Dear colleagues,
It continues to be my honour to be part of this vibrant corporate venture community and support Global Corporate Venturing’s advisory board as chairman, in addition to my now three public board seats and serving as a venture adviser at NEA.
It is clear from where I now sit that corporate venture capital is more relevant than ever as the world turned increasingly towards innovation and entrepreneurs in 2017.
As competition continues to heat up for the best entrepreneurs driving the future at a faster pace than ever, so does the demand for support from corporate venturing leaders as the advantages of that support become more evident to entrepreneurs as well as institutional venture investors. As is always the case, entrepreneurs seek capital, but also in-kind support, such as customer introductions, staff hires, product development and, eventually, help with an exit.
Historically, corporate venturing’s advantages have leaned more strongly towards in-kind supports and less as sources of capital. In today’s world, however, with nearly $100bn raised by just one corporate vehicle – the SoftBank Vision Fund – this has changed. Even before this fund had its first close at $93bn in May, CVCs last year were involved in more deals by value and by volume. Partnership with corporate venturers now offers a blend of all benefits that can help build successful companies.
In this light, understanding who CVCs are and how to work inside or with them becomes increasingly important, even if attention is focused in general on the largest deals and funds. In partnership with Ilya Strebulaev, a professor at Stanford University,who teaches the most popular venture capital class at its Graduate School of Business, we introduced to that curriculum, for the first time in the history of that course, a segment on CVC informed by fantastic leaders, such as Sue Siegel at GE Ventures, Nagraj Kashyap at Microsoft Ventures and George Hoyem at In-Q-Tel.
The feedback from the students was positive. What followed was the creation of a new corporate venture capital case sudy, paid for by Stanford and written by a professional Graduate School of Business case writer, in collaboration with Global Corporate Venturing. Another first, and it will be taught as part of the entrepreneur class this year.
But if this industry is to continue to flourish, there will need to be some significant cultural changes to make it inclusive of diversity. I know it is a hot topic and you may be tired of hearing it from all fronts, but it is indicative to note that the majority of CVC units are still run by and employ mainly men, according to GCV’s annual survey. It is, however, an important topic and, while there are relatively higher proportions of women in CVC compared with the greater venture industry, there is a lot more to be done.
Certainly, my decision to choose NEA had a lot to do with managing partner Scott Sandell’s championship of diversity at US trade body the National Venture Capital Association, and NEA has proven to be a great platform for me to engage in many initiatives that can help drive changes. I recently contributed to a great book – Power Up: How Smart Women Win in the New Economy – with other contributions from many legendary women investors and entrepreneurs, which made me realise how much more there is still to be done.
CVCs have a richer diversity than the overall venture community and we as a community of corporate venture leaders can help drive the incredible momentum of awareness on the hidden issues that women, in particular, face within the community, and improve the opportunities for them to succeed so we can attract more talented young women.
Over 20% of CVC leaders – more than 20 in the GCV Powerlist 100 – as well as over 40% of GCV Rising Stars are women, and by looking at diversity across ethnicity, it is a majority. This movement has been rapid among such leaders as GE, Microsoft, Tencent and In-Q-Tel – unsurprisingly, perhaps, but these are also the names first called on by burgeoning entrepreneurs who recognise those on the right side of history, and they can help these tellers of future truths achieve their, and society’s, dreams in 2018 and beyond.
In closing, please accept my sincere appreciation for all you do and for supporting the CVC community as leaders. The passionate entrepreneurs and the growth of our parent corporations would not be as prominent without the hard work and intellectual calibre of your contributions.