Skip to main content
Audio Interview

Innovation and partnership: driving growth and entrepreneurship through engaged investors

Published on January 28, 2026   40 min

Other Talks in the Playlist: Interviews with business leaders and scholars

Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
Interviewer: Today, I'm interviewing Duke Rohlen, who is, amongst many other roles, CEO and managing director of Ajax Health USA. He is one of four authors of the article the Middle Path to Innovation, published in the July-August 2024 issue of Harvard Business Review. A link to his business profile is provided. Listeners are expected to have read the article before listening to this interview. The promise of the article is here's how to develop high-growth products in slow-growth companies. Mr. Rohlen, thank you for sparing the time. I think that we will agree that good talented business people will likely make the model you described successful, while those lacking the necessary talent will fail. May I focus on three aspects. One, is there evidence that the model is or has been widely adopted. Two, how should the risks and rewards be distributed between the external investor and the incumbent business. Three, I suspect that the big challenge is in the details of the contractual arrangements decided at outset, what each party is bound in to do and whether the defined criteria for the next step commitment has been met. How big a challenge from your experience is the drafting of the initial agreement? Mr. Rohlen.

Quiz available with full talk access. Request Free Trial or Login.

Hide

Innovation and partnership: driving growth and entrepreneurship through engaged investors

Embed in course/own notes