INNOVATION PIPELINE SERVICE FOR CORPORATE INNOVATION TEAMS
Innovation Pipeline Service for Corporate Innovation Teams: Scored Candidates and Pilot Briefs, Not Another Committee
It is the week before the quarterly innovation review. The steering committee has a slide of startup logos, no business owner has signed for a single pilot, and the only question on the agenda is what the mandate has produced. That is the moment a chief innovation officer or corporate venture lead feels it: a funded seat, a budget line, and nothing a business owner has agreed to test.
The usual fixes cost real money and still leave the pipeline unbuilt. An innovation manager averages $123,649 a year in base pay across 594 US job postings, $72,014 to $212,304 (Indeed, updated 2026-09-21). A directory membership costs $495 to $4,995 a year and hands you names to call, not a scored pipeline (InnoLead, read 2026-09-26).
Innovation Pipeline Desk turns your mandate into written problem statements, scouts and scores candidate solutions against a published rulebook, and hands each business owner a one-page pilot brief to approve or kill.
Request a Pipeline Health CheckSee a sample scorecard
$2,500Pipeline Health Check, fixed price
10business days from kickoff call to report
8written rules every candidate has to pass
$0paid by any vendor to be listed or scored
Last updated
Four desks, four different stalls
Which one sounds like your last quarter?
Why the mandate stalls
A mandate without a pipeline turns into a calendar of meetings
- Companies are funding the seat. AstraZeneca posted a Senior Director, AI Enterprise Process and Innovation Center role on 2026-09-20 to reinvent enterprise processes (careers.astrazeneca.com, read 2026-09-26). The seat comes with a mandate; the pipeline has to be built by someone.
- Buyers pay for access, not answers. InnoLead sells its directory and library at $495 to $4,995 a year, and its consultant tier at $595 buys a listing in that directory (innovationleader.com/join, read 2026-09-26). Global Venturing lists GCV+ corporate venture data at $1,995 a year for one user (globalventuring.com, captured 2026-09-24). Neither one scores candidates against your problems.
- People searching for corporate innovation program design say they want a real program, not innovation theater, and the pages that rank are program architecture pages with named, numbered parts (search results for corporate innovation program design consulting, captured 2026-09-24).
Your cost of the gap, in your numbers
Hours your team spends each week finding, emailing and sitting through vendor demos, times 48 working weeks, times your loaded hourly cost. For a reference point, $123,649 a year of base pay is about $59 an hour over 2,080 hours (our arithmetic on the Indeed average, updated 2026-09-21). Then add the cost of the problem each unstarted pilot was meant to fix, for every month it waits. We publish no typical figure for you; the Health Check counts yours.
How the desk works
Four parts, each one a finished document you can check
Innovation Pipeline Desk is an innovation pipeline service for chief innovation officers and corporate innovation and venture teams in the United States, run by Mike Rodgers from Denver. It turns your innovation mandate into written problem statements, scouts and scores candidate solutions against a published eight rule rulebook, and hands your business owners one-page pilot briefs they approve or kill.
PART 01Mandate Brief
Your mandate rewritten as three to five problem statements, each with the business owner who asked for it, the budget line it draws on and the date it matters by.
Check: every problem statement names an owner who agreed to it in writing.
PART 02Scout Sweep
Startups, vendors and internal ideas found against each problem statement, each with a dated link to public evidence that it runs in production somewhere.
Check: every candidate row has a source link and the date it was read.
PART 03Screen Scorecard
Every candidate scored against the eight rule rulebook below and marked pass, hold or drop, with the rule and the evidence behind each mark.
Check: every mark cites a rule number and a source.
PART 04Pilot Briefs
The strongest candidates written up as one-page pilot briefs: the success test, the internal owner, the cost ceiling, the security path and the kill date.
Check: each brief has a success test the business owner can mark yes or no.
What correct looks like
The Screen Rulebook: eight rules every candidate has to pass
Named owner of mistakes: Mike Rodgers. If a row marked pass fails a rule on facts that were public when it was scored, it is rescored or replaced within five business days at no charge, and the miss is counted in the next monthly report.
- It maps to one written problem statement with a named business owner.
- It has public evidence of production use, such as a named customer, a case study or a filing, dated within the last 24 months.
- Its pilot cost fits under the ceiling the owner set before scoring began.
- Its data path is known: what data it touches, and which team reviews security.
- It has a success test the business owner can mark yes or no when the pilot ends.
- It has a kill date, set before the pilot starts.
- Someone inside is named to run it after the pilot if it works.
- Every mark cites its source and the date it was read. Nothing passes on a vendor's say-so alone.
Industries
One rulebook, four named desks
Each desk runs the same four parts and the same eight rules. What changes is the buyer's world: the problems it hears first, the evidence it trusts, and the reviews a pilot has to clear. Every desk has its own page with its problems, its questions and its pilot reviews.
What a Health Check returns
A sample Screen Scorecard, filled in by hand.
