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Increasing the barrier makes us jump higher

Engagement Manager

13 Dec 2023

How regulating to stymie innovation can end up accelerating it
 

The Valley of Death for New Medicines

Engagement Manager

15 Nov 2023

The biotechnology sector is filled with the promise of new cancer treatment approaches, such as immunotherapy, but the financial stumbling blocks could prevent these advances from reaching patients.
 

The tranquilizing drug of incremental innovation

Engagement Manager

18 Oct 2023

How the comfort of the marginal gain can sleepwalk a company into the abyss
 

Why you probably won’t be charging your electric car in 2 minutes

Engagement Director

17 Aug 2023

Why you probably won’t be charging your electric car in 2 minutes
 

Leapfrogging anaerobic digestion: tackling the food waste challenge

Engagement Manager

24 May 2023

From plate to planet: reducing food waste for a sustainable future
 

Graphene: decades of promise

Engagement Manager

04 Apr 2023

When graphene was first discovered in the early 2000s, it was described as having some of the greatest material properties discovered – so why, almost 20 years later, is it not used in our day-to-day lives? 
 

Addressing the unintended consequences of decarbonisation

Engagement Director

06 Mar 2023

Decarbonisation: The quest for clean energy requires us to untangle the web of unintended consequences. It's like trying to solve a puzzle while simultaneously creating new pieces
 

Risk. Nothing to worry about

Engagement Manager

13 Feb 2023

Risk, or specifically risk tolerance, is one of the factors that has enabled innovators for centuries; it is risk or specifically risk tolerance that has progressed human development, not its avoidance.
 

Averting the plastic waste crisis: the role of enzymes in eating the problem

Engagement Manager

14 Dec 2022

The potential role of PET eating enzymes in solving the plastic waste crisis
 

The Role of Bacteriophage in the Fight Against AMR

Engagement Manager

08 Nov 2022

No action today, no cure tomorrow
 

Share buybacks: an attack on R&D

Engagement Manager

27 Oct 2022

Share buybacks are one of the reasons for the inflated valuations currently in the market, meanwhile R&D spending has stagnated.
Current events
 

Anthropogenic climate change is a politically motivated hoax... discuss.

Engagement Director

12 Oct 2022

I read the above statement online a few weeks ago and it got my back up, so I wrote about it
 

Second order effects - First class opportunities

Engagement Manager

16 Aug 2022

The unconsidered secondary problems of decarbonisation are some of the greatest opportunities for companies with the knowhow.
Decarbonisation
 

Please mind the gap: closing the circularity gap in an increasingly linear world

Engagement Manager

03 Aug 2022

While recycling infrastructure has expanded, economic growth, increased production and consumption continue to widen the gap in an increasingly linear world
Circular Economy
 

Becoming Supply Chain Savvy

Engagement Manager

19 Jul 2022

It could be assumed that a soil carbon measurement technology would be most attractive to farmers, however, it is apparent that the entire supply chain needs to be addressed and connected, otherwise an opportunity might be missed.
Technology application and adoption
 

Mind the gap: a decade of growth at RIG

11 Jul 2022

From 2013 to 2022, two views on RIG: an interview with Ffion and Anya 
 

“We know more about space than we know about the ocean"

Practice Director

04 Jul 2022

Getting into the (sea)weeds (Sorry, we couldn't kelp ourselves).
Blue Economy
 

The Importance and Value of Creating an ICP

Engagement Manager

17 Jun 2022

An ‘Ideal Customer Profile’ (ICP) is a tool we often use at RIG - a set of narrowly defined hypotheses that pinpoints the type of customer most suited for utilising the technology that is being commercialised.
Product-Market Fit, Technology application and adoption
 

Product-market fit in deep tech

Engagement Director

12 May 2022

“Build it and they will come”. Sadly, they probably won’t. So why not do the hard work up-front and secure your market before you do anything else. Investors will love you for it.
Product-Market Fit
 

The innovator’s tug of war: push and pull innovation and the Technology-Push Lead User Concept

Engagement Manager

05 May 2022

One of the challenges of technology innovation is the balancing act of identifying an application which responds to market needs (“pull”) and is informed by the technology’s attributes (“push”).  The Technology-Push Leader User Concept (T-PLUC) blends push and pull innovation to inform the development and application of a given technology.
Product-Market Fit
 

Dairy farming and Scope 3 emissions: Why sustainable changes must be aligned with economic benefits

Practice Director

18 Apr 2022

There is huge potential for the food industry to reduce their carbon footprint whilst educating consumers on the benefits of dairy farming; however, a ‘wait and see’ approach may lead to missed opportunities
Agbio, Current events
 

In defence of gasification

Engagement Manager

11 Apr 2022

Assessing the sustainability of new technologies: can we ever find one perfect solution or will it always remain a grey area? 
Advanced Fuels, Circular Economy
 

MDF recycling: a safety net against volatile raw material prices

Engagement Manager

04 Apr 2022

Long term availability of virgin timber is becoming increasingly problematic.  MDF Recovery's technology offers security against rising virgin timber prices and fragile supply chains.
Waste to Product, Current events
 

Myth or Reality? Exploring the high flying aspirations of Vertical Farming

Practice Director

08 Jun 2021

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built, it is said, around 600 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife Amytis, because she missed the verdant landscapes of her native Media (modern-day Iran). Descriptions of these gardens also suggest that they could be considered the first example of a vertical farm, with a series of stacked terraces irrigated by manually operated water pumps.
 

