Raising the odds of corporate venturing: a review by Intel

Purpose – Any corporate executive ever faced with the task of launching new businesses within her organization must know this is quite a difficult challenge. Creating a new business is risky enough by itself and arguably even more problematic for large, successful firms “caught in the chains” of ever‐improving what already works. In light of this true dilemma, this paper aimed to review rich up‐to‐date literature on corporate venturing in search for evidence‐based recommendations that are really practical. Design/methodology/approach – By means of critical reading and careful selection based on real‐world experience from the trenches of Intel Strategic Planning, the authors screened relevant literature from diverse sources including professional practitioner publications as well as academic research journals. Findings – Despite the surprisingly scarce practical advice found in reviewed literature, this paper emphasizes a short list of useful tips for corporate executives. For example: dedicate corporate resources but surrender central ownership; put your faith in the best people and not necessarily in the best ideas; ensure top executives “walk the talk” as sponsors and hands‐on leaders; and protect disruptive innovation from being shot down by existing customers' influence. These findings are accompanied by a conceptual model mapping the main issues in corporate venturing to four distinct areas: design, resources, decisions, and monitoring. Originality/value – The key findings of this paper are brought as practical tips for executives attempting to construct a corporate venturing structure that works; these tips are noteworthy as they may contradict some of the common wisdom in corporate strategy.