Demonstration, not a client result
This is the Screen Scorecard format, filled in by hand for a fictional mandate: cut the time from a hospital discharge order to the patient leaving the building. Candidates are described by type, not named, so nothing here describes a client, a vendor or a result. Rule numbers refer to the Screen Rulebook above.
Screen Scorecard, fictional mandate: discharge order to departure
| Candidate | Problem statement and owner | Mark, with the rule |
|---|---|---|
| Candidate A: discharge planning software sold to hospitals | Problem statement 1, discharge order to departure. Owner: VP Patient Flow. | PassRules 1 to 8 met; a named hospital customer is on the vendor's public case study page, dated this year. |
| Candidate B: transport scheduling startup, seed stage | Problem statement 1. Owner: VP Patient Flow. | HoldRule 2 open: no public production customer found. Ask the vendor for one reference before scoring again. |
| Candidate C: internal idea from the nursing council | Problem statement 1. Owner: Chief Nursing Officer. | PassRules 1 to 8 met; runs on the existing bed board, so no new data path. Pilot brief written. |
| Candidate D: general purpose AI assistant platform | Problem statement 1. Owner: VP Patient Flow. | DropRule 1 failed: no written problem it solves better than candidates A and C. Rule 5 failed: no yes or no success test offered. |
| Candidate E: pharmacy discharge prescription service | Problem statement 2, prescriptions ready at discharge. Owner: Director of Pharmacy. | HoldRule 4 open: data path touches prescription records; security review team not yet named. |
Pilot brief drafted for the owner to edit, Candidate C: success test is yes if median time from discharge order to departure on two pilot units drops against the prior eight weeks, as counted by the hospital's own bed board; cost ceiling set by the owner; kill date eight weeks after start; run afterwards by the unit nurse managers.
Demonstration, not a client result
What innovation teams pay today
Four ways to get a pipeline, compared on price and ownership.
Here is what the other routes cost, so you can compare. Hire an innovation manager: $123,649 a year average base pay across 594 US postings, $72,014 to $212,304 (Indeed, updated 2026-09-21), before benefits, and one person's week. Buy access: InnoLead membership at $495, $1,995 or $4,995 a year (innovationleader.com/join, read 2026-09-26), or GCV+ at $1,995 a year (globalventuring.com, captured 2026-09-24); you get libraries, data and directories, and your team still does the scouting and scoring. Hire a program design consultancy: firms that sell corporate innovation program design quote per engagement and publish no price on the pages we read (legacyinnova.com and fizzy.ventures, captured 2026-09-24). Innovation Pipeline Desk publishes its prices: $2,500 for the Health Check, $12,000 for the six week Pipeline Sprint, then $3,500 a month for the Pipeline Run, and your people keep every decision.
| Route | Published price, with source | What you get | Who runs the pipeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hire an innovation manager | $123,649 a year average base pay, $72,014 to $212,304 (Indeed, 594 US postings, updated 2026-09-21) | One person's week, after recruiting | Your hire; the pipeline leaves if they do |
| Buy a membership or database | $495, $1,995 or $4,995 a year (InnoLead, read 2026-09-26); GCV+ $1,995 a year (Global Venturing, captured 2026-09-24) | Libraries, data and directories of names | Your team, on top of its other work |
| Hire a program design consultancy | Quoted per engagement; no price on the pages we read (captured 2026-09-24) | A program design | Your team, once the engagement ends |
| Innovation Pipeline Desk | $2,500 Health Check, $12,000 six week Sprint, then $3,500 a month (published on this page) | Scored candidates, pilot briefs and a monthly report | The desk runs it; your people keep every decision |
The offer and the price
Innovation Pipeline Desk: what you get
- Mandate Brief: three to five problem statements with owners, budget lines and dates
- Scout Sweep: up to 40 candidates in the Sprint, 10 new each month in the Run, each with dated public evidence
- Screen Scorecard: every candidate marked pass, hold or drop against the eight rules, with the rule and the source
- Pilot Briefs: one page per top candidate with success test, owner, cost ceiling, security path and kill date
- Pipeline Board: stage, owner and next date for every candidate, in your spreadsheet, Airtable, Notion or scouting platform
- Monthly Pipeline Report: candidates by stage, days in stage, pilots started, pilots killed, pilots turned into contracts, and every miss against the rulebook
Published prices
Health Check $2,500. Pipeline Sprint $12,000. Then $3,500 a month.
The Health Check is a fixed price, returned 10 business days after the kickoff call. The Sprint runs six weeks. The Run is month to month with 30 days notice, and covers 10 new scored candidates a month, board upkeep and the monthly report.
The Health Check report is yours to keep whether or not you go further. Sign the Sprint within 30 days of the report and the $2,500 comes off the Sprint in full.
Three steps
Start with one mandate. Your people decide at every step.
