Wendell Brooks has given Global Corporate Venturing his first interview since being named the future head of Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of the US-based semiconductor company. Brooks discussed his thoughts on what the Intel Capital strategy should be, and what it meant to take over from Arvind Sodhani, the long-time head of the venturing unit.
There is much speculation in corporate venturing over whether the handover will mean big changes at Intel Capital. It seems likely the group will invest in fewer deals than it has done historically, but it will look to make larger individual investments.
Brooks said: “There are around 400 companies in the portfolio. It is still early days, but I think we will take slightly larger bets, with more of a leadership role in transactions as opposed to passive secondary roles. The portfolio may be somewhat smaller when looking back at it five years from now, but with larger bets on technology. This is my predisposition.”
Brooks faces a tough challenge in succeeding outgoing leader, Sodhani, who has been a towering figure in corporate venturing. Brooks said: “Arvind has created the best venture capital firm (VC) bar none, and it just happens to be a corporate VC. The relationships he and his team have developed are impressive, and I have big shoes to fill taking the baton from Arvind.”
He added: “Change is always difficult when there has been as big a personality as successful as Arvind has been. There will be challenges in internal and external perception. There is a lot of speculation about what this move means, but we have the full endorsement of the executive management team and the board. I am incredibly excited to take on this challenge.”
Brooks is also head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), so we asked him what taking over at Intel Capital means. He said: “Having a coordinated acquisition strategy and investing strategy can only serve us well, as long as we don’t get in each other’s way.”
Brooks said he viewed venturing, M&A and research and development (R&D) as three parts of a triangle of growth, which were all complementary, with Intel Capital able to back innovative products missed in R&D, and M&A able to secure companies even Intel Capital had missed.
Brooks added: “Intel Capital sits at the sweet spot of venture capital and what goes on within Intel. It has treated portfolio companies like a corporate venturer, bringing to bear corporate relationships and new product innovation, using the power of Intel. Yet it has avoided the trap many corporate venturers fall into of wanting to use venture investment to drive corporate M&A.”
Brooks joined Intel Corporation last year as head of M&A, and is already making waves, having led the largest acquisition in Intel’s history, buying Altera for $16.7bn.
Brooks said: “First and foremost I came to Intel to invigorate its growth. Each new node of Moore’s law [stating that computer processing power increases exponentially over time], which is the driving force of innovation at Intel, has become more and more difficult to achieve. We need to be placing incremental bets that give us new routes to new intellectual property, new business models and new opportunity.”
The variety of deals conducted by Intel Capital (see graph above) is immense. Brooks said areas he found exciting included augmented and virtual reality, drones and the connected car. He added: “There are tremendous opportunities for us to be placing bets around user experience.”
In his spare time, Brooks is keen on drones, skiing and other activities. He said: “I have become a drone enthusiast thanks to Brian Krzanich [Intel’s CEO]. I love to ski, I love to sail in the summer time. I am originally from Montana so I like hiking and biking, while skiing is truly my passion.”
The first major occasion on which the wider corporate venturing world will meet Brooks will be Intel Capital’s Global Summit, November 2 to 4. He said: “I am excited about the global summit and getting to spend time with the portfolio companies. Arvind and his team have built up an incredible programme over the last decade.”
Early next year, Brooks will be appearing at the Global Corporate Venturing and Innovation Summit in Sonoma, California, January 27 and 28, where he will be giving a keynote address. He added: “I am looking forward to building corporate relationships and hearing other people address the same issues.”