Zylö’s Scott Pancoast shares secrets gleaned from more than 20 years in the innovation economy
“Innovation” is much more than a buzzword for Zylö Therapeutics CEO and founder Scott Pancoast.
Armed with a degree in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Pancoast eventually headed West three decades ago, where he left a traditional corporate setting to step into a role making venture investments for a family in San Diego, California.
“When I moved to San Diego to work for that family, I was doing something new to me and had to learn how to assess new technologies for possible investment,” Pancoast says.
For the next two decades, Pancoast learned the difference between “innovation” as an idea, and “innovation” as sound investment. “You have to know how to spot the difficult transition from new technology, whether patented or something that can be patented, to a point where a customer is willing to write a check to incorporate that technology into their product or process,” he says. “And that is an arduous process, and a lot of things must fall into place for it to work.”
Pancoast, who has guided Greenville-based Zylö’s patented “Z-pod” from nascent technology to late-stage startup and is in the middle taking the company’s first-ever consumer-based product to market, insists he is more innovative thinker than innovator.
“I have not innovated, per se, but I have an innovative way of looking at things,” he says. “I considered architecture at [University of Virginia], so there’s an element of the left-brain in me.” He says the true innovators are usually found at universities or in the research labs of medium and large companies, but the key is finding people who can manage and cultivate those innovations.
“What I do is develop innovation to the point that it has commercial value,” he says. “Some innovations don’t scale, or there is no real use for them. You might be able to make it in a test tube, but you can’t produce it by the barrel.”
Scott Pancoast Shares How to Convert Innovative Minds
One key to success is an ability to convert innovative minds, the “PhD types,” into his partners. “They know the science, and I listen to and learn from them,” Pancoast says. And in that process, a partnership forms as CEO becomes student, and scientist becomes teacher.
But innovation as a concept is often very misunderstood, he says. “In most cases, the technology must undergo scale-up. A company can count on somewhere between 10 and 50 issues arising during scale-up and they usually don’t know what those issues are nor whether they can be successfully overcome.”
It’s why Pancoast insists on building innovation teams made up of those with the right mix of intelligence, creativity, and troubleshooting. “I liken an early-stage startup to a daily roller- coaster ride,” he says, laughing. “And as you progress, those ups and downs, those twists and turns, can create a lot of anxiety, because early-stage startups aren’t profitable, mid-stage startups are rarely cash-flow positive, and there’s this element of having less money today than you did yesterday. It’s definitely not for everyone.”
But does being an innovation leader require magnetism?
“That’s a special characteristic,” he says. “I can’t say it’s a necessity for success, but the people who enjoy the best odds of success must first have credibility, authenticity, and humility. I encourage my team to disagree with me, and disagree among themselves, and robustly debate what is right for the company.”
Sometimes, it means raised voices, and in an innovator’s environment, debate is essential. “Because in some ways, innovation is a simply a quest for the truth, about making the best decision at a particular juncture.”
Up Next
Zylö is partnering with Greenville-based RedHype Creative Marketing Agency to bring “twentyfour,” the company’s new line of anti-aging consumer products, to market.
Recognized
In 2024, Pancoast was named Founder of the Year by the South Carolina Research Authority.
Written by: Rick Spruill
Photography by: Jack Robert Photography