Coventures

Why do entrepreneurs-in-residence make sense in an environment like Nokia Bell Labs? Bell Labs is world-class at research. Deep expertise, long time horizons, and the ability to build things that didn’t exist before. That’s not the problem. When research is strong, the question often becomes: where does this actually live in the market? What problem does this solve? And for whom? Many research-driven initiatives start from a solution and then go looking for the right problem. That’s where the EiR role fits naturally! Entrepreneurs don’t come in to “optimize” research or translate it into slides. They come in to explore the market reality around it: to talk to potential customers, test assumptions, and understand where the technology actually creates value — or where it doesn’t. This creates a useful tension early on. Instead of asking how to push a technology forward, the question shifts to whether there is a business worth building at all, and what shape it could realistically take. Sometimes that leads to a new venture. Sometimes it leads to a pivot. And sometimes it leads to shelving an idea for later, or killing it altogether. All of those are valid outcomes. What matters is that the learning happens early, close to the market, and with people who are used to making decisions under uncertainty. That’s why the combination works: strong research on one side, entrepreneurial exploration on the other. Different strengths, solving different parts of the same problem. 🤝 If you’re interested in learning more about how Nokia Bell Labs works with Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, check the link to their EiR program in the comments. 👇 #NokiaBellLabs #EntrepreneurInResidence

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