Corporate Venturing: A Survival Guide Paperback – January 22, 2019

I have worked in the corporate venture industry and collaborated with the related venture capital field. This book is very valuable for corporations considering creation of a corporate venture program. The book presents a great overview of corporate venture, how it is different from traditional venture capital, and strategic frameworks for aligning corporate strategy to an implementation plan from level of funding to talent needed to succeed. Excellent case examples from corporate funds that have structured programs and progress they have made.

The Corporate Venture Capital profession is coming of age, and at a time when disruption is shaking up industries, CVCs have a powerful role to play. Many will add value. Some will thrive. The best will create new industries and transform their parent company businesses. The best CVCs are likely to co-invest together and add measurable value to their portfolio companies, resulting in better outcomes…financially and strategically.This benefits the founders/entrepreneurs, as well as their parent companies. What differentiates the best from the rest? Why do some succeed, and other fail? Find out by reading the Corporate Venturing Survival Guide.This book highlights the strategies and practices for success, tied to each phase of a CVC’s life cycle, from conception, to formation and successful growth and value delivery. The authors cover differentiating practices relevant for both new entrants and established firms, and provides examples and advice from active CVC leaders who have created sustainable programs with the agility to adapt and even thrive.This is THE reference guide for Corporate Venture leaders, and will be especially useful for those considering a foray into the world of Corporate Venturing. Innovation is not optional. Corporate Venture is sought as a key differentiator, but setting up and leading a sustainable CVC unit can be fraught with difficulty. This easy reading guide identifies numerous predictable challenges corporates face when designing and operating a minority investing organization. The best CVCs have become masters of agility by re-inventing themselves to deliver sustained value to the myriad of stakeholders necessary for success. Two of the authors, Mason and Arrington, bring a valuable perspective that has stood the test of time, grounded in ~25 years of work with corporations to establish and re-fresh venturing programs. Co-author James Mawson brings the broad global perspective of the profession. As the founder of Global Corporate Venturing, the leading professional organization for CVC, he and his colleagues have observed firms navigate through multiple economic cycles around the world and across industries. Collectively, their ability to step back, synthesize the trends and outcomes and translate their learning into insights and practical advice for CVC leaders makes this book both timeless and timely.

This book is the best guide to Corporate Venture Capital that available (and I have been working with Corporate VCs for over 17 years). It should be read not only by companies with CVC units and those considering CVC units but also by traditional financial VCs and startup CEOs so that they can better understand CVCs and how to leverage these important players in the VC ecosystem.I am the Global Chair of the Corporate Venture Capital Group at DLA Piper (a global law firm 4200 attorneys and offices in over 40 countries). I have been practicing in Silicon Valley for over 35 years and worked on over 1,000 venture deals (and, as I noted above, I have been working with CVCs for over 17 years). This book is written by authors who are leaders in advising corporations in the corporate venture capital as part of their innovation strategy and they bring decades of experience to writing this book. And they have interviewed leaders in the CVC community to gain their insights.As a matter of context, according to GCVI Analytics, the number of active CVCs has risen from less than 500 in 2012 to 1,591 active in 2018. The majority of F500 have CVC programs. Sue Siegel (GE CIO and CEO, GE Ventures) states it very crisply, “It’s a now a crucial strategic complement to R&D and a mainstream innovation discipline for the Fortune 500.”CVCs participate in 18% of all venture deals in 2018 but these deals represented half of all the money raised. In some markets, such as life science, a CVC investor is essential to success after Series B. The Corporate Venturing Survival Guide describes and illustrates (with insights from leading members of the CVC community) the phases and success factors for longevity and survival.It is a critical resource for CVCs and other members of the VC ecosystem!

Corporate venture capital (CVC) is playing an increasingly important role in the innovation economy. We need to collectively raise our game to meet that opportunity by understanding best practices from CVCs across a wide variety of industries, focusing our investments on tomorrow’s needs and being deeply engaged with our investment companies and their management teams. While the history of corporate venture is full of short-lived and/or less professional programs, the authors identify great examples of successful programs and highlight the best practices they are establishing. These examples provide a roadmap for other managers to follow - and help all of us in the industry to not repeat the mistakes of the past.Corporate Venturing: A Survival Guide provides an inside look at several different models for long-term success. It is an invaluable guide for management teams to build and scale high impact, lasting corporate venture programs. The research presented in the book will help corporate venture leaders see around corners and prepare for the challenges that will inevitably confront them and their programs.I truly wish I had read this book years ago...