https://tyromesmith.com/insights/ Writing by Tyrome E. Smith on federal innovation, founder advisory, customer discovery, and leadership teams. en-us Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-do-you-build-an-executive-team-that-executes/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-do-you-build-an-executive-team-that-executes/ Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT A strong roster of executives is not the same as a team that executes together. What actually separates the two, and how to build the second one. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/why-do-innovation-pilots-die-before-they-scale/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/why-do-innovation-pilots-die-before-they-scale/ Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT The pilot works, everyone claps, and it still never scales. Here is the structural reason pilots stall in corporations, universities, and agencies alike. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/what-does-an-innovation-strategy-consultant-do/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/what-does-an-innovation-strategy-consultant-do/ Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Innovation strategy consultant gets used for a dozen different jobs. What the work actually involves, and how to tell if you need it. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/pitch-deck-story-problem-or-business-model-problem/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/pitch-deck-story-problem-or-business-model-problem/ Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT If your pitch keeps failing, the fix depends on which problem you actually have. How to tell a story problem from a business-model problem. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-to-pitch-an-institutional-buyer/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-to-pitch-an-institutional-buyer/ Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT A federal agency, university, or foundation does not buy the way a normal customer does. A guide to pitching a mission-driven institutional buyer. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/why-wont-your-team-execute-the-pivot/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/why-wont-your-team-execute-the-pivot/ Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT The strategy was approved in the room and quietly ignored back at the desk. That is an authority problem, not a strategy problem. Here is how to fix it. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/customer-discovery-without-a-paying-customer/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/customer-discovery-without-a-paying-customer/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT You do not need a paying customer to start customer discovery. You need a stranger who has the problem. This covers how to run discovery at zero revenue. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-do-you-know-when-to-pivot/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-do-you-know-when-to-pivot/ Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Pivoting is not giving up. It is changing one part of the business model because the evidence told you to. Here is how to tell the signal from the noise. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/the-right-to-innovate/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/the-right-to-innovate/ Thu, 07 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT A $3.8 billion funding gap, $53 billion in CHIPS money, and why Black innovators need to shape federal programs rather than apply to them after the fact. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-many-customer-interviews-should-you-do/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-many-customer-interviews-should-you-do/ Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Five interviews is not research and two hundred is overkill. Here is the real number of customer conversations you need before you build anything. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/beneficiary-discovery-in-practice/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/beneficiary-discovery-in-practice/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT A Marine Corps battalion needed better medical training. The team stopped interviewing and started observing. Here is what beneficiary discovery changes. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-do-you-pitch-a-startup/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/how-do-you-pitch-a-startup/ Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Investors do not fund your slides. They fund evidence of a repeatable business. Here is what makes a pitch land, and the questions that sink most of them. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/sbir-vs-sttr-which-path-fits-your-startup/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/sbir-vs-sttr-which-path-fits-your-startup/ Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT SBIR and STTR fund different companies. Here is how the two programs differ, which one fits your team, and what gets most applications rejected. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/why-federal-innovation-pilots-die-in-powerpoint/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/why-federal-innovation-pilots-die-in-powerpoint/ Fri, 14 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT Most government innovation pilots never reach a funding line. Here is where they break and what agency leaders can do about it before the demo. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/offsites-that-produce-decisions/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/offsites-that-produce-decisions/ Mon, 28 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT Most leadership offsites end in agreement and change nothing. Here is how to design one that produces decisions people can act on Monday morning. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/building-hbcu-innovation-ecosystems/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/building-hbcu-innovation-ecosystems/ Mon, 19 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT Campus innovation programs stall when they have no pipeline to federal or corporate demand. Here is how to build one, with numbers from 283 institutions. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/your-first-100-customer-conversations/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/your-first-100-customer-conversations/ Sat, 08 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT A practical guide to customer discovery interviews for founders. What to ask, what not to ask, and how to know when the data is telling you to pivot. https://tyromesmith.com/insights/hope-is-only-part-of-the-strategy/ https://tyromesmith.com/insights/hope-is-only-part-of-the-strategy/ Sat, 26 Jan 2019 12:00:00 GMT Strategy asks people to think clearly. Leadership also creates the conditions for hope to take hold by making space for the emotional life of an organization.