Name: Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont, on the company's commitment to innovation
Uploaded: 2015-06-02
Duration: 2 min 32 s

We used to think of [ UNKNOWN ] as a chemical company. YOu referred to it as an innovation company. Tell us what you mean. Well, we call it a science company. So innovation, I think another company has the corner on that. Oh really? Can you trademark something like that? I don't know. I don't know. You just don't want the confusion factor. You know, it's interesting. I've been with the company 26 years, came mid- career, and fell in love with the company wandering around the laboratories. And understanding the science and how powerful the science is and really had a great time over the last 26 years connecting that science to the marketplace. [ COUGH ] So we call ourselves a science company because chemistry is very important but the most interesting things today are happening at the intersection of sciences taking it to a nano scale, or adding biology to chemistry and material science and engineering. Cause science itself is interesting but it's only relevant If you can take it to a scale at a cost that your customers then benefit from it. So, we are very proud of our chemical heritage, but are moving forward because of Where the most fundamental and exciting innovations occurring today. There's a tendency today to think the most exciting innovation occurs in garages. It happens in Silicon Valley. It gets funded by venture capital companies. And that the big companies somehow can't do that. You obviously don't buy that. Well, I think that entrepreneurialism starting in a garage, is an important part of a total innovation ecosystem. But in itself, it's not sufficient because what we find, and we are very active, our innovation model has changed greatly over the last 20 years. And as we're out working in the marketplace, [ COUGH ] excuse me They focus on individual aspects of it. But to get it to market, it has to be integrated into more of a system approach. And so we're finding that small innovative companies need to partner. Many times, not always, but because that scale, and cost, and market access are very important parts of it. So we've evolved where we innovate locally, Not just as we did 20 years ago in the big center in Wilmington, Delaware or in the agriculture area in Des Moines, Iowa.