Each member of the lively, warm and welcoming community we’ve cultivated here at Thrive brings something unique to the workplace. One valued member of our community that supports innovation and collaboration is the Iterate team. Joanne Wichern, Iterate’s VP of Customer Success, joined us for a discussion about what Iterate does and how they got to where they are. Wichern also discussed what she likes about Thrive and offers advice and tips others can use to succeed — no matter the industry.

Consisting of Iterate.ai (software platform) and Iterate Studio (complementary services), Iterate is essentially an innovation lab for large, enterprise companies. The company discovers and curates disruptive digital technologies from startups around the world for an exclusive group of large enterprises.

“At Iterate, we provide enterprises across all verticals the opportunity to engage with game-changing innovation, software, processes and insights by tapping into the startup ecosystem, as well as Iterate Studio’s expertise and experience,” said Wichern.

Iterate.ai is a go-to resource where enterprises can shop for, test drive and adopt advanced technology solutions. With the ability to source innovation from more than 164,000 emerging technologies, hundreds of registered enterprises have already begun their innovation journey. The Iterate.ai Exchange allows enterprises to quickly sift through the humungous startup ecosystem, broaden the vision of solutions they can utilize and avoid wasting both time and energy listening to sales pitches.

Iterate Studio provides a hands-on, custom innovation experience, enabling each enterprise to get the greatest return on their investment. After learning about an enterprise’s strategic priorities, the diverse and extremely talented Iterate team provides hands-on assistance in three ways:

Quarterly Reveals and Proof-of- Concept Testing: Each quarter, Iterate presents each enterprise with unique technologies tailored to their strategic goals, providing immediate KPI improvements.

Custom Curation: Enterprises select one sub-area (e.g. Robotics, Artificial Intelligence) and Iterate shortlists the startup opportunities mapped to each strategic goal. A custom curation can include landscaping, creating groups of innovative technologies currently available (collections) and grading technologies within collections.

Tours of the Possible: A tour is an executive-level briefing of the startup ecosystem with the intent of keeping enterprises fully appraised of emerging trends within a givenindustry. Tours often include a presentation of 12 to 20 technology opportunities.

Strong relationships are key

Wichern notes that the success of Iterate depends on the relationships that she and the rest of the team foster. Since Iterate acts as the bridge between startups and enterprises, striving to formulate beneficial relationships has been key to the company’s success.

“My success is defined by the value I am providing to my customer,” Wichern said. “I get to know people, understand their style and their key drivers for success. I adjust my approach and communication based on knowing the customer and take a personalized method in managing relationships.”

Create a work-life balance

As a wife and a mother of three, we were curious how Wichern balances her personal and professional lives as well as how she defines success, and she didn’t hesitate to highlight the importance of a work-life balance.

“There is never balance and each day the meaning of success is defined differently,” Wichern said. “I am a better employee when I am spending time with my children and going for a morning run. I schedule personal events on my calendar and am very transparent on allocating time with my family. In fact, my team and customers are all aware of my children, two dogs and husband and never question my commitment to Iterate.”

Employ the best talent

The final piece of Iterate’s puzzle of success involves developing a great team of employees, and the Iterate staff has played a huge role in the company’s success.

“I am part of a diverse and incredibly talented team,” Wichern said. “We respect each other for our differences and lean on each other’s strengths. We share the same values and all feel extremely passionate and committed to the success of Iterate. We have created a culture where people want to work hard and everyone believes in Iterate’s mission and feels honored to be a part of the team.”

At Thrive, we’ve developed a similar culture — one focused on respect, hard work, collaboration and innovation. Like Wichern and the Iterate team, we find that fostering relationships, finding the right work-life balance and developing a warm and welcoming culture that every member enjoys being involved in are important factors that contribute to the success of our community.

If you see Joanne or any of the rest of the Iterate team around the work space, be sure to say hello!