#15 - The Power of Storytelling in Innovation w/ Nicolo' Andreula (Disal Consulting)
The Corporate Venturing Podcast
<p>🎙️ Welcome to a new episode of <em>The Corporate Venturing Podcast</em>!</p>
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<p>When technology, products and even tone of voice can be copied overnight, what really makes innovation stand out?</p>
<p>In this episode, I’m joined by <a href="https://it.linkedin.com/in/nicoloandreula" rel="nofollow"><strong>Nicolò Andreula</strong></a> — economist, entrepreneur, investor and strategic consultant. After a global career across the UN, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and a boutique firm in Singapore advising Google, Uber, Netflix and Microsoft, Nicolò came back to Bari to build <a href="https://disalconsulting.com/it/" rel="nofollow"><strong>Disal Consulting</strong></a>, write books like <em>Flow Generation</em> and co-create <a href="https://abaricapitaledigitale.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>ABCD – A Bari Capitale Digitale</strong></a>. </p>
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<p>Together, we explore how <strong>storytelling can make or break innovation:</strong> inside companies, in the market, and even at city level.</p>
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<p>In this episode, Nicolò shares insights on:</p>
<p>🧠 <strong>Scarcity in the age of AI</strong> – why the rare asset isn’t information anymore, but <em>human touch</em>, empathy and the ability to filter and frame meaning</p>
<p>⚗️ <strong>How stories hit the brain</strong> – from amygdala “fight–flight–freeze” reactions to dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, and why people remember stories more than slides</p>
<p>🚗 <strong>The Toyota family-car example</strong> – how a safety campaign built around emotion, not crash-test numbers, can create trust without ever saying “trust us”</p>
<p>💉 <strong>What vaccine campaigns got wrong</strong> – and what that teaches corporate innovators about talking to fears and emotions, not just rational arguments</p>
<p>🚠 <strong>Funicolare Vesuviana & the power of a jingle</strong> – turning a scary new transport system into a joyful collective experience through music and narrative</p>
<p>🤖 <strong>Humanizing AI and chatbots</strong> – the story of a “younger colleague” bot that asks for help instead of pretending to be perfect, and why that drove adoption and ownership</p>
<p>📩 <strong>Internal storytelling for transformation</strong> – why one-size-fits-all corporate emails fail, and how to segment employees by emotions and attitudes to change</p>
<p>🧍♂️ <strong>Selective vulnerability in leadership</strong> – from the “pratfall effect” to the Starbucks example, how admitting the right flaws can bring people behind a new strategy</p>
<p>🌍 <strong>ABCD – A Bari Capitale Digitale</strong> – how a “crazy” vision, a name, and a story turned Bari into a magnet for talent, companies and digital nomads</p>
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<p>We close the episode on a personal note, looking at the moment that most shaped Nicolò’s view on storytelling, strategy and innovation, and how he turned the shock of COVID into a new way of working and living. </p>
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<p>Resources:</p>
<p>• <a href="https://openroadventuress.substack.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>Open Road Ventures Newsletter</strong></a></p>
<p>• <a href="https://www.bundl.com/venture-club" rel="nofollow"><strong>Bundl Venture Club</strong></a></p>
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<p>🎧 Follow the podcast for grounded stories and actionable insights from inside the world of Open Innovation and Corporate Venturing.</p>