Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

Don’t Forget Branding as You Look for Business Growth

Don't Forget Branding as You Look for Business Growth

People underestimate the importance of brand as they look to grow their business beyond their initial set of successful products and services. But, if you grow your business beyond your brand you’re doomed to fail.

Few of us have the luxury of being branding experts. Many of us can’t afford to engage an expensive branding agency to conduct a brand study.

Most small business owners are busy with the day-to-day operations of their business. The money they do have to spend on sales and marketing, they tend to invest in demand generation. This is a very logical choice as every business must maximize its revenue and minimize expenses to keep the lights on. But, if your business has been successful and has grown, you may find yourself in a slightly different situation.

Many companies that succeed and grow reach a point where that growth begins to taper off. It is often at this point where entrepreneurs begin to think about adding new products or services in new areas beyond their initial focus. If you choose to ignore the role of your brand at this point, you do so at your own peril.

A brand is more than the name of your business, your products, or your logo. If you have done a good job running your business, delivering your products and services, and the experiences around them, then your brand will stand for something – and might be worth something (brand equity). But what your brand stands for, your brand identity, is something that ultimately you do not control.

Yes, you can invest in brand positioning to shape your brand identity, but ultimately your customers (and non-customers) determine what your brand stands for. This fact is important as you look to expand your business into new areas you’re not currently in, to sell new products and services you don’t currently sell. The brand you have built up to this point will either be an asset or a liability as you look to grow into these new areas.

Your business exists because customers give it permission to exist. It can only grow into areas that prospective customers give it permission to grow into. If Taco Bell decides to enter the healthcare business, would you find them credible? Would you trust them to diagnose and treat you?

There must be an overlap between the directions you want to grow your business and the directions that prospective customers trust you to grow your business. If your new products and services don’t lie within the mental circle of trust that exists in the collective minds of your prospective customers, you will struggle.

Notice the focus on ‘prospective customers’ as I speak about your growth areas. This is because as you grow into new areas, your circle of trust may intersect with new people who are aware of your brand that are not currently your customers. Yes, your brand means something, even to those people who are NOT your customers.

You must mind your brand positioning and brand permissions not just with customers for your current products and services, but also with the most likely customers of the new products and services you’re hoping will provide the future growth of your business.

So, how do you find out what your brand stands for and what areas you can credibly extend into?

Unfortunately, there is no way to find this out without making an investment into interviewing people. Here are some options:

Pay a branding or market research agency to do this for you
Pay someone who works at one of these agencies to conduct these interviews for you as a side hustle through a gig worker exchange like fiverr
Create a short & sharp list of 2-3 questions to ask a handful of customers that quickly get to the heart of what your brand stands for and whether they view you as credible in the new area you’re considering
Use this same list of questions to quickly ask customers of businesses you view as potential competitors in the growth areas you’re looking to enter
Pay some of your customers, that you have a good relationship with and will give you the time and honest feedback, to spend more time understanding why they do business with you now and what other kinds of products & services they would trust you to provide

Whether you lack money or courage, there are options above to overcome either limitation. If you lack both, then see my previous article on what I’ve learned from becoming an accidental entrepreneur.

For the rest of you, I hope that you will heed the warnings of this article, find the suggestions useful, incorporate them as you consider potential areas to grow your business into, and select those products and services to invest in where you have both credibility and ability to execute with excellence.

Keep innovating!

This article originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com

Image credit: Pixabay

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How to Conduct Virtual Office Hours

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How to Conduct Virtual Office Hours

Guest Post from Arlen Meyers

We have all had experience with various forms of virtual interactions, be they meetings, seminars, presentations, informal get togethers or virtual networking events. One form of that experience is office hours be they as part of a formal class or a more informal meeting.

In the academic setting, office hours are a way for professor and student to communicate outside of the pressure and sometimes hurried nature of a class. To persuade students to come to office hours, professors can invite students genuinely, and also post their office hours in a way that students can easily sign up.

The purpose of office hours outside of the classroom is to have a conversation about topics of interest and get to know each other better. By their nature, they are typically unstructured and open and require some moderator knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies to be successful. In many ways, they are like a news anchor moderating a panel of analysts who are discussing a recent newsworthy event. The main purpose is to explore opinions and insights around a specific topic and inform, educate and engage the audience and participants. What’s more, they are a great way to include people with international cognitive diversity.

Here’s what I’ve learned about how to conduct virtual office hours inside or outside of the classroom:

Schedule them at convenient times and inform participants about the schedule sufficiently ahead of time.

Get to know the participants. Ask them to introduce themselves and post contact information in the chat box and introduce themselves. Ask them to turn on their video when they speak.

