrepreneurship in Korea. First, we examined the diverse open innovation channels, such as spin-offs, venture investment, and joint venture, used by Medison before it was merged with Samsung. Second, we examined the open innovation serial entrepreneurs of Medison and then analyzed the direct serial entrepreneurs of Medison. Fourth, we built a causal loop model of Medison open innovation with emergence and complexity combined. Finally, a sustainable open innovation strategy and an approach to sustainable serial entrepreneurship was formulated. The foundation of this research is as follows. First, an open innovation strategy can be a strong motivator for serial entrepreneurs. Second, a balance between emergence and complexity is required to trigger sustainable serial entrepreneurs of open innovation.