“The mistake that I think I made early on is [being] too close to the core,” said Mike Smeed, managing director of InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of Jaguar Land Rover.
Two years into the role, Smeed has done a lot refine the approach his team takes to finding startups relevant to the car company. Smeed listens closely to what the parent company needs and, counterintuitively, that actually led the venture unit to transition away from core automotive technologies to look at a broader range of sectors across climate, industrial and enterprise technology.
Last September, I had the pleasure on this show of speaking to Smeed came on the podcast about his first year on the job, which was also his first year in corporate venture capital. It is even more exciting to have him back at the end of year two, to see if he managed to apply the lessons he learned.
Smeed is an advocate of early-stage investing, which he believes believes this brings the most value to the startup while also allowing meaningful engagement with Jaguar Land Rover. He also told us:
- How he balances InMotion’s strategic and financial goals.
- Why the UK lags behind other comparable CVC markets and what can be done about it.
- Why it’s not always a bad thing to rub shoulders with competitors.
- The growing importance of the venture platform role.
This candid and open interview is useful for anyone who is finding their feet in the corporate venture industry.
