Knowledge

Experience for new business:
‍Articles, whitepapers, toolkits and studies

Dive deeper into various corporate innovation and venturing topics. Explore the knowledge we share about venture building, intrapreneurship and new business models.

Studies, guides & frameworks

Read our resources below to learn more and take your corporate venturing know-how to the next level.

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The state of corporate venture building 2025

We are at a pivotal moment. A new phase of new business building begins — shaped by uncertainty, driven by strategy and defined by results. Gain practical insights on how to become confident in building new business — even in times of economic uncertainty.

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Expert Webinar

Inside the whataventure fund – building companies through pooled capital and shared assets

The fund model combines pooled capital, corporate assets, and a portfolio mindset to make company creation repeatable, fast, and effective. The whataventure fund applies this logic to help investors build ventures that combine strategic focus, efficient capital use, and solid governance. Join the webinar to see how this model turns ambition into measurable results and sets a new standard for new business building.

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Expert Webinar

Efficient company creation in times of reduced budgets

Budget cuts, fewer resources, higher expectations. Sounds familiar? In this webinar, we unpack how corporates can still build successful ventures under pressure. You will hear from experienced industry experts about what’s working right now in new business building and funding, and take away proven approaches for doing more with less.

The Venture Operating Model: Systemizing new business creation

Gain strategic clarity across structure, governance, and execution with the Venture Operating Model. This framework ensures that venturing is rooted in strategic reasoning and systematically executed.

From B2B to D2C: Why, when and how manufacturers should sell underperforming products direct-to-consumer

B2B manufacturers can unlock new revenue streams by building direct-to-consumer channels for underperforming product lines. Discover when and why D2C is an effective approach, and how to efficiently build this new channel.

Your venture building self-assessment canvas

Use our self-assessment canvas to evaluate your organization's current capabilities and identify areas for improvement to achieve successful outcomes with venture building.

Why venture building is key to successful intrapreneurship

Discover why venture building is vital to the success of your intrapreneurship program, plus how to be future-ready by combining the two approaches to bring radical ideas to life.

Your 6-step guide to corporate venture building

Use the Business Idea Journey framework to guide yourself through the venture building process and make decisions with confidence.

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.

Your complete guide for successful corporate startup collaboration

We are sharing our structured approach and key learnings from over a decade of guiding corporate startup collaborations to success.

The bumpy road from a prototype to a profitable company

This paper provides you with an overview of the road from a prototype to a profitable company, the minimum viable company phase, and the key success factors.

Cheat sheet for scouting startups like a pro

Optimize your startup screening process and find the best startups to collaborate with our scouting cheat sheet.

The ultimate guide to intrapreneurship

Gain insights into Europe's most successful intrapreneurship programs with our comprehensive guide. Discover the framework, unique features, and success factors that empower intrapreneurs to drive innovation within organizations.

5 steps to successfully collaborate with startups

An easy-to-use guide for finding the right format for your next startup collaboration.

29 business model strategies to inspire you

Uncertain situations require more strategic thinking and choosing the right business model can be a game-changer. To get you inspired, we put together a list of 29 business models, with examples of successful companies from all industries using them.

3 methods for building sustainable corporate ventures

Read this guide and learn how you can unlock the power of your organization to drive meaningful action against climate change. You’ll explore three methods for building sustainable ventures with real-world examples.

The state of corporate venture building 2024

76% of corporates we interviewed are using venture building to generate new revenue streams: it’s no longer just about culture, fun, or simply spinning ideas but about staying relevant on the market. Download our report ‘The state of corporate venture building 2024’ and gain practical insights on how to build successful corporate ventures.

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Studies, guides, whitepaper & frameworks

Read our the resources below to learn more and take your corporate venturing know-how to the next level.

Why don't we all succeed at venturing?

Corporate venturing sounds simple in theory. In practice, many efforts fail despite genuine commitment and investment. The missing piece? A systematic operating model. This article shows why clarity on structure, governance, and execution transforms venturing from costly experiment into reliable growth capability.

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Georg Horn

The Venture Operating Model: clarity from strategy to execution

This article introduces the Venture Operating Model, a strategic framework that helps companies align their venturing activities with broader growth goals, ensuring effective governance and execution. By clarifying strategy, structure, governance, and execution, the framework empowers corporates to systematically build successful ventures, turning good ideas into impactful, scalable results.

No Revenue Stream is Eternal - The Urgency in Corporate Venturing

Sticking to what is known may seem less risky - but it is not. This article discusses the need for corporate venturing when facing the limits of your core business and development plateaus.

5 corporate venturing tools for new business building

Across industries, companies are strategically investing in innovation to stay competitive. From venture clienting and CVCs to acquisitions and venture building, these tools are crucial for exploring new business opportunities. Each approach creates value in its own way, yet many still find it challenging to translate innovation into long-term sustained growth. Company creation funds address this gap by offering a capital-efficient, systematic way to build and scale multiple ventures in focused verticals, turning innovation from isolated projects into a repeatable growth system.

Company creation funds reshape how ventures are built

As a proven model, company creation funds have already delivered strong results in North America, outperforming existing innovation approaches. With the whataventure fund, we’re now bringing this model to Central Europe - launched with an initial volume of €15 million and currently in fundraising. It offers corporates and strategic investors a structured way to build ventures, combining access to emerging business models with the opportunity to shape industry shifts and generate returns. For us, it’s the next natural step in our journey.

D2C can feel like a leap to B2B manufacturers – here’s how to turn it into a strategy

Not every product thrives in B2B – and that’s where direct-to-consumer can become a strategic alternative. But setting up a D2C channel as a manufacturing company often raises more questions than answers. Is the product right for it? What will it cost? Will it harm existing partners? These doubts are real - but with a clear assessment and the right setup, they stop being blockers and become decisions.

The next growth opportunity for manufacturing companies - Already in your portfolio, but invisible in sales reports.

Manufacturing companies invest millions in developing new product lines that often fail to reach their full potential. Sometimes just because they are marketed in the wrong channels. Read what it takes to launch a D2C channel in months.