How Pearson launched an early stage startup accelerator

About Pearson

‍‍Pearson is a leading global education company, serving customers in nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments, qualifications, and data.

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Challenge

‍Pearson was looking to incorporate more innovation into their day-to-day workings, not just for the short term but for the foreesable future. However, they had no experience in building a global community or identifying the right people to kickstart their innovation programme effort.
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Diana had the right experience and expertise

Expertise

Product Management, Innovation, B2B SaaS, D2C, User Experience Design

Experience

Head of Product, Education, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
VP of Product Management, Pearson
Head of Product, KAYAK

Strategies the expert used
01.

Identifying the right people - Leveraged a social media influencer model to identify thought leaders across the business who were embracing and encouraging innovation. Interviews were conducted to identify potential “champions” to serve as foundation for Pearson’s innovation initiatives.

02.

Community Building - Built a strong network of over 150 “champions” who were passionate about driving change and eager to contribute. By leveraging the knowledge and expertise of “champions”, the network plays a critical role in fostering a culture of innovation.

03.

Fostering an innovative culture - Created an early-stage startup accelerator that matched product challenges to startups with solutions.

Results

Pearson managed to build a thriving early-stage startup accelerator, where 50% of startups signed long-term agreements. Two startups from the accelerator, Acclaim and Credly, eventually spun off and merged with each other.
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The community of “champions” also remained in place for over 10 years. The Pan Pearson Hackathon was also created to promote positive corporate culture, where it had over 300 participants and 57 projects.