Nine out of ten startups fail, yet Europe keeps funding them the same way.
Governments replace judgment with bureaucracy, capital replaces experience, and failure is misunderstood instead of learned from.

This conversation exposes why venture capital is a profession, not a policy tool — and why getting this wrong quietly kills innovation.

In this episode, Jim Pulcrano, Adjunct Professor at IMD and longtime venture investor, explains why most venture capital systems fail before capital is even deployed.

Drawing on four decades across Silicon Valley, Europe, and academia, Jim dismantles the myth that VC success comes from spreadsheets, credentials, or government programs. Instead, he shows why pattern recognition, lived experience, and exposure to failure are the real differentiators.

As Jim puts it:
(01:13:27) “Silicon Valley is the world’s capital of failure — and also the capital of learning.”

That mindset difference explains why Europe struggles to scale founders, why governments unintentionally create zombie companies, and why operators consistently outperform theorists when backing the next generation of companies.

This is not a motivational episode.
It’s a structural diagnosis of how innovation ecosystems actually work — and where Europe still gets in its own way.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1️⃣ Why most venture capital fails long before money is invested
2️⃣ Why governments cannot replace judgment, experience, or risk-taking
3️⃣ Why operators outperform bankers as investors
4️⃣ Why failure is data — not stigma — in high-performing ecosystems
5️⃣ What Europe must change to unlock its next innovation cycle

👤 About Jim Pulcrano

Jim Pulcrano is an Adjunct Professor at IMD with over four decades of experience across venture capital, entrepreneurship, and executive education. He has worked extensively in Silicon Valley and Europe, advising founders, investors, and institutions on scaling companies, leadership development, and venture capital as a professional discipline.

💬 Quotes

(01:13:27) “Silicon Valley is the world’s capital of failure — and also the capital of learning.”
(01:33:58) “You have to be there at midnight when you’re trying to make a decision on Sunday night.”
(01:40:14) “I’ve never met a successful entrepreneur who hasn’t been weeks from running out of money.”
(01:23:21) “A government purchase order is worth more than the same amount in cash.”

🧭 Timestamps

(00:04:25) Why most startups fail — and why that’s not the real problem
(00:09:55) Why Europe still misunderstands venture risk
(00:16:42) Why founders matter more than ideas
(00:24:13) Why governments create zombie startups
(00:32:34) Why operator VCs outperform financial engineers
(00:40:14) Failure as data, not disgrace
(00:48:26) Why venture capital cannot be taught without simulation
(01:04:48) What LPs should really look for in fund managers
(01:19:46) Government as customer vs government as controller
(01:30:10) Why young people should not rush into VC
(01:32:38) Why empathy separates great investors from average ones
(01:45:13) Leadership shifts from startup to scale-up
(01:50:06) Three changes Europe must make now

🎙️ Beginner’s Mind

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Most goals don’t fail because of laziness or lack of ambition.

They fail quietly — buried under daily noise, competing priorities, and forgotten intentions.

By March, even the most meaningful goals have slipped down the list… replaced by urgency, meetings, and excuses.

In the last years, whenever I work with companies or people in my executive coaching a pattern showed up frequently.

In private life: marathons abandoned, educations postponed, mountains left unclimbed.

In business: bold visions diluted, priorities scattered, companies losing momentum — not because the goal was wrong, but because it was never protected.

This Year in Review 2025 episode is my answer to that problem.

After working with founders, executives, and teams throughout the year, one truth became unavoidable:

Big goals don’t fail because people stop caring. They fail because they lose daily contact.

So I stripped goal-setting down to what actually works.

To make it memorable, I revisited the conversations of 2025 and selected six voices — from politics, investing, entrepreneurship, and professional sport — each illustrating one essential principle for achieving meaningful goals.

No hype. No motivational slogans.
Just a clear, calm framework you can apply immediately to your most important goal for 2026.

