7 rules on how to interact with your venture

Wednesday, 25 July 2018 / Published in Digital
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Culture is king and word is bond. Once you start working together, it’s of vital importance to commit to a set of shared goals that work bidirectional, from the traditional company to the startup and vice versa:

1. BE COMMITED, IT’S NOT A GAME

For the company it’s important to understand that your collaboration will have a fundamental impact on the startup. For them it’s often live or die, they’re setting their hopes on the project so you have to make sure to deliver upon the expectations on your end. If you promise to give mentorship, come prepared and be relevant, if you promise to open up your network, make sure to make the right introductions etc. Word is bond.

For the startup it’s important to understand you’re not just playing around with the goodwill or funds of the company you’re partnering with. Take the collaboration dead serious as it might be your window of opportunity. Don’t wait to apply the knowledge you receive, get in touch with the contacts that are being made, and move!

2. DON’T FUCK UP THEIR CULTURE 

Never expect the other party to become like you. A corporate will never be a startup and vice versa. You can help each other in a positive way via ‘reverse mentorship’: what can you learn from each other without believing your way is the best way? Can you pair up people in the same position with different backgrounds and expertise.

3. BE TRANSPARENT 

Whenever you start a collaboration you probably have an agenda in mind of what you want to achieve. Maybe you want to take over the company at a later stage, maybe you want to invest more in a next round, maybe it’s just an experiment and you don’t really know what comes after.. be transparent about that. Open communication creates trust.
The same applies to the startup, why do you want to partner? Are you looking for an exit? Do you want to grow faster? Do you want to add credibility to your product? Unfortunately the agendas are not disclosed in most cases, often leading to conflict later on.Operate like a glass house, being open always benefits the relationship. When expectations are clear, you can work together to achieve shared goals.

4. DEFAULT TO ‘YES’

Everyone is always busy and has restrictions to what they can do, but a strong collaboration requires flexibility and a mindset of saying ‘yes’ as often as you can.
You’re embarking on a journey together, and as always, some things won’t go as planned or can be challenging: a technology might not be compliant, an important last-minute meeting might not fit the agenda, a contract might not please both parties etc. Making things happen should always be the way forward though, be creative to find solutions and above all: always give it your best effort.

5. LEAD THE WAY 

Once a collaboration is set up, both parties start looking at each other to get things going: who is going to make the first move? Often with a passive mindset: ‘they know where to find us when they need us’. That’s not the right way to create value for each other or to start a relationship.
You need to be proactive, don’t wait for the other party to take the initiative. Reach out as much as you can, help where you can, link where you can.
You have to lead the way and set the tone. It’ll be much harder to get things going later on if you had a slow start.

6. BE A STUDENT, NOT THE TEACHER

It’s always better to ask questions or to question things than to say what needs to be done differently. Try to understand the way of working, the logic of certain decisions and actions. Don’t assume incompetence or you will immediately get people on the defense.
Never refrain from giving your opinion afterwards, but first listen and try to understand. If your partner has a different approach, that’s great as you now have an opportunity to learn. You partner because you hope to extract value from each other (also in terms of culture and way of working), so don’t try to create a copy of yourself, see where you can complement each other instead.

7. PAY IT FORWARD

“People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou

If you can do something for your partner without expecting an immediate return, they will remember you for it and even try to overcompensate later on.
Paying it forward is a key mindset in the startup ecosystem: I help you now, and hopefully you will help me out later on. In a collaboration it’s essential not to question the ROI of every action, help out where you can and if both parties are committed, the favor will be returned later on.

If there is a heavy imbalance, make sure to discuss it and figure out why that is the case. Perhaps the other party (incorrectly) assumes they don’t have much to offer you.7 rules banner

Corporate Venturing Book

The newest book of Dado Van Peteghem (from Duval Union Consulting) and Omar Mohout (Sirris) provides insights in the different strategies and tactics to accelerate innovation and growth through collaboration, as well as plenty of cases as examples where these methods are successfully applied. It’s a no-nonsense, ready-to-apply comprehensive guide for creating and reviewing your corporate venturing strategy as a strategic instrument to thrive in this fast changing world.

The book will provide guidance, insights, perspective and inspiration for anyone that has an interests in corporate venturing as a strategy to accelerate growth. Whether you are a large corporate or an upcoming player in the market.

Get the e-book!

 

Book Launch Corporate Venturing – The Aftermovie

Friday, 06 July 2018 / Published in Digital

About the event

On June 25th the official launch of the Corporate Venturing book by Dado Van Peteghem and Omar Mohout took place at Meetdistrict in Ghent. Over 140 people attended this event filled with keynotes by the authors, a networking event and attendees received a free copy of the book. The launch was a great success thanks to the great cooperation of the authors, Dado and Omar and the publisher Die Keure.

A big thanks go out to our keynote speakers and authors Dado Van Peteghem and Omar Mohout, Jeroen Deleu for the introduction speech and Ward Hemeryck for being the moderator of the evening. And last but not least the people of Die Keure for making this event possible.

Of course a video tells more than a thousand words, so check out the aftermovie!

About the book Corporate Venturing

The book is not the hype story of how cool startups are and why you should invest in them with a fund or set up an accelerator. Corporate Venturing is so much more than CVC – corporate venture capital.

