Serguei Netessine

Senior Vice Dean and Professor @Wharton, author The Risk-Driven Business Model, speaker on innovation, consultant, angel investor

[Alex Shevelenko @shevelenko]

Most innovation efforts don’t fail because of technology.
They fail because of culture.

In the latest episode of Experience-focused Leaders, I sat down with @snetesin, Senior Vice Dean of Innovation at @Wharton, @amazon Scholar, and active investor, to talk about what actually drives innovation, investment decisions, and reinvention.

Serguei operates at the intersection of academia and real-world execution.
He teaches, invests, and works with companies like Amazon, which makes his perspective anything but theoretical.

One idea that really stayed with me:

“The biggest barrier to innovation in big companies is not technical. It’s culture.”

That reframes the whole conversation.

Most organizations assume they need better technology.
But what they often need is a system that allows experimentation and tolerates failure.

Serguei explains why innovation stalls when:

• Companies don’t reward experimentation
• Failure is punished instead of learned from
• Decisions are driven by hierarchy, not evidence
• There is no structured process for testing new ideas

And what actually works instead:

• Designing experiments as a core capability
• Treating innovation as a repeatable process, not a one-off project
• Separating exploration from execution
• Building cultures where failure is part of progress

Another idea worth sitting with:

“Investing in innovation can be a very structured, mathematical process, not just gut feeling.”

That applies beyond venture capital.
It applies to how we make decisions about products, strategy, and even our own careers.

We also talked about reinvention for companies and individuals.
Serguei’s view is simple and challenging:

“Every five to seven years, you need to completely change what you do.”

Not because you have to.
But because staying the same is often the bigger risk.

This episode is for founders, executives, and operators who are thinking about:

• How to build real innovation systems
• How to make better investment decisions
• How to reinvent themselves without waiting for a crisis

🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Serguei Netessine on Experience-focused Leaders: https://t.co/QgVdAGNlRz

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

IInnovation doesn’t fail from lack of ideas.
It fails because of how companies are built.
I joined @shevelenko on Experience-focused Leaders to talk innovation, investing, and reinvention.

🎧 https://t.co/gqPdkdcOsh

[SSRN @SSRN]

Check out the latest from the SSRN #blog with includes the top downloaded papers on #AI in Finance for Q4 2025.

Read more: https://t.co/HCIeMHc7YM

#FinanceTwitter #AcademicChatter #Research

[SSRN @SSRN]

This vision statement examines #AI’s impact on five key areas of #supplychains, highlighting advances in forecasting, decision-making, & human–machine collaboration, as well as the supply chains that support AI.

Read more: https://t.co/N1sj1kmkNR

#AICommunity

[AACSB @AACSB]

In our latest podcast episode, @snetesin of @Wharton challenges business schools to innovate beyond funding norms. He talks with host Eileen McAuliffe about how exec ed, global partnerships, & AI are reshaping what’s next for business education.

🎧 https://t.co/nf7SJmy4yR

[The Wharton School @Wharton]

🎙️ Have you tuned in to the Wharton Podcast Network yet?

Our network’s five shows feature professors and industry experts breaking down the research, strategies, and real-world stories that matter to today’s business leaders: https://t.co/bCYVxy9Mrm

Featuring these hosts and many more experts: @EBradlow, @BCMassey, @AdiWyner, @BarbaraKahn, @AmReed2, @KHosanagar, and @SNetesin.

[Knowledge at Wharton @whartonknows]

🎙️ Get to know our five podcasts, where @Wharton professors bring you insights every week on the biggest issues shaping business: https://t.co/grAn9eVTtY

Featuring these hosts and many more experts: @EBradlow @BCMassey @AdiWyner @BarbaraKahn @AmReed2 @KHosanagar @SNetesin

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

Today, @amazon highlighted my research with @vikrampathania where we show that employment and incomes increased in counties after Amazon built a facility there. Full academic paper here: https://t.co/7Z7Lc6ZCUl.

https://t.co/2G2BPDfFqC

[Valery Yakubovich @YakubovichVB]

Glad to see @MackInstitute’s panel at #whartonforum covered in the local business newspaper. Thank you @snetesin, Eduardo Horai , Anderson Thees and Luis Gonzalez for your insights helpful to local businesses. https://t.co/nf24bRLOx7

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

When your super accomplished student @Jun_W_Li comes to town to give a talk at @UWFosterSchool and Mt Reiner is perfect in the back!

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

I can't wait to share my research at the @Wharton Global Forum, in São Paulo, Brazil, June 7-8. I'm thrilled to connect with the Wharton community and bring them back to the classroom. Join me to discuss #entrepreneurship, register for #WhartonForum: https://t.co/CRHti79tNN

[Mack Institute @MackInstitute]

This past Friday, we held our spring conference, Collaborative Innovation: Shaping the Future with Corporate Venturing and Startups. It was a day full of discussion and dialogue, with representatives from academia, the corporate world, startups, and intermediaries...

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

Always a thrill to pop up on @WhartonBizDaily with the amazing host @DanLoney21 to discuss recent research paper on ESG and market value of the firm. Check out how much your favorite firm talks about ESG using our free tool https://t.co/yuvttimiQq @yakovbart @ashwinmalshe

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

How Does ESG Emphasis Impact a Company’s Value? https://t.co/0ttLesjVri Check out how much your company talks about ESG issues and how it compares to other companies https://t.co/yuvttimQFY Thanks to @whartonknows for covering this work.

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

@asanwal Check out @whartonintera games here, BlieSky ventures is free and a good start https://t.co/UerbjH9YHY

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

@sguriev @LBS Congrats, especially to @LBS!

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

#whartonimpact @Wharton in #Seattle

[Serguei Netessine @snetesin]

It is one thing to dream up new strategy models; it is quite another to test them. https://t.co/QP4yIYz0ba via @INSEADKnowledge

[Jean-Alexis SPITZ 🎗️ @jeanalexis_JAS]

.@snetesin and @wmijnhardt are now opening the #RRS23 Journals Impact Factors

-> Defining #impact by faculty for faculty and not by externals.
-> journals as an object to change

[SSRN @SSRN]

#Amazon is making investments to expand its fulfillment network that receives products from vendors & third-party sellers. What is the impact of @amazon’s facilities on counties’ #economic outcomes?

Read: https://t.co/Eyx42GrMys

@vikrampathania @snetesin @Wharton #EconTwitter