[Almost] three months in

Engagement Director

10 May 2021

To say my RIG journey began in unusual circumstances is somewhat of an understatement. Three zoom meetings and several phone calls were the only interaction with my future colleagues the global pandemic afforded me before my first day. Actually, that’s not quite true, I did meet a masked Simon for about five minutes to pick up my laptop.
About RIG
 

A new atmosphere: reflections on holding concerts and winning clients in the time of COVID-19

03 Jul 2020

For over 5 years, I have been hosting ‘house concerts’ where touring international musicians play a private gig in my flat to an audience of friends and friends of friends. The gigs are intimate affairs -both for the physical proximity, and because there can be lots of interaction. And sometimes there’s a level of connection between artist and audience such that at the end of the even...
 

Don't try harder, iterate faster

Founder and Managing Director

19 Jun 2020

Trying harder while generally doing the same thing is not the recipe for finding product market fit or finding early traction. It is a recipe for running out of runway. It is also a very human reaction. 
Circular Economy, Deal Execution
 

To all AgriFood workers, thank you

15 Jun 2020

It has been a while since I wrote a blog. Too long. I feel I should write one once a month maybe even once a week. Last week I got a virtual tap on the shoulder from my colleagues who manage our marketing activities. My turn. I was up to write a blog. 
 

Reflections on entry level hiring

Founder and Managing Director

29 Feb 2020

Since January 1st, I no longer lead the process of recruiting and selecting entry level hires. Entry-level hiring is a serious responsibility. We are who we hire. And who we hire is formative in terms of what we can become. In a knowledge firm, talent acquisition and development is the business strategy. Making this move is a generational shift that will bring those driving the proces...
About RIG
 

Egg-laying and milk-giving wool-pig

Practice Director

24 Sep 2019

Idioms don’t always translate well across different languages and cultures, but I thought this particular German phrase was a visceral and compelling image as a warning to early-stage companies not to be “all things to all people.”
Commercialisation
 

Borrowing economics to save the world?

20 Jun 2019

It is hard to ignore the noise currently being made about climate change. Be it Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg, or Michael Bloomberg, it is certainly a topic that has made its way into the public consciousness this year and let’s hope that it stays there.
 

Energy storage: generation’s forgotten twin

31 May 2018

In recent years, the conversation around renewable energy sources has grown broader and louder. Although wind, solar, and their lesser-known cousins do not (yet) represent a majority of energy generation in the vast majority of countries, they form an increasingly significant part of the grid’s energy mix. Indeed, in 2017 – and for the first time in its history – Britain generated mor...
Sustainability
 

How early is too early: knowing when to engage your customer

21 Feb 2018

“But we need to develop 3 phases of prototypes, go through accelerated life testing, and get 10 patents granted”. Or so go the usual protestations against early market engagement. The value of bringing partners and customers into the conversation at an early stage is often trumped by fear. “They’ll steal my technology”. “It isn’t advanced enough”. “They won’t understand it”.
 

Water: it’s a precious resource, let’s start treating it as such!

01 Feb 2017

I initially started writing this blog in the summer when it was so hot that I was struggling to sleep and was drinking water like it was on tap (but it is on tap Peter!)
 

How to develop a business and yourself

Founder and Managing Director

12 Jan 2017

Developing a business and developing yourself have a lot in common. Fundamentally they both involve learning.
About RIG
 

“I want to take a company from the lab to its first million and beyond”: An interview with James Evangelou on his 1 year RIG anniversary

Practice Director

18 Nov 2016

James Evangelou joined Rapid Innovation Group in September 2015 after graduating from Cambridge and spending 6 month teaching English in Colombo. He spent a lunch with RIG Engagement Manager, Ffion Rolph, talking success, challenges, and his bid to take over RIG.
About RIG
 

Want to succeed? Get used to failure.

01 Mar 2016

A few years ago, at a startup networking event, a colleague of mine asked a budding entrepreneur how he was going to grow and scale a business. His response? “Build the app. Marketing. Go viral.” 
 

A conversation with RIG’s founder

Founder and Managing Director

07 Oct 2015

RIG Engagement Manager, Ffion Rolph, sat down and interviewed Founder and Managing Partner, Shields Russell, over a series of face-to-face meetings. Here, Shields shares his thoughts on RIG’s history, its evolution, and its future.
About RIG
 

"I wanted to get closer to the companies themselves and have more involvement with the actual operating businesses" – an interview with Simon Jackson

09 Sep 2014

I recently caught up with Simon Jackson, Director, in order to learn a bit more about his RIG story.
About RIG