While the London Insurance Market celebrates its reputation as a pioneer, structural and cultural barriers are preventing it from keeping pace with the innovation needed to address modern risks such as AI, climate change, and systemic shocks.

This study, draws on in-depth interviews with 11 startups and seven senior leaders from across the London Market to uncover the lived experience of innovation inside and outside Lloyd’s. The findings paint a picture of a market still rich in expertise but constrained by legacy processes, short-term incentives, and opaque pathways for new entrants.

A lot of founders think they just need to get through the deck. Say the right words. Hit the right slides. Don’t mess it up.

But after working with startups during pitch practices, accelerator sprints and demo day chaos we’ve learned it’s never just about the slides.

It’s about clarity. Confidence. The ability to tell the truth about what you’re building, who it’s for, and why it matters.

We kept finding ourselves asking the same questions in our coaching sessions. Not because the founders weren’t brilliant, but because the work is messy and the pressure is real.

So we pulled all these bits together here - Pitch perfect: A self-service coaching playbook for startups.

Innovation demands success under extreme uncertainty. Like a great heist crew, strong teams pivot, adapt, and think fast - but with the goal of building something lasting and sustainable.

Here, we break down what it takes to build a high-performing innovation team and culture that can thrive, even within corporate constraints.

Innovation is essential for business success, but large corporations often struggle to deliver it.

Unlike startups, they face internal barriers - bureaucracy, risk aversion, short-term pressure, and misaligned incentives - that stall progress, despite having the resources to succeed.

Here, we explore the common pitfalls of corporate innovation and share a framework for overcoming them.

In the early days of RapidWorks, we were an in-house innovation team at a big Telco. Our remit was to explore, validate, build and scale opportunities for incremental revenue in areas of adjacency. 

We have learned so much over the years, not least from an ESG product we explored and eventually killed, called Carbon Copy.

We’re proud to share the whitepaper we've written about the Carbon Copy journey, and what we - and you - can take from it.

It’s long, but hopefully a valuable read if you’re interested in how you can fail and still win with Lean corporate entrepreneurship.