Clearly define the broad goal or subject of the conversation, but allow the learning objectives to evolve based on what the participants want to discuss

Perfect your moderator communication skills

Challenge participants with probing questions about controversial topics and explore them with follow up questions

In most Zoom office hours, 10% of the participants will do 90% of the talking. Prompted cold calling is way to engage the silent 90%, To avoid embarrassing the 90%, use the chat to ask them if they would be willing to comment. If they agree, then call on them.

It is best to have a “director” on the Zoom call who can direct traffic, deal with technical issues and questions so the host can focus on the conversation.

Be careful not to hog the podium and confuse your moderator role with being a member of the audience. If you want to add your two cents, wait until others have had a chance to speak and then contribute. Keep your comments short and to the point.

Be careful to stay within the allotted time, politely interrupt those who get on a soap box to allow others to speak, and let the audience know when there is only 5 minutes left.

At the end, summarize or synthesize the conversation and offer other resources or solicit them from the audience to post in the chat.

Invite a guest expert or key opinion leader to “tee up” the topic with a 10 minute discussion.

Try to make the sessions as Powerpointless as possible.

In short, invite the audience to discuss the topic, have the conversation, and then tell the audience what they discussed and thank them for their ideas.

I hope to see you at our next office hours on the First Friday of every month at 8am Mountain Time.

Image credit: Pexels.com

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Building Cumulative Advantage

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Exclusive Mark Schaefer Interview Excerpt from CustomerThink.com

Mark W Schaefer Cumulative Advantage as a concept builds unstoppable momentum for your ideas and your business — even when the odds seem stacked against you. The book shows how initial advantages, seams of opportunity, sonic booms, and the lift from mentors can impact your world in powerful and permanent ways. It’s designed to be a practical source of inspiration for the entrepreneur, business leader, and every person with a dream that’s ready to take flight. The Cumulative Advantage concept focuses on:

How the initial advantage that drives momentum comes from everyday ideas.
The inside secrets of creating vast awareness for your projects.
How to nurture powerful connections that lead to break-through opportunities.
Why momentum is driven by the speed, time, and space of a “seam.”
How the “certainty of business uncertainty” can be used to your advantage.

I had the opportunity recently to interview Mark Schaefer, a globally-acclaimed author, keynote speaker, and marketing consultant. He is a faculty member of Rutgers University and one of the top business bloggers and podcasters in the world. Mark is the executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, Chief Executive Officer of B Squared Media and on the advisory board of several startups. He has been a contributor to Harvard Business Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

His latest book is Cumulative Advantage: How to Build Momentum for Your Ideas, Business and Life Against All Odds.

Below is the text of the interview:

1. Is success random?

Yes and no.

Momentum in life begins with some initial advantage. That is almost always random and unearned. It could be inherited wealth, a special, early educational opportunity, or being in the right place at the right time. Even being born into a free country and living in a stable household with two parents can be an advantage.

Frans Johansson wrote an entire book about this phenomenon called “The Click Moment.” I can point to a random conversation with my boss in 1992 that led to this book!

However, just having an idea or an advantage is not enough. You must pursue the idea and apply it to something changing in the world to create an opportunity. Randomness is likely to get the ball rolling, but hard work and smarts still make a difference when it comes to success.

2. Why is creating a cumulative advantage important?

There are many reasons to understand the patterns of momentum but for me, it’s the fact that it’s just so hard to stand out today. Even if you’re doing your best work, you can be buried because the level of competition and content out there is so great. How can a person or a business be heard? How can they be found?

For the past 10 years, most of my career has been devoted to this idea of becoming the signal instead of the noise. It’s never been harder for a business to be seen and heard and I think understanding how we can apply momentum to our lives is a big idea to help solve this problem.

3. Can anyone create cumulative advantage for their business or ideas?

This is going to sound weird, but honestly, no. This haunted me as I wrote the book. I realized that every business book and every self-help book is inherently elitist. The author assumes a person has the money to buy the book, the time to read it, and the resources to act on it.

But there is a big part of society that is being pulled under by Cumulative Disadvantage. It’s a cosmically complex topic that I address, in part, at the end of the book. I wanted to write a book that could help everyone, I don’t think anybody can, really.

But let’s put it this way — if you have the resources to buy the book and read it, then yes, you can probably build momentum!

4. What kinds of initial advantages might the average person have?

It can be anything really that leads to some momentum in later life. I already mentioned this idea about just living in a safe home as an advantage. Children adopted out of poverty had a substantial gain in IQ just from being in a safe environment.

Research has shown that early reading skills can lead to an advantage in education. Early athletic coaching can lead to longer and more profitable professional careers (just ask Tiger Woods or Serena Williams!). It can be a special ability, a personality trait, or even a stroke of luck along the way.

