Wendell Brooks has given Global Corporate Venturing his first interview since being named the future head of Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of US-based semiconductor company Intel. Brooks discusses his thoughts on what Intel Capital’s strategy should be, and what it means to take over from Arvind Sodhani, the unit’s long-time president.
There is much speculation in the corporate venturing market as to whether the handover will mean big changes at Intel Capital. It looks likely the group will take part in fewer deals than it has done historically but 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.”
Part of the challenge of taking over at Intel Capital is the influence of its outgoing leader, Sodhani, who has been a towering figure in corporate venturing. Brooks said: “Arvind has created the best VC firm 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.
“Change is always difficult when there has been as big a personality, as successful as Arvind has been,” Brooks added. “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.”
As he is also president of mergers and acquisitions at Intel Capital, we asked Brooks what his taking over at the unit 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 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 which even Intel Capital has missed.
“Intel Capital sits at the sweet spot of venture capital and what goes on within Intel,” Brooks said. “It has treated portfolio companies like a corporate VC bringing to bear corporate relationships and new product innovation using the power of Intel. Yet it has avoided the trap many corporate VCs 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 $16.7bn acquisition of Altera – the largest deal in Intel’s history. Brooks said: “First and foremost I came to Intel to invigorate its growth. Each new node of Moore’s Law, 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 IP, new business models and new opportunity.”
The variety of deals done by Intel Capital (see attached graph using GCV Analytics below) is immense, and 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 look the wider corporate venturing world will get at Brooks will be at Intel Capital’s Global Summit on November 2 to 4. Brooks 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.”
After that, Brooks will be appearing at our Global Corporate Venturing and Innovation Summit in Sonoma on January 27 and 28, where he will give a keynote addres. Brooks added: “I am looking forward to building corporate relationships and hearing other people address the same issues.”
