The Venture Imperative (Hardcover)

by Heidi Mason (Author), Tim Rohner (Author) "Venturing is an essential tool for every company that intends to be a leader in a world that is increasingly technology-driven..." (more)
Key Phrases: beta offering, continuous development architecture, venturing group, Silicon Valley, Eastman Chemical, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"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

· 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.

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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (May 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578513359
• ISBN-13: 978-1578513352
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 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.com Sales Rank: #364,045 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Blueprint for Corporate Venturing, July 15, 2002

By	Bruce V. Culver (Troy, MI United States) - See all my reviews

After leading an internal iniative to bring more innovation into a corporation, I found much of the task in selling your innovative idea depends greatly on convincing the "the suits" that the business plan is sound. The practical experience from the authors provides a solid blueprint for both internal and external innovators to map out their proposed venture to evaluate the likelihood of success. I frequently refer to the numerous examples while evaluating new business deals, both pre and post launch.

I also recommend the reader concentrate on the chapter, "Battling Corporate Antibodies". The greatest barrier is often from your own team, the "middle-manager" which will require much more time and effort to emotionally educate than is ever expected. Excellent insight is provided in dealing with the numerous approval stages and cultural hurdles that a new venture proposal must overcome within a corporation to survive beyond just an idea.

I do recommend this book for those brave innovators within a corporation and the bravest, those outside the safe womb of a corporation seeking to build a new idea into a business.

4 of 5 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

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 5 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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.