Over the last decade, I’ve worked with more than 1,000 teams, from high-growth startups at Imperial College London to global brands like Google and American Express.

My content on the Business Model Canvas has reached over 325,000 views on YouTube, helping leaders worldwide rethink how they create, deliver, and capture value.

Time and time again, I see the same situation.
Talented teams working hard.
But on the wrong things.

Why?

Because the plan isn’t clear.

It’s buried in slide decks.
It lives in the leader's head.
The team can’t see it or follow it.

When that happens, they loses focus, waste energy and miss the biggest opportunities.

I believe strategy works best when it’s inclusive.

The most successful leaders don’t try to have all the answers. They make sure their whole team can see the big picture and they encourage everyone to contribute their best ideas.

That’s why I use visual tools like the Business Model Canvas.

They make strategy simple, visual and actionable for everybody. They turn passive team members into active co-creators of the future. That way, your team is truly with you and committed to the same future you are. When that happens, you're ready to do the best work of your life.

Leaders bring me in when:
→ Growth has slowed down 
→ The old playbook no longer works 
→ Teams are pulling in different directions
→ People are busy, but not getting results
→ A big launch or change is coming (it's high risk)
→ There’s no proof customers will buy the next idea

I was personally trained by Alex Osterwalder.
He's the creator of the Business Model Canvas.
It's a visual strategy tool trusted by millions globally.

"I enjoy working with Nick. I'm confident you will too."
– Alex Osterwalder, Founder & CEO, Strategyzer

Where do we start?

It’s called The Business Model Power Hour.

In 60 minutes, we will:

→ Map your business on one page
→ Identify what’s working and what’s not
→ Decide what to prioritise for the next 90 days
→ Create a plan your team can see and follow

Clients often tell me it’s the most valuable hour they’ve ever spent on their business.

Most then move on to do a 12-Week Sprint.

This is where we:

→ Stress-test your business model
→ Adapt to what customers want now
→ Build evidence for your big decisions
→ Align culture with strategy

By the end, you’ll have a plan that works in today’s market and a team ready to deliver it.

If you want clarity, alignment and a plan your whole team can use tomorrow, then click the link in my Featured section below.

Nick Himowicz

Have you ever noticed how the Business Model Canvas looks a bit like a tennis court?

I don’t know whether the layout was intentionally inspired by tennis but I’m not sure it matters.

What does matter is the effect.

The canvas feels familiar the moment you see it.

→ A centre
→ Two sides
→ Clear boundaries

Even if you’ve never used it before, it doesn’t feel alien.

Familiarity lowers the cognitive barrier. When something feels easy to pick up, it’s easier to adopt which might be one of the reasons why millions of people use it to start, grow, and pivot their companies.

This reminds me of the Tesla story.
The Model S was radical on the inside:
→ Electric drivetrain
→ Software-first
→ Over-the-air updates

But on the outside, it looked like a normal car.

This wasn’t accidental.

By making it look familiar, Tesla made it easier for people to say yes.
Only after mass adoption did Tesla feel able to release something that looked like it came from another planet (the Cybertruck.)

There’s a pattern here.
Early stage = new inside + familiar outside.
Later stage =  distinctiveness becomes the advantage

So the real question isn’t about canvases or cars or tennis courts.

What stage are you at?

Are you building something genuinely new and struggling with adoption?
You might need to make it feel more familiar, not more impressive.

Or are people already adopting your product at scale?
Maybe now is the moment to do something unmistakably out of the ordinary.

Familiarity can help people say yes.
Difference helps them remember why they chose you.
The trick is knowing which one you need right now.

Side-by-side comparison of the Business Model Canvas layout and a tennis court diagram, highlighting their similar structure.

Stephen Parkins

🌍 International Growth & Innovation Leader 🙋🏼‍♂️ I help ambitious innovators like you become industry leaders ✨ Innovation Management, Leadership & Culture

I help business leaders turn innovation into a strategic asset for long-term growth, with demonstrable ROI.

I firmly believe that in a volatile, uncertain world, innovation is the single most powerful driver of productivity and rising living standards.

But innovation requires structure and discipline. 

Over the past 20+ years, I’ve supported startups, scaleups, listed corporates and global giants in building the systems, the tools, the portfolios and the capabilities required to turn innovation into a source of growth, focus and measurable returns (ROI).


My focus is on:

• Corporate Innovation as a system

• Innovation portfolio management (Explore-Exploit balance, real options, advanced metrics, ROI)

• Corporate innovation strategy (from Innovation Mandate to Innovation Thesis to decision-making)

• Venture-building, Intrapreneurship & business model design

• Innovation governance (ISO 56000-aligned systems, with additions)

• Strategic decision-making (including agent-based simulations)


I've worked with everything from one-person experiments, to startups, to scale-ups, to 100,000+ employee organisations.

Some highlights:

My team and I helped ABN AMRO Bank redesign the business model of its most famous innovation product (Tikkie).
↓ What they said:
"Stephen's business savviness and commercial skills allow him to turn ideas into products that deliver real value to customers and to the organization"


I established SGS's global innovation function and guided its Business Units to create Innovation Strategies
↓ What they said:
"Stephen's insights and expertise have had a lasting impact on our business, setting us on a path of sustained growth and innovation."


I have also:
• Built, scaled, killed countless corporate ventures
• Led market expansions (e.g. Enerfip in Benelux)
• Trained and coached hundreds of professionals & business leaders
• Generated millions in P&L in high-volatility derivatives markets


I'm based in Europe, but I serve clients across the world - in English, French, German, Dutch and Spanish.

Open to punctual assignments as a fractional Head of Innovation, senior advisor, or product owner (I'm PSPO I certified).

If you're serious about building strategic, measurable, and above all, investable innovation, let’s connect.

Global Head of Corporate Incubation / Innovation

My team and I are building SGS's global incubation lab & innovation lab, from which we nurture and launch disruptive new business ideas.

Currently hiring Innovation Coaches and Service Designers / Innovation Strategists with an international background and mindset

So AI is going to replace us all by when exactly?

Systematic Innovation & Strategy | Fractional Head of Innovation | Founder - Culturedge® & Strategy Quest (AI Business Simulations)| Innovation ROI Generator | Podcaster & Public Speaker

Innovation committees love opinions.

But what they tend to avoid is something much more uncomfortable: Putting a financial figure on the table in the early stages.

"Ah but you can't put a number on an idea!" or "Finance won't accept made-up numbers!" are understandable objections.

Still, I encourage innovation teams to generate numbers early.

Not because their figure would be accurate. But because doing so forces your assumptions and trade-offs into the open.

This is one of the quickest ways you can improve the perceived professionalism (and therefore the value) of your innovation function in 2026.

---------------
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🚫 If you didn't, share it with a random number of enemies

Every organisation I’ve worked for or with has a list of projects that look obvious in hindsight. The kind where, a year later, someone says: “We shou

Open article: Shoulda Put a Figure on It by Stephen Parkins • 5 min read

It's 2027 and you just launched your company's Corporate Venture Capital unit.

Can you earn –and maintain– the confidence of your CEO?

Or will you mismanage the funds and destroy your reputation?


The stakes are high. There's literally only one safe place to train for situations like this: Strategy Quest | AI Business Simulations & Foresight

The outcomes are simulated but the pressure feels real.

Do you think you could handle it? 😉

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The Battle

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