01
Health Check: $2,500, 10 business days
A 60 minute kickoff call on one mandate. You get up to three written problem statements, 20 scored candidates, one pilot brief and a health check of your current pipeline. Your innovation lead marks every score right or wrong in a 45 minute review.
02
Pipeline Sprint: $12,000, six weeks
The full Mandate Brief, up to 40 scored candidates, up to three pilot briefs and the Pipeline Board built in your tools. Business owners review the briefs in week five; your innovation lead signs the handover in week six.
03
Pipeline Run: $3,500 a month
Ten new scored candidates a month, the board kept current, and a monthly report counting pilots started, killed and turned into contracts. Month to month, 30 days notice.
What stays with you
What your people keep owning
- Your innovation leader owns the mandate and signs off the problem statements.
- Your business owners decide which pilots start and which get killed. The desk recommends; it never decides.
- Procurement, legal and security run their own reviews. The desk hands them the brief and the evidence, not a verdict.
- You own every vendor relationship. The desk never contacts a vendor in your name without your written OK, and every file is yours to keep.
Scope boundary
What the desk is not
- Not a venture fund. The desk does not invest in, or take equity or fees from, any company it scores.
- No pay to play. No vendor, startup or platform pays to be listed, scored or recommended.
- Not an ideation workshop, a hackathon or an innovation lab you have to staff.
- No build. The desk does not build, integrate or run the solutions it scores.
- No legal, security or procurement verdicts. Those teams run their own reviews.
- Not a startup database subscription. Output is documents and a board in your own tools.
Checkable facts
Every number on this page, with its source.
- Indeed: innovation manager average base salary $123,649 a year in the United States, $72,014 to $212,304, from 594 job postings in the past 36 months (indeed.com/career/innovation-manager/salaries, updated 2026-09-21, read 2026-09-26).
- InnoLead published membership prices: Single User $495, Teams $1,995, Enterprise $4,995 and Independent Consultants $595 a year, the last including a listing in its Directory of Providers (innovationleader.com/join, read 2026-09-26).
- Global Venturing: GCV+ at $1,995 a year for one user, with full database and editorial access (globalventuring.com, captured 2026-09-24).
- AstraZeneca careers: Senior Director, AI Enterprise Process and Innovation Center, posted 2026-09-20 (careers.astrazeneca.com, read 2026-09-26).
Guides
Straight answers for innovation leaders, one guide per part
Straight answers
Questions innovation leaders ask before they start.
- What does an innovation pipeline service cost with Innovation Pipeline Desk?
- The Pipeline Health Check is $2,500, fixed, returned 10 business days after the kickoff call. The Pipeline Sprint is $12,000 for six weeks, and the Pipeline Run is $3,500 a month, month to month. Sign the Sprint within 30 days of the Health Check report and the $2,500 comes off in full.
- What exactly do we get from the Health Check?
- Up to three written problem statements with their owners, 20 scouted candidates scored against the eight rule rulebook, one pilot brief, and a written health check of your current pipeline against the same rules. It is a set of documents you can use with or without us.
- Do vendors pay you to be listed or recommended?
- No. No vendor, startup or platform pays Innovation Pipeline Desk anything, and none can buy a place in your pipeline. You pay for the work, so the scorecard answers to you.
- We already pay for a scouting platform or a directory. Is this a replacement?
- No. The desk works inside the tools you already have and uses your platform or directory as one source among many. Libraries and databases give you names; the desk turns names into scored rows and pilot briefs that your business owners can decide on.
- How is this different from an innovation consultancy?
- A consultancy usually designs the program and quotes per engagement. The desk runs the pipeline itself at a published price, with a written rulebook, a named owner of mistakes and a monthly report of pilots started, killed and turned into contracts.
- Can this work for a health system with a long security review?
- Yes. Every pilot brief names the data path and the security reviewer before the pilot is promised, so the review starts on day one instead of after the kickoff. The Health Systems Desk page has the details.
- Does the Corporate Venture Desk make investment calls?
- No. It screens deal flow for strategic fit and pilot readiness against problems your business units signed; investment decisions stay with your venture team and investment committee.
- Which industries do you work with?
- Four named desks share one rulebook: health systems and life sciences, financial services, manufacturing and medical devices, and corporate venture teams. The rules stay the same; the problems and the reviews a pilot has to clear change by desk.
- What access do you need, and can we keep it confidential?
- For the Health Check, a 60 minute call and any existing list of candidates or ideas. The desk signs your NDA before kickoff, needs no access to production systems, and works from public evidence plus what you choose to share.
Who runs it
One named person answers for every scorecard.
Innovation Pipeline Desk is run by Mike Rodgers from Denver, for innovation teams anywhere in the United States. Mike reads every Health Check request himself and signs every scorecard before it goes to you.
Start with one mandate
Request a Pipeline Health Check.
Tell me the mandate, the problems your business owners have asked about, and where your current list of candidates lives. I reply by email with a one-page scope and a kickoff time for the $2,500 Health Check.