Capital on Fire — How to Stop Burning Money and Start Funding Real Innovation

Greg Galle

Hi, welcome to Next Moves with AI. I’m Greg Galle—

Daniel Buritica

And I’m Daniel Buritica. We’re your co-hosts — and, honestly, your co-conspirators if you’re out there trying to fund the future while the system is still stuck in the past.

Greg Galle

Yeah. If you’ve ever pitched a bold idea and been told, “Cool… where’s your five-year revenue forecast?” — this one’s for you.

Daniel Buritica

Or if you’ve watched your best shot at innovation die in a spreadsheet…

Greg Galle

Then yeah, welcome.

Greg Galle

Today’s episode is called Capital on Fire—because it turns out good ideas aren’t failing.

Greg Galle

They’re being smothered by the wrong system.

Daniel Buritica

We’re trying to fly with tools built for train tracks.

Daniel Buritica

Performance logic doesn’t work in innovation airspace.

Greg Galle

And that mismatch? It’s expensive. And preventable.

Daniel Buritica

Alright, let’s get right into it. Why do orgs keep funding innovation like it’s just another ops line item?

Greg Galle

Because performance systems are the default. They’re built for stability, efficiency, predictability. And they’re great — for what they were built for.

Daniel Buritica

Exactly. Scaling what you already know? Use performance metrics. Optimizing a supply chain? Use ROI, NPV, payback period.

Greg Galle

But discovery? New markets? First-of-its-kind technology? That’s a different game.

Daniel Buritica

And when we force innovation through that same ROI filter…

Greg Galle

Teams end up padding forecasts. Leaders fake confidence. Finance gets nervous. Nobody’s really learning.

Daniel Buritica

Which is wild, right? Because innovation is supposed to be uncertain. That’s the point. It’s not “What’s the return?” — it’s “What can we learn?”

Daniel Buritica

Which brings us to LFI — Learning From Investment. Different scorecard. Different expectations. Whole different operating model.

Daniel Buritica

Okay, let’s go to France. 2016. Small town in Normandy. Big headlines.

Greg Galle

Wattway. The solar roadway. Pave the streets with solar panels. Power a village. Start the media frenzy.

Daniel Buritica

Except… no pilot. No staged rollout. Just 5 million euro all-in.

Greg Galle

And the cracks — literal cracks — started almost immediately.

Daniel Buritica

Truck tires. Rain noise. Mud and Shadows. The panels didn’t stand a chance.

Greg Galle

And the output? Promised seven hundred and ninety thousand kilowatts per year. Delivered… maybe 20% of that.

Daniel Buritica

It was a moonshot — funded like a sure thing.

Daniel Buritica

No option value.

Daniel Buritica

No fallback logic.

Daniel Buritica

No capital governance.

Greg Galle

That’s not innovation failing.

Greg Galle

That’s the system failing the innovation.

Daniel Buritica

Now contrast that with Kenya. 2005. Most people are unbanked. But nearly everyone has a mobile phone.

Greg Galle

Vodafone and Safaricom say: “What if you could move money through text?”

Daniel Buritica

Instead of scaling right away, they run a six-month pilot. Funded by the Department for International Development — with learning goals, not performance targets.

Greg Galle

And here’s the magic.

Greg Galle

People used it in ways the designers didn’t expect — mostly to send money to family.

Daniel Buritica

So they pivoted.

Daniel Buritica

Didn’t say, “That’s not what we built.”

Daniel Buritica

They said, “That’s better than what we built.”

Greg Galle

By 2007, M-Pesa was national.

Greg Galle

By 2020, it was moving 50% of Kenya’s GDP.

Daniel Buritica

Because it was funded for discovery — not for delivery.

Greg Galle

And it created all six forms of capital — human, intellectual, political, reputational, social—and financial.

Daniel Buritica

The whole spectrum. And it started with a tiny, focused experiment.

Greg Galle

So where does AI fit in all this?

Daniel Buritica

Right at the crossroads of complexity and decision-making. AI doesn’t replace your gut — it sharpens your signal.

Greg Galle

It helps you track learning velocity — not just spend.

Daniel Buritica

It can say: “This project’s gaining traction with customers.” Or “That one’s stalled — here’s why.”

Greg Galle

And it exposes portfolio bias. You think you’re funding moonshots, but 90% of your spend is incremental upgrades.

Daniel Buritica

So AI becomes your capital intelligence engine.

Daniel Buritica

Real-time visibility.

Daniel Buritica

Fewer surprises.

Daniel Buritica

Smarter bets.

Daniel Buritica

Alright. Let’s talk solutions. Because awareness without action… that’s just noise.

Greg Galle

The Next Fund Manager – AI Assistant is our response to everything we just laid out.

Daniel Buritica

It’s more than a dashboard. It’s how you govern innovation funding like it actually matters.

Greg Galle

We designed it to ask the real questions:

Greg Galle

Are we learning fast enough to keep investing?

Greg Galle

What kind of capital are we building?

Greg Galle

Where are we misaligned with our goals?

Daniel Buritica

And it uses a set of Solve Next’s Think Wrong Drills to help you answer those questions:

Daniel Buritica

The Port-at-a-Glance Drill to capture a portfolio view of innovation opportunities to be funded

Daniel Buritica

The Worthy or Not Drill to define the capital-building priorities for your investments

Daniel Buritica

The Total Impact Drill to evaluate the capital-building potential of individual innovation opportunities

Daniel Buritica

The Stoplight Model to support pause, pivot, or press forward decisions

Daniel Buritica

The Plan B, C, D, E Drill to evaluate the option value being created for your capital-building priorities

Greg Galle

Whether you’re running five pilots or fifty initiatives — the Next Fund Manager gives you structure, clarity, and confidence.

Daniel Buritica

Innovation is not a department.

Daniel Buritica

It’s a capability.

Daniel Buritica

And it can be crushed when you force it into performance metrics.

Daniel Buritica

You can’t navigate a jungle with a roadmap. Discovery demands different tools, different questions.

Greg Galle

So stop asking for ROI on ideas that haven’t even been tested. Start investing in Learning From Investment.

Daniel Buritica

And if you need a system for that — the Next Fund Manager is a great place to start.

Greg Galle

It won’t make your decisions for you.

Greg Galle

But it will make them better.

Greg Galle

Smarter.

Greg Galle

More strategic.

Daniel Buritica

So here’s your next move:

Daniel Buritica

Hit the show notes to take the Next Fund Manager out for a free test drive.

Daniel Buritica

Look under the hood.

Greg Galle

And share what you learn. What’s working. What’s not. What’s still stuck.

Daniel Buritica

Connect with us on LinkedIn. We want to hear your stories — your breakthroughs and your burned-out ideas.

Greg Galle

And if this resonated? Subscribe. Share it with your CFO. Your Head of Innovation. Your CEO.

Daniel Buritica

Because the future doesn’t fund itself.

Greg Galle

Until next time — keep experimenting.

Daniel Buritica

And fund it with intelligence.

Daniel Buritica

Good-bye for now.