Friday 27 October 2017

Thoughts from Paris - CLVF 1.2


Wow! What an adventure in Paris.

 A capacity crowd of corporate venturers, lab leaders and innovators came together in Paris to talk about all things ‘working with/partnering with small companies and start-ups.

Nissan Innovation lab being perfect hosts and kindly offering us all a chance to interact with their latest incubatees.

With the calibre of attendees we had, it is easy to see why Jean-Francois from NUMA told us that corporate venturing has doubled in the last 3 years, with over $83.5bn invested and now accounts for 20% of all Venture Capital invested.

It was a packed schedule of:

  • Case studies:
  • Key Speakers & Academics: 
    • Jean-Francois Caillard, NUMA and one of France's leading CV do-ers
    • Prof. Anna Glaser ESCP Europe management school
  • Workshop - creating a ‘Curious Company’.
 Quite amazed at the ground we covered (and still finished on time!). I certainly left with my brain on fire… 

Highlights 

For me, there were some key areas that resonated throughout the day - I am not sure there were answers but we heard a lot from both sides…

  • How to ...survive the corporate Tsunami
  • Co-location of internal teams and start-ups. 
  • The longer term thinking allowed by remaining on a salary with a safe job to go back to vs. the entrepreneurial creativity caused by having to pay the rent this month 
  • Is the CV department the correct point of contact or do you allow other areas of your business to undertake this type of activity?
  • ‘Options’ are they the easiest way forward for investments - Afterall the only time you will need to get senior sign-off is when it is a success! 
  • Conflicts of interest: Your company as a shareholder AND as a client Your business lines may prefer to work with a competitor 
And of course my favorite: Write and keep the “investment thesis” - since management evolves faster than portfolio

I am looking forward to arranging the content for 23/4 January in London. There are a few places available - let me know if you would like to find out how to attend.

Monday 9 October 2017

Corporate Venturing Leadership Forum goes to Paris.



Hosted by Nissan Innovation Lab in Paris, on 17/18th October we are welcoming a select group of corporates who are innovating in partnership with SMEs and Start-ups - Incubators, Accelerators, Partnerships and Equity Investments.

Attendance has doubled since our July event, with Nissan, NXP, Telefonica, Geovation, Belron being joined by BASF, Veissmann, Lloyds Bank, Eurapco and Societe Generale.

Our key focus is creating content that adds value to our members  - though our main job is usually keeping the meeting to time!

We are proud to say this event looks like a doozy:
  • Two workshops on the key themes: Cultural Clashes and Impacts of Investment, being supported by:
  • Case Studies: Nissan Innovation Lab, Societe Generale Moonshot-Internet, Oxsensis, and
  • International Experts: Asst Prof. Anna Glaser, ESCP Europe and Jean-Francois Caillard, COO Numa
Looking forward to welcoming everyone for the first glass of vin rouge at the Ambassade d'Auvergne.

Get in touch if you want to join us.

Sunday 1 October 2017

Social Media for Business Consortium hosted by Boots

Walgreens Boots Alliance will be hosting the Social Media for Business Consortium at its marketing HQ near Kings Cross London on Oct 25/26.

This consortium works on best practise leveraging social and adjacent media in new ways. It funds research by the Department of Psychometrics at the Judge Business School in return for access to social profiling tools which members test and compare experiences with.

The consortium also has interests in : healthcare applications, new technology for UX and China

Other members of the consortium include: Siemens, Swiss Re, ghd, NHS ++

Details from Peter Hewkin ceo@cfbi.com

Corporate Venturing Leadership Forum hosted by Nissan in Paris

The Corporate Venturing Leadership Forum will be hosted by Nissan at their Paris Innovation Centre on Oct 17 and 18.

This group of blue chips is working on best practises in outreach to innovation. It is particularly interested in accelerators, incubators and competitions at outreach processes. Its focus in Europe and Far East.

The Consortium which includes Nissan (F/UK), Jaguar Land Rover(UK,I), Valeo(F), NXP(NL/D), BASF(D), Viessmann(D), Belron(UK), Ordnance Survey(UK)  is now starting to expand beyond its 'automotive' roots into adjacent verticals.

For details, contact adam.swash@cfbi.com