Corporate venturing is rapidly moving from a role people with a diverse body of innovation experience end up in, to a profession in its own right. Typically corporate venturing groups are made up of relatively long-serving corporate executives, entrepreneurs and ex-financial venture capitalists.
The signs are best shown by the musical chairs ambitious corporate venturers play. As we report today Crispin Leick is leaving his role as head of Innogy Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit of RWE, for ENBW Venture Capital.
Such moves within the corporate venturing industry are becoming more and more common. For example the change follows Matt McElhatten, who is also the current Corporate Venture Group chair at US trade body NVCA, moving on from Chevron Technology Ventures to join Munich Re/Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) Ventures, a corporate venturing unit of Munich Re. Munich Re/HSB Ventures is headed up by Jacqueline LeSage Krause, who was also formerly of Hartford Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Hartford Financial Services (which is not related to Munich Re/HSB Ventures).
As corporate venturing becomes a more important part of corporate strategy, such moves are unsurprising, as the complexity of linking up corporations with startups through investment is well documented. Experience of having done so before should be and is highly prized.
Alongside this, the skill set is rapidly forming as to how groups should do corporate venturing. Our training group, the GCV Academy, led by Andrew Gaule, helps professionals figure this out, as do an array of consultancy firms like Bell Mason Group, Boston Consulting Group, Clareo, and PwC.
At the same time, trends in compensation are being tracked by J Thelander Consulting, and so norms are gradually forming about how much a professional should be paid.
As we will explore in our forthcoming World of Corporate Venturing 2016, the universe of corporate venturing is developing clearer trends. Those who are already well versed in these trends stand to gain as corporate venturing booms.