#GarageMemberHighlight: Matt Grill worked for Appatura, a 30 person company specializing in content management and document creation for the financial industry. In late 2019, Appatura was acquired by Broadridge Financial. Matt says that being acquired was a cultural shift, but an exciting opportunity for the innovation lab. Going from a small 30 person organization to being a small part of a much larger company has its challenges when trying to be nimble, but the resources available help to enhance the program!
In addition to his career at Broadridge – Matt is an adjunct lecturer in Information Technology and Web Science program at RPI. Matt is a proud RPI graduate with a dual degree in Information Technology + Business Management with an MBA from UMass Amherst.
A big part of the reason he was hired at Appatura was to run the Product Innovation Lab that’s tied to RPI. Appatura created The Product Innovation Lab with the main of goal of innovating when you have limited resources and the market changes so rapidly. This program uses college interns to develop proof of concept packages. In these packages they evaluate 3 things – business value, technical feasibility and ultimately look to create a prototype that demonstrates this said value and feasibility. They work to answer the questions such as “what if we could?” “Is this a good idea?” “Should we do this?” They are able to see within a 10-12 week window if the idea is viable or sellable and most importantly does it have the ability to create proof of concept to market. If their theory is disproven or there isn’t a path forward, this program allows them to shelf the idea or scrap it without using a ton of time and resources.
Matt has his Project Manager Certification and one of the things he’s most proud of as a professional is his range of skillset between the technical side, the business side and project management aspect. People really tend to look to him to think of strategical and operational ideas – they see Matt as someone who can execute and follow the path through to the end. In the Innovation Lab, it’s one thing to have an idea, but another to be able to figure out logistically HOW you are going to do that. A few products that are live and in market started from this lab and they are really proud of that achievement.
Changes aren’t permanent but change is. That idea is what Matt subscribes to. Things are constantly changing but it’s important to always look ahead and adapt and that’s what Matt always does. Matt brings a positive energy to the Garage and we’re proud to have him here!