What is corporate venture building?
Corporate venture building means creating a new company inside or alongside an existing organisation. The venture can use the organisation’s resources, customers and credibility instead of raising all its capital and building every relationship from the beginning.
The venture must prove that customers want the product while also securing support, resources and decisions inside the organisation.
What does an Entrepreneur in Residence actually do?
An Entrepreneur in Residence is given a mandate to find and build a venture, usually with a corporate sponsor and a deadline. The first months normally go to defining a problem, testing it in the field and securing enough internal support to continue.
The role provides access to resources but usually limited formal authority. Much of the work involves getting support from colleagues and decision-makers outside the venture team.
The Venture Game puts the reader in that seat for seven chapters.
How is a venture studio different from an accelerator or an incubator?
An accelerator takes existing startups through a fixed programme, usually in exchange for a small equity stake. An incubator gives early teams space, support and time, with less structure and less urgency. A venture studio creates the companies itself: it supplies the idea, the first team and the initial capital, and keeps a significant share.
A corporate venture studio uses the same model inside a larger company, where the team must also work with internal decision-makers and budget cycles. The choice of model affects the founder’s role, ownership, resources and decision rights.
Where does corporate venture capital fit in?
Corporate venture capital invests the company’s money in external startups. Corporate venture building creates new ventures. The two activities may sit in the same part of an organisation, but they require different work.
CVC teams assess investments based on portfolio returns and strategic value. Venture building teams develop and operate companies, with progress measured through evidence, products and customers.
What is pretotyping, and why does it come before an MVP?
Pretotyping tests whether anyone wants something before it is built. A fake door, a sign-up page or a QR code can measure what people actually do. The term comes from Alberto Savoia, who described it as checking that you are building the right it before building it right.
A minimum viable product may take months to build. A pretotype can often be run in an afternoon and tests whether anyone is willing to use the proposed product.
Chapter 3 of the book is built around this, and the learning design sets out the research behind it.
Where can I find a venture builder if I want this journey myself?
Check what the venture builder provides: a problem to work on, customer access, funding, ownership terms and a clear founder role. Ask what happens when a venture is stopped, and speak to a founder who has left the programme.
Two venture builders in Berlin are worth knowing. Beam builds logistics startups and recruits founders directly. I lead venture building at Beam, and applications through our recruiting pages are welcome. Bridgemaker has built ventures for established companies and now applies that experience to AI transformation.
Personal introductions are often more useful than directories when looking for other venture builders. The EUVC network is a good place to ask.
Is The Venture Game a textbook or a novel?
The Venture Game is a gamebook. You read a scene, make a decision and turn to the section that follows from your choice. There are 79 sections and three possible endings, including walking away.
The material is based on real venture building practice. The reader learns by making decisions and seeing the consequences later in the story.
