Oak Creek | Founded: 2007
Employees: 120 | Revenue: $40 million
mdgbio.com
Oak Creek-based
Microbial Discovery Group is one of southeastern Wisconsin’s fastest growing companies. The fermentation company develops and commercializes products and ingredients for environmental, industrial, agricultural and human applications. Earlier this year, MDG expanded into a third, 117,000-square-foot facility. Innovation, research and development are core to the company’s success.
How do you balance taking the time to gather feedback or data against the need to move quickly when opportunities are presented?
Kyle Leistikow, research manager - CORE Innovation: “Balancing speed and strategy starts with clarity: who’s the customer, what’s their pain point and how can we deliver value? Keeping the end in mind helps us determine what data is ‘need-to-have’ versus ‘nice-to-have.’ Speed doesn’t mean skipping the homework – it means being laser-focused on what matters most to the solution. We also believe in embracing iteration. If you’re 80% confident in your direction, it’s often better to start, test and adapt than wait for perfection.”
What is your mindset when overcoming setbacks?
“Setbacks are like surprise plot twists in a novel – you might not have expected them, but they can make the story better. Our team’s mantra is ‘Fail Fast Forward,’ because we see every misstep as a valuable lesson, not a dead end. We believe in failing fast because the faster you learn what doesn’t work, the faster you can refine what does. Resilience and optimism go a long way when things don’t go to plan – after all, science is all about exploring the unknown, and surprises are part of the adventure.”
What’s the number one thing needed to sustain a culture of innovation and/or growth?
“The secret sauce is openness – openness to ideas, collaboration and sometimes even a little chaos. A good idea doesn’t care about titles or departments; it can come from the intern who just started last week or the veteran in their 20th year. My job as a leader is to create an environment where everyone feels empowered to contribute and knows their voice matters. At the same time, it’s important to create opportunities that give those ideas the chance to flourish. As Carl Sagan famously noted, ‘Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.’ At MDG, we wake up every day ready to discover something incredible.”
