Roger La Salle

International Expert of Business Innovation

Roger La Salle is a professional engineer, successful entrepreneur and international expert of business innovation. There are few who speak on innovation and creativity that can make the claim to have literally made more than $1M from their own ideas on more than three occasions - but Roger La Salle can.

Roger is the creator of the highly acclaimed Matrix Thinking. He has authored several books on Matrix Thinking and uses the technique when he works with clients to inspire break through business opportunities. Introduced in 1999, Matrix Thinking, has been embraced by business. In 2010 Matrix Thinking was licenced to one of the world's largest consulting firms for distribution and e-learning modules the world over.

Roger La Salle is the Director and former CEO of the Innovation Centre of Victoria (INNOVIC) as well as a number of companies both in Australian and overseas. He has been responsible for a number of successful technology start-ups and in 2004 was a regular panelist on the ABC New Inventors TV program. In 2005 he was appointed to the Chair of Innovation at the Queens University in Belfast.

Roger La Salle's innovations include:

• Developed a telecommunications test instrument that was patented in 1987, created by an international company and is still in use today.
• Invented a system that allows clocks to keep perfect time, and automatically updates for daylight savings.  The system was patented in 1994 and is still available and widely used in Australia.
• Facilitated a one day workshop for Lendal Products in Scotland during which time they came up with a concept to make canoe paddles that glow in the dark to illuminate camp sites at night. Lendal Products patented the concept and made millions from it.
• Worked with a major Malaysian bank to identify a new way to find trade finance customers throughout the entire country without opening a single new branch
• Worked with a major cell phone carrier to identify a new program to prevent churn and attract new customers, while increasing revenue. The highly successful program was rolled out in 2003.
• Invented a new electrical fault fire mitigation product which went into development in Malaysia.
• Invented a way to add flashing logos to FMCG products for less than 0.5 cents per product.

• Invented a cold chain food tracking and temperature time date logger, for less than one cent per product, that warns against thaw and refreezing.

Roger La Salle talks about:

Roger La Salle is a challenging, dynamic and sought after speaker and facilitator who uses his life time of experience and innovation to impart valuable information. He holds audiences spellbound as he details the simple processes that can be applied to every type of business from insurance, banking and manufacturing to technology development, leisure and entertainment. Nobody leave Roger's presentations without a new way to think and new ideas to immediately put into practice.

Roger speaks about:

• The innovation matrix, the opportunity matrix and invention
• How to mitigate new product risk
• Finding low risk product opportunities
• Why most business plans fail