Corporate Venture Arms: Are They Worth It?

Can corporate venture capital arms be of great value to your company?

Show Notes

Should you take money from a corporate venture arm? 

Here are some quick Pros and Cons of doing so:

Pros:

• They can be very strategic in making industry connections (especially with other companies they have invested in
• They can often become a customer themselves
• Bring technical expertise and resources unavailable to early-stage venture companies

Cons:

• Often have conflicting mandates, invest for return and invest in finding acquisitions
• Due to incentives many of the partners at CVC’s leave (which is your internal champion)
• At times there are inferior terms (exclusivity on acquisitions, Right of first refusal, and in the worst case invest to stamp out competition).
• While they could become customers, CVCs are often on an island and don’t speak for the company in becoming a customer

What is Venture Capital?

A podcast about venture capital, and what is happening each week. We discuss who is getting funded. Why specific companies were funded and much more relating to who the next big unicorn will be.