8 Big Ideas in Corporate Venturing

By Peter Bryant

July 11, 2013 •

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The Third Annual Global Corporate Venturing Symposium brought thought leaders from around the world to London on May 21-22, 2013. We went for you and captured the eight biggest ideas from an exciting two days.

  1. The big risk facing corporate America is that there is too much attention to cost. There’s a finite limit on cost as a value creator. —Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO
  2. The challenge with focusing too much on your core business needs is that if you ask for a shopping list, you’re likely to get near-term thinking. —Geert van de Wouw, MD of Shell Technology Ventures
  3. It is difficult to get established businesses to move fast enough. Corporate venturing is about accelerating growth and creating optionality. —Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP
  4. If you aren’t at the table, you’ll be on the menu (message: disruption is going to happen whether you like it or not; question is whether you want to participate) —Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP
  5. You can’t just go to the business unit and declare, “Here are the key trends we’re seeing.” Instead, look at the business through the lens of a portfolio company. — Nagraj Kashyap, VP of Qualcomm Ventures
  6. It’s about getting team members in the corporate unit to understand technology shifts. —Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP
  7. Portfolio thinking is key. Think carefully about what percentage you will spend on core innovation and how much you will allocate to breakthrough innovation. — Deborah Hopkins, Chief Innovation Officer of Citigroup
  8. CVC is about identifying insights and translating them into strategy. —Claudia Fan Munce, Managing Director of IBM Corporate Venture Capital Group

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