Since the success of the start-up accelerator model pioneered by Y Combinator in 2005 many large corporates have tried to do the same thing. The logic: corporates can help start-ups scale the future whilst gleaning some of the benefits below for themselves:
ABOUT OUR FOUNDERSBetter ideas: Creative and commercially disruptive ideas from beyond BAU.
Speed to market: help internal teams accelerate initiatives.
Maintain pace with the industry: keep up with tech & developments in emerging industries through start-ups.
Buy talented people: In the right circumstances you might want to buy your way in to ‘know how’. Acqui-hire can be quicker that a 6-12-month search and select.
Create an eco-system: For big strategic bets – it can be hard for corporates to create and extract the value on their own. They need smaller ventures to innovate around their vision.
Dedicated focus & energy: It’s the fastest way to access specific, lived, tested, technology and commercial expertise you don’t have.
Live market insight: Sometimes firms take this approach because they want real commercial data. Engaging with startups can help inform decisions to where & how to scale around a market.
To date many corporations have mixed results in these activities.
Any open innovation or start-up engagement program will only be successful if the corporate is clear in why it is doing it.
Start-ups are essentially looking for one or a combination of 4 things in the relationship with a large corporation:
Your ‘why’ has to be significant and important enough to commit to the above otherwise the exercise is a wasted. We work with you to define your strategy and enable and manage the right model and program for your start-up engagement . More importantly we find the ‘right’ partners that nobody else can find.
Not all start-ups are the same! Some are two people in a bedroom with a great idea, others are founded by people with years of industry and corporate experience. Our evaluation methodology looks at people, product, market and technology – but also enables you to compare like for like firms by state of maturity against key parameters such as:
This is one of the most difficult things to navigate. Our programs mesh the conflicting operating rhythm of start-up and corporate. We work relentlessly to get the gearing of the forces below right!
