In big companies, innovation risk feels terrifying. Careers are on the line. Budgets are locked in. And every new idea gets smothered by a stage-gate review before it ever sees the light of day.
But in startups? Risk is the job.
That’s why so many early-stage founders get further, faster. They know how to test, iterate, and course-correct, long before most corporations even get internal sign-off.
Alice Ponti, SVP of Strategy & Innovation at VentureFuel and a veteran of L’Oréal, Diageo, and AB InBev, has spent her career helping both sides of the table. And on the Faces of Innovation podcast, she spells out exactly why startups derisk smarter than most Fortune 500s—and how they do it without all the red tape.
Here’s what startups get right and what your next hire needs to know how to do.
When startups test an idea, they don’t wait months for approval. They move. Then they learn. Then they move again. That fast feedback loop isn’t just “scrappy”; it’s strategic.
Here are the startup practices Alice Ponti says are crucial for de-risking innovation:
This kind of experimentation doesn’t require big teams or deep pockets—it requires talent that knows how to run lean tests, interpret weak signals, and move quickly on learnings.
Ponti explains that the real problem isn’t a lack of innovation ambition. It’s the structure:
It’s not that corporations don’t know they need to innovate. It’s that their systems punish the very behaviors that make innovation work.
If you’re hiring for your early-stage startup, here’s the takeaway:
You don’t need people who just know how to operate inside the system.
You need builders who know how to test the system.
That means hiring for:
At Bamboo X, we specialize in helping early-stage companies hire this exact kind of talent. Whether you're building your first product team or scaling a growth function, we match you with operators who know how to move fast, test smart, and course-correct before the stakes get too high.