🧭 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1️⃣ Why discipline and motivation are overrated — and what replaces them
2️⃣ How goals quietly disappear without friction or resistance
3️⃣ Why choosing one goal is the highest-leverage decision you can make
4️⃣ How to keep goals present without pressure or obsession
5️⃣ Why process builds identity — and outcomes don’t
6️⃣ What real commitment looks like when nobody is watching

⏱️ Timestamps

(00:00) Why New Year’s Resolutions Collapse — and What Actually Works
(02:57) Karl Nehammer — “Sometimes there is no guidebook”
(04:19) How Goals Quietly Disappear
(07:56) Alex Dang — Focus, Selection, and Knowing When to Fold
(11:45) Hack Away the Unessential — Choosing One Goal
(14:05) Fabrizio Conicella — Skills Entrepreneurs Need in 2026
(17:54) Why You Must Review Goals Daily
(19:43) Jason Foster — Setting Big Goals and Chipping Away
(20:48) Process Over Outcome
(22:48) Alasdair Milton — Doing the Work When Nobody Is Watching
(26:05) Start Now — Before It Feels Comfortable
(27:50) Vadim Fedotov — What Commitment Really Means
(30:54) Before You Leave — Ed Sheeran’s Approach to Progress

🎙️ About This Episode

This episode isn’t about setting more goals.
It’s about protecting one goal that actually matters — whether you’re building the next NVIDIA, scaling a company, or working toward a personal milestone.

If 2025 taught us anything, it’s this:
Clarity beats intensity. Direction beats urgency. Process beats motivation.

May 2026 be the year your most important goal doesn’t get lost.

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Breakthrough science has never been stronger — yet patients still miss life-saving therapies.

Despite decades of innovation, most precision medicines fail at the last mile of healthcare delivery.

The problem isn’t discovery. It’s how science, capital, and systems are aligned — or not.

Possessing elite science is no longer enough to win in the multi-trillion-dollar biopharma ecosystem.

As innovation shifts from West to East and from treatment to prevention, leadership teams struggle to bridge scientific depth with incentives, execution, and real-world delivery. Capital follows speed and scale — not intention — and healthcare systems built decades ago are failing to keep up.

In this episode, Alasdair Milton, Principal at KPMG, explains where innovation actually breaks — and what must change for cures to reach patients at scale. From diagnostics and data silos to capital allocation and prevention models, this conversation reframes the next decade of precision medicine.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1️⃣ Why only a fraction of eligible patients receive precision therapies
2️⃣ How delivery systems — not science — kill innovation outcomes
3️⃣ Why prevention is the next major value shift in healthcare
4️⃣ How capital allocation decisions quietly determine patient access
5️⃣ What leaders must change now to compete in the next biopharma cycle

👤 About Alasdair Milton

Alasdair Milton is a Principal at KPMG advising global biopharma leaders on strategy, transactions, and innovation models. With a PhD in cancer biology and two decades at the intersection of science and capital, he works with executives navigating precision medicine, prevention, and large-scale healthcare transformation.

💬 Quotes That Reframe the Debate

(01:00:20) “Great science only creates value when translated into clear commercial decisions.”
(01:37:24) “Power has swung decisively to pharma, with biotechs now starved for capital and leverage.”
(01:36:10) “Markets shift fast, but leverage always follows capital, data, and disciplined execution.”
(02:26:30) “Life sciences must move from treating sickness to predicting risk and sustaining lifelong wellness.”
(01:46:24) “China is catching up fast, and by the 2030s, truly innovative molecules may originate there.”

🧭 Timestamps

(00:04:04) Shifting from treating disease to preventing it
(00:05:32) Turbulent markets, steady scientific progress
(00:07:03) In-vivo CAR-T and the next leap in cellular medicine
(00:11:00) From chronic disease management to functional cures
(00:20:20) Bridging specialized science with corporate strategy
(00:21:55) Translating lab precision into business language
(00:22:07) Bridging scientific depth to business acumen
(00:57:40) Turning complex science into decisive commercial implications
(01:08:46) Why in-person collaboration still drives leadership and learning
(01:11:48) Navigating the $200B biopharma patent cliff through M&A
(01:17:25) Capital concentrates on de-risked teams with proven leadership
(01:18:17) Interpreting the biotech market recovery and tailwinds
(01:28:26) Long-term capital returns as pharma reclaims deal leverage
(01:38:03) Navigating IRA impacts and macro headwinds
(01:43:39) China’s rapid ascent in the global monoclonal pipeline
(01:46:24) China accelerates the eastward shift in global innovation
(02:07:31) Precision medicine redefines individualized healthcare outcomes
(02:09:03) Standardi

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