Setting up a corporate venture capital unit comes with a lot of challenges. You have to deal with a wide range of stakeholders, and you have to find a place to fit in the wider corporate structure, much of which is not necessarily well-versed in the value that a venturing unit can bring.
You also have to navigate different – and at times, competing – motivations across various business units and the c-suite, all the while having to justify your existence and provide results.
Mario Augusto Maia, who is now managing partner at advisory firm Cogent Venture Partners, talks about his experience transitioning from financial asset management to heading up a CVC unit in the bio sector.
He discusses the challenges of managing a legacy portfolio when setting up a unit – especially when you need to regain the trust of those startups – as well as how to navigate an environment where you may have to reposition the unit during restructures.
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