Corporate Venturing Book

The aim of this book is to provide insights in the different strategies and tactics to accelerate innovation and growth through collaboration, as well as plenty of cases as examples where these methods are successfully applied. This is not a book for people that are looking for complex innovation theories around venturing. Rather it’s a no-nonsense, ready-to-apply comprehensive guide for creating and reviewing your corporate venturing strategy as a strategic instrument to thrive in this fast-changing world.

The book will provide guidance, insights, perspective and inspiration for anyone who’s interested in corporate venturing as a strategy to accelerate growth. Whether you are a large corporate or an upcoming player in the market.

About the authors

Dado Van Peteghem

Dado Van Peteghem is one of the leading experts in the digital sector. He is a frequent keynote speaker and entrepreneur. He’s the co-founder of Duval Union Consulting & several startups like Social Seeder, Speakersbase and Trendbase, giving more than 150 speeches per year internationally.

Omar Mohout

Omar Mohout is well known as technology entrepreneur at Sirris, author, C-level advisor to high growth startups and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Antwerp, Antwerp Management School, ULB and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. He is a keynote speaker and panelist on technology, entrepreneurship and innovation topics at leading conferences.

I guess you see now why they decided to write this book together. Dado and Omar know each other for a long time and according to them they are the perfect team to write a book about Corporate Venturing.

 

Buy the book

Couldn’t make it to the launch but you’re interested in buying the book? Get more info on the website www.corporateventuring.co or buy the book through Amazon or Die Keure.

Get the e-book!

 

5 pitfall practices in corporate venturing

Monday, 02 July 2018 / Published in Digital

Corporate Venturing is already happening in many companies and industries, but not necessarily in the right way. Below, we list 5 of the main bad practices we encountered during our experiences.

Ad hoc ‘spray and pray’

A lot of companies invest in or acquire startups that they encounter due to pure coincidence. Even in very large companies, it’s often the nephew, neighbor or best friend of an executive running a cool business that suddenly gets the attention. Just because of the relationship. Or a startup that knocked on the door on a blue Monday morning, and which somehow stumbled into a meeting with the CFO. It’s very often first-come, first-served without a real analysis, comparison or strategy behind it.

For every AI, Blockchain, AR … company you come across, there are many others you should investigate before making the call to move forward. Don’t let things depend on coincidence, set up a thorough analysis process and surround yourself with subject matter experts.

The corporate ‘black hole’

Once an investment or acquisition has been made, many companies feel the urge to ‘professionalize’ the business they’ve attracted. Processes are put in place, roles are reshuffled, offices are moved to a corporate-like environment, they have to connect to big IT systems … All of this happens with the best intentions, but in many cases, it’s killing the vibe and soul of the startup.

It’s very good to help a business take the next step, but always let freedom of execution rule. Don’t hug them to death. Have clear conversations with the venture on how much of your involvement they want and in what area they will need it. This will help both parties to manage their expectations and hold each other accountable when they are crossing the line.

Purely financial constructions

Many companies ask what the financial ROI is of investing/acquiring startups. The return of Corporate Venturing is, however, multi-fold, the potential financial upside is just one dimension. Unfortunately for many companies, it’s the only dimension, the investment or acquisition is done by financial departments and from there on it’s just looking at the numbers on a regular basis. But both parties, the startup and the company can benefit so much from each other in terms of knowledge sharing and culture.

Corporate Venturing is not just a financial thing, it’s a way to drive new knowledge, spirit and culture throughout your company. Make sure it’s not just a box in an Excel sheet for the nance people, exploit the collaborations throughout your whole organization.

To be cool or to check the CSR box

Startups have become a cool concept over the years, so collaborations are often misused for PR reasons. Companies want to show off their innovative image and try to impress the market by doing things they actually don’t fully understand. This often leads to zero-impact venturing, as it’s more about the image then the core business, not to mention the disillusionment for the startups.

Go for real value, not PR value in your Corporate Venturing activities, it will only backfire in the long run.

No endgame in mind.

In most cases, the investment or acquisition is seen as the endpoint, while it should actually be the starting point. If you take a 25% stake in a startup, it is in your best interest to also think about the next steps: are you going to invest further? Do you want to buy the whole company later on? Do you want to go for an exit strategy? How do you want to relate to other investors that will join later on? Try to be clear what your end game is towards all the partners around the table. The people in a startup are its true asset, so avoid miscommunication and false expectations.

Every collaboration should have a clear way forward, not just for yourself but also for the startup you’re partnering. Don’t expect the business to figure everything out by themselves, they will need you for guidance and you need them too.

Corporate Venturing Book

The newest book of Dado Van Peteghem (from Duval Union Consulting) and Omar Mohout (Sirris) provides insights in the different strategies and tactics to accelerate innovation and growth through collaboration, as well as plenty of cases as examples where these methods are successfully applied. It’s a no-nonsense, ready-to-apply comprehensive guide for creating and reviewing your corporate venturing strategy as a strategic instrument to thrive in this fast changing world.

If you want to read the 10 key learnings about the book Corporate Venturing, check out the e-book here!

The book will provide guidance, insights, perspective and inspiration for anyone that has an interests in corporate venturing as a strategy to accelerate growth. Whether you are a large corporate or an upcoming player in the market.