Josemaria Siota's fix for companies stuck doing what works
A TEDxIESEBarcelona talk uses BMW, Adidas and LG to explain how established businesses can make room for outside ideas.
Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 39,000 views a day, 451 times a normal first day on this channel (86).
How success can kill innovation—and how to fix it | Josemaria Siota | TEDxIESEBarcelona
Things we can learn from the video
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- 5:13Siota introduces "Translate, Tap, and Tie," his framework for connecting established companies with outside innovation.
- 6:07BMW's Startup Garage illustrates identifying specific internal problems before seeking startups that could solve them.
- 7:33Adidas's Carbon partnership illustrates looking beyond internal research teams and familiar sources of ideas.
- 9:54LG Ventures illustrates using external experts to assess conflicts of interest when considering new technology.
A startup may have a promising invention, but someone inside a big company still has to see a reason to use it. Josemaria Siota makes that gap the heart of his TEDxIESEBarcelona talk: the habits that keep a successful business running can also shut new ideas out.
The talk reached nearly 24,000 views in its first ten hours on TEDx Talks, far beyond the channel's usual start for regular videos. Its appeal is a practical question rather than a celebration of disruption: how do you get an established organization to try something unfamiliar?
Siota, executive director of IESE Business School's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, proposes "Translate, Tap, and Tie." The framework arrives about five minutes in, followed by examples that give each word a job.
"Translate" means starting with a specific internal problem, not an invention in search of a buyer. He points to BMW's Startup Garage, which identifies needs inside the company before approaching startups.
For "Tap," he turns to Adidas and its partnership with 3D-printing company Carbon on Futurecraft 4D shoes. The lesson is to look beyond the business's own research department and the familiar places everyone else searches.
"Tie" addresses what happens when an outside idea meets internal interests. Siota describes LG Ventures using external experts to assess conflicts of interest around adopting technology. In his account, finding an invention is only part of innovation: a company also needs a way to let it through the door.
Published on Trari
Where next?
- Channel
- TEDx Talks
- Subscribers
- 44,700,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 10,615,245
- Channel views, pace per day
- 1,595,914 (on a normal day: 1,614,908)
- Video published
- November 9, 2026
- Video views so far
- 23,818 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 39,000
The numbers
Siota's talk had an unusually fast start compared with TEDx Talks' regular uploads. The channel's overall daily viewing remained close to its usual level.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which sportswear company does Siota cite for its partnership with 3D-printing company Carbon?
Siota uses Adidas's partnership with Carbon on Futurecraft 4D shoes to illustrate looking outside a company's own research team.


