The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a non-profit academic organisation that delivers an objectives-based mentoring programme for massively scalable, seed-stage, science and technology based companies. Since its founding in 2021, More than 2,800 founders have participated in the CDL programme (a portfolio now worth £4+ billion).

Launched in 2019 at Saïd Business School, Creative Destruction Lab Oxford is the first CDL site in Europe and offers programmes across AI, Health, Climate and Fintech. Applications for CDL's next programme year 2021/22 are open until end of July.

Event Session: Balancing flexibility & scalability, designing AI crafts for stormy waters.

CDL-Oxford and Said Business School partner to conduct research into early stage deep tech startup formation and growth, and invite you to learn about the ongoing research taking place within CDL.

In this session, Dr Jack Fraser (Research Fellow in Technology Entrepreneurship) and Prof Pinar Ozcan (Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation) will present their early findings into how machine learning ventures navigate the tension between committing to a single vertical, versus remaining flexible across sectors.

The research explores the role that different actors within the entrepreneurial ecosystem play (including investors and early clients), and the impact that components of the technology - such as data and hardware - have on the ability of ventures to switch between approaches. The research raises some important issues for how machine learning ventures exploit the benefits of focusing on a single market, while remaining adaptive and flexible as conditions change.

Session Agenda:

CDL Presentation (5 min)- Kutlu Kazanci, Natalya Vilyavina

Research Presentation (15 min) - Jack Fraser

Q&A (10 min)