The Venture Imperative [Hardcover]

Heidi Mason (Author), Tim Rohner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2002

'"The Venture Imperative" is strongly practical in orientation! A must-read for those serious about launching a corporate venturing unit within their own company' - Vince Barabba, General Manager, Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development, General Motors Corporation. Innovation has become a game of corporate life or death: Produce and market successful new ideas, and a company thrives; ride competitors' coattails, and the company eventually falls by the wayside. Yet continuous innovation has traditionally been as risky and difficult as it is essential. How can corporations create an environment that has enough freedom to allow for innovation, while providing enough structure to control risk?In this groundbreaking book, Heidi Mason and Tim Rohner - leading voices in venture strategy - prove that corporate venturing is the best way to intelligently and successfully test and launch innovative corporate growth strategies. Venturing drives corporate strategy by harnessing internal and external innovation, while limiting financial risks. The process starts with the right environment: the Venture Business Office - a group that directly connects individual ventures to the parent investor and the larger venture community. Corporate venture programs have traditionally failed because they lacked a viable structure for business R&D.Drawing lessons from years of experience, Mason and Rohner unveil a new, four-step approach that will enable any business to: create a diversified portfolio of ventures to drive new growth opportunities; optimally allocate people and capital; recognize - and remedy - failing ventures at any stage; keep venture programs connected to the parent firm's strategy, and integrated with R&D, M&A and Corporate Development; measure the results; and, continuously innovate.The authors also show how to utilize the proven Bell-Mason Venture Development Framework - derived from the time-tested best practices of successful new ventures - as a guiding tool throughout the process. For executives, investors, and entrepreneurs alike, this book reveals the art-and the science-behind winning corporate venture programs. Heidi Mason is Managing Director of the Bell-Mason Group, a Silicon Valley-based venture consulting firm and a Fellow with Diamond Cluster International. Tim Rohner is a Partner with DiamondCluster International, a management consulting firm, where he is a leader in the digital strategy and corporate venturing practices.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Innovators and strategists alike will find The Venture Imperative essential reading. Mason and Rohner demonstrate that corporate venturing is not merely a good idea, but a strategy necessary for long-term corporate growth and survival. Anyone guiding corporate innovation in these turbulent times will prize this book."

-Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future

"You will find this book to be an insightful and meaningful part of your company's quest for profitable growth. It is a practical and important guide on how to bring entrepreneurial venturing in from the fringes. Mason and Rohner introduce a new approach that recognizes the elements necessary for venturing success and allows value to flow both to and from the larger corporate assets."

-Charles Stamp, President of the Worldwide Agricultural Equipment Division, Deere & Company

"Mason and Rohner's work makes a powerful case as to why enterprises should venture, and provides an equally powerful 'operations manual' for getting it right. The authors show a clear understanding of the similarities, as well as the profound differences, between corporate venturing and private venture capital. The Venture Imperative will be useful to practitioners on both sides of this divide."

-David N. Strohm, General Partner, Greylock

"As large enterprises search for new avenues of growth, corporate strategists must also become venture capitalists. While there are important lessons to be learned from the VC community, the corporate perspective is different. Mason and Rohner bring great insights and methods for how to improve your odds when venturing into a new world of opportunities."

-Mats Lederhausen, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, McDonald's Corporation

"Mason and Rohner have concisely captured the essence, essentials, and expanse of successful corporate venturing. The Venture Imperative makes it clear that a strong corporate venture team can serve as the catalytic accelerator to new technologies, new markets, and new talent."

-Warren E. Holtsberg, Corporate Vice President and Director, Venture Investing, Motorola, Inc.

About the Author

Heidi Mason is Managing Director of the Bell-Mason Group, a Silicon Valley-based venture consulting firm and a Fellow with Diamond Cluster International. Tim Rohner is a Partner with DiamondCluster International, a management consulting firm, where he is a leader in the digital strategy and corporate venturing practices.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (May 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578513359
• ISBN-13: 978-1578513352
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides roadmap for corporate venturing, May 5, 2002

By 

"johnj123456" (Los Altos, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Venture Imperative (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed The Venture Imperative. The authors provide a good framework for corporate venturing right down to a "how to" roadmap for applying their concepts. Additionally, they've developed a useful vocabulary for in house venturing. There are plenty of real world case studies that really add to the material. I've known Heidi Mason and have found her work on venturing to be very relevant to major corporations. This books brings corporate venturing into the mainstream.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, April 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Venture Imperative (Hardcover)

A detailed, practical new book of what corporations must do to implement successful corporate venturing programs. An excellent companion piece to Watts' "The Slingshot Syndrome" which appeared late last year on the same subject, but treated the subject from a different perspective. Both books are highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential tool in your corporate innovation kit, August 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Venture Imperative (Hardcover)

Innovate or evaporate seems to be the mantra of most management gurus. Asked how to facilitate innovation these gurus usually lack an answer. Mason and Rohner are different as they show in this excellent book. Combining a clear framework with interesting examples this is a must read.

To further develop your view on the topic of facilitating innovation in your organization I would recommend 'Webs of Innovation' by Alexander Loudon and 'Radical Innovation' by Leifer et.al.