How to choose the right approach to venture building
The only guide you need to learn more about your corporate venture building options and how to identify which approach works best for building your next venture.
What is it about?
Many corporates want to innovate outside of their core business and spin out startups to create new revenue streams. However, founding a company is associated with challenges and often results in unnecessary costs. Corporate venture builders (also called “company builders” or “startup factories”) aim to solve this problem by providing the most critical success factor: a dedicated, entrepreneurial team with a proven track record that can avoid common mistakes when launching a venture. Check out our guide to discover if corporate venture building is suitable for you and what different forms there are.
Who is it for?
If you are working in a corporation and have a project that you would like to build into a venture, this guide is ideal for you. Use the insights from our framework to compare, analyze and decide which approach is the most appropriate for the implementation of your future venture.
Key content we cover on venture building
What is a corporate venture builder?
Venture builders, also known as company builders or venture studios, are organizations dedicated to launching startups on a regular basis.The primary objective of a venture builder is to swiftly validate a business idea, assuming an interim leadership role in building the venture and assembling a talented team who will eventually take over the reins. To accomplish this, venture builders leverage their in-house resources which include experienced serial founders, skilled marketers, proficient developers, and other domain experts.
What are the benefits of the venture building approach?
Venture builders play a crucial role in the success of building new businesses, as they offer a high level of autonomy. In the realm of corporate venturing, venture builders actively participate in the startup process by contributing to product development, acquiring initial customers, and assembling the core team. What sets venture builders apart is their ability to adapt to the client's needs. If desired, they can take full responsibility for the entire venture setup, essentially delivering a "turnkey" solution for the new company.
5 corporate venturing methods compared
Venture building is a comprehensive addition to the open innovation ecosystem. With its hybrid model, it offers flexible options tailored to diverse needs. The nature of the engagement varies, as venture builders may take company shares or work on a service fee basis. However, distinguishing and understanding the reasons behind these different approaches can be challenging, as the boundaries often appear blurred. A very common approach, however, is to pay attention to the proximity to the core business as well as the "level of control" that the corporate wants to perform on the new startup.
76%
of study participants cited new revenue streams generation as one of the reasons to start with venture building.
81%
of study participants have worked with external venture builders.
54%
of study participants have established a dedicated venture building unit or team.
Insights from 30+ corporates across various industries
Our research is built on data gathered from interviews with more than thirty participants from the companies who either have an active venture builder or explored a few venture building projects on a case-by-case basis, spanning across multiple industries, such as Automotive, Chemicals, Construction, Energy, Engineering, Financial Services, Electronics, Travel, Logistics, and others. The insights apply to all corporates diving into venture building, which means you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to get started. Learn from the study participants and our decade of experience to navigate the path to successful venture building.
What insights you will gain
In the guide, you will gain an overview of the best known venture building models:
- Internal venture building units
- Corporate venture building as a service
- Corporate venture building partnership
- Corporate venture building and venture capital partnership
- Pure corporate venture capital
Can’t get enough of venture building?
We are a corporate venture builder
We leverage corporate power to create successful ventures and new revenue streams. We accompany, support, and help established companies as facilitators, sparring partners, or even team members in the implementation of innovative programs and innovation strategies. Furthermore, we help them make their own ventures a success.
