Innovating and Productizing in your Tech-Centric Business

The Blank Center is pleased to announce the Tech Thursdays Lunch and Learn series with Babson Entrepreneur-in-Residence, John Landry! Our next session is on Thursday, April 4 at 12:30pm in the Blank Center Televideo Room. Lunch included!

Real innovation doesn’t start with the customer – it starts with you!

The history of innovation reveals that customers really don’t know what they want… until they see it… then they become your most important early resource. Contemporary breakthrough ideas come from a magical merging of new tech capabilities and scarce domain knowledge blended to satisfy a need that’s in increasing demand. But in tech-centric businesses, both the tech and the domain knowledge are in a continual state of flux – and there’s the opportunity! The key economics of supply and demand and their corollary of scarcity and abundance are critical to understanding successful entrepreneurial outcomes. The impact of this merging of tech and domain expertise also has a significant impact on how to build your team. Join John and the Blank Center as we explore all the above and the techniques of trendspotting, detecting investment flows, future-proofing the organization, and positioning for financing/exits with the aim of picking the right product for the right market at the right time.

About John Landry
John Landry has spent over 40 years as a serial software entrepreneur and innovator, a 12-time Chief Technology Officer in enterprises ranging from start-ups to the largest software companies, 20+ years as an passionate angel investor funding over 100 companies, and a Board Director of over 42 tech companies including 10 publicly traded.

John is currently Managing Director of Lead Dog Ventures which provides emerging technology enterprises access to a well-developed network of relationship, technology, and financial capital. He is also currently a Venture Partner and member of the Investment Committee at Boston VC firm Converge Ventures Partners.​

Previously, John served as VP Technology Strategy at IBM where he led IBM's Internet Strategy Task Force working directly for then IBM CEO Lou Gerstner to design and develop IBM's Internet strategy across the corporation. Prior to IBM, John was CTO/SVP Development at Lotus Development Corporation responsible for all product management, engineering, and R&D. Prior to Lotus, John served in similar capacities as CTO/EVP Development at global software leaders Dun & Bradstreet Software, Cullinet Software, and McCormack & Dodge.

In addition, John was Co-founder/Exec Chairman/CTO of Agility Systems, Adjoin Solutions, and Adesso Systems and Exec Chairman/CTO of Distribution Management Systems, Narrative Communications, ​ AnyDay.com, and Infostoria -- with ALL of these companies targets of successful acquisitions.

He has served as President of the American Software Association and as a long-time Trustee of both Babson College and the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC). In 2018 he was awarded MassTLC’s Commonwealth Award, the organization’s highest honor, for a lifetime of commitment to technology innovation and inclusion. He holds a BA in Finance from Babson and currently serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at the college. John lives with his wife Ann on a working farm in Wayland, Mass, a location frequently and joyfully populated by his six grandchildren.