Innovation Underdogs | Christine Pamela

Book Overview

What happens when a breakthrough idea lands in a company that was never designed to change?

Innovation Underdogs is a strategic guide for building lasting innovation inside large, complex, or traditional organizations. With real-world case studies, visual frameworks, and storytelling, it charts a path from resistance to reinvention, without breaking what already works.

At its core is the Theta Framework, a visual model that maps six types of innovation—Core, Adjacent, Architectural, Disruptive, Transformational, and Frontier—across three corporate zones: Core, Edge, and Beyond.

Why This Book, Why Now

Since 2000, over half of the Fortune 500 has vanished. McKinsey predicts the average S&P 500 lifespan will shrink to 12 years by 2027. While many companies claim to innovate, few rewire their identity when technology demands it.

This book fills the gap between startup idealism and corporate reality, offering a system that makes breakthrough innovation stick.

Who It’s For

Leaders inside legacy companies trying to build what’s next
Innovation managers, product teams, and intrapreneurs
Startup founders navigating partnerships with large corporates
Consultants, strategists, and anyone shaping change from the inside out

Why Me

Christine Pamela Chandrakasan is an engineer, strategist, and founder with 15+ years of experience across startups, global companies, and innovation consulting. She has advised and trained teams across Southeast Asia, the US, and Europe, with deep experience translating breakthrough ideas into systems that scale.

Her work has been featured in BuzzFeed, The Star, SME Magazine, BFM Radio, and international forums like ASEAN Youth Forum and E-Tail Asia. While she works broadly on innovation related topics with companies large and small, she is also currently pursuing a doctorate on globalizing small businesses.

Status

Manuscript complete at 56,766 words. Proposal and sample chapter available upon request.

Sample Chapters

Innovation Needs Rebels
The Framework
Rules of Rebels
Can Anyone Innovate?
Unlearning Leadership
Customers Are Always Right... Or Are They?
The Simplicity of Sales and Marketing
Scaling Without Breaking

Market Potential

Comparable titles:

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
Zero to One by Peter Thiel
Working Backwards by Bryar & Carr
Range by David Epstein

Estimated global readership: Executives, consultants, innovation leaders, and entrepreneurial educators.

How Innovation Underdogs Stands Apart

Feature / Focus Area	Innovation Underdogs	The Lean Startup	Zone to Win	Ten Types of Innovation	The Invincible Company	The Innovator’s Dilemma	Range	Working Backwards
Covers all 6 types of innovation	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
Maps innovation across Core, Edge, and Beyond zones	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
Guides full lifecycle: idea → prototype → PMF → scale → reintegration	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Designed for complex corporate environments	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅
Tackles cultural resistance and fear of change	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
Emphasizes people: mavericks, skunkworks, open teams	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Uses customer service to find early adopters	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Sales & marketing strategy for internal innovation	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Defines types of innovators and how to lead them	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Focuses on unlearning traditional leadership	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Reintegration strategy (spinouts, CVCs, open source, etc.)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Innovation Underdogs: The Corporate Rebel Playbook