5. We are all surfing the crest of a wave that started long ago. Advantage builds on advantage. Why is curiosity so important?

I once had the opportunity to meet Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, Leonardo DeVinci and Benjamin Franklin. I asked him what made a genius. He said endless curiosity and an ability to see patterns.

The world is filled with millions of ideas. An idea is worth nothing without the pursuit of curiosity, That is the beginning of momentum.

Click to read the rest of the interview on CustomerThink.com

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Five Lessons I Learned as an Accidental Entrepreneur

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Five Lessons I Learned as an Accidental Entrepreneur

You don’t have to start a business to learn from my journey.

I like think of myself as an accidental entrepreneur. I originally set out to make innovation insights accessible for the greater good. But, nearly 15 years after publishing my first article, I sold a site that had more than 8,000 articles from around 400 contributing authors.

Along the way I learned a great deal of things, some the easy way and some the hard way. Here are the five key lessons I learned from my 15-year journey as a webpreneur:

1. Before turning a passion into a business, nail the business model

My website, Innovation Excellence, started as a passion project that shared my own thoughts about innovation. The site didn’t begin with a business model and sort of evolved as my project grew. Even after bringing in partners to transform my project, everyone had a day job and didn’t have time to develop the most viable revenue streams. I began to experiment with advertising and sponsorships, but everything was difficult and quite manual. From this inability to invest, I learned that you shouldn’t start commercializing a passion project before nailing the business model. If you can’t, leave it as a small, manageable hobby.

2. Don’t give up too much equity too soon

I eventually brought on three partners, but ended up owning less than a third of my creation. I now see that I placed too little value on all of the work that I had done to that point.

Don’t give away half the commercial potential of your passion project to the first person offering you money to grow it. You always have the option of not growing it or growing it more slowly with more control. Make these choices carefully and err on the side of only giving up small amounts of equity for investment. I brought on some great people as partners, but the painful reality is that I gave up equity to fund a redesign that we ended up throwing away for another redesign that I did myself.

3. In any partnership, make sure ownership percentages match contributions

It takes work to run a website. If someone owns a third of your business, they should be doing a third of the day-to-day work involved. Even financial investors should be getting their hands dirty. Refuse purely financial investors unless their money funds the successful launching of a profitable business model.

4. Create as many win-wins as possible

My team was able to build Innovation Excellence into a saleable asset because it was a purpose-driven business focused on creating as many win-wins as possible. Every decision was measured against the mission to make innovation insights accessible, and we were focused on creating value for our global innovation community and value for our contributing authors. We turned down advertising dollars we didn’t think would be a win for our community and our authors.

If I start a new site, it will definitely follow this paradigm of creating value for as many stakeholders as possible. Win-win relationships create value over time, while win-lose relationships destroy value until it reaches zero.

5. When it’s time to sell, make sure the buyers share your vision

I’m proud of what I built with Innovation Excellence and grateful for my partners. Sadly, Innovation Excellence has disappeared. The buyers said they shared our vision, wanted to do no harm, respected what we had built and only wanted to make it better, but they completely replaced the brand nonetheless.

The buyer had every right to do this in pursuit of leveraging the assets they purchased, but it’s still painful as a founder to not be able to point people to the thing that you built. This should be a consideration when you sell something you’ve poured your heart and soul into.

Building and selling the Innovation Excellence was a wild ride, and I definitely learned a lot along the way. But you don’t have to build a company to gain insights. You can learn so much about how investors think by watching Shark Tank or reading articles. Talk to other entrepreneurs so you can learn without going through the hard part. Always look to grow and keep innovating, so you’re prepared when entrepreneurship comes knocking.

This article originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com

Image credit: Pixabay

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The Social Impact Investing Revolution

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Opportunities for Organizations

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the way organizations approach investing. A growing number of companies are realizing that they can make a positive impact on society while also generating financial returns. This movement, known as social impact investing, focuses on investing in projects, businesses, and initiatives that have a measurable positive social or environmental impact.

Case Study 1: Patagonia

One prime example of the social impact investing revolution is the case of Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company known for its commitment to sustainability and environmental conservation. In 2013, Patagonia launched its own venture capital fund, Tin Shed Ventures, with the goal of investing in startups that align with its values and mission. Through Tin Shed Ventures, Patagonia has invested in companies like Beyond Meat, a plant-based meat alternative company, and Bureo, a company that turns discarded fishing nets into skateboards and sunglasses. By leveraging its financial resources to support socially responsible businesses, Patagonia is not only driving positive change in the world but also generating financial returns for itself and its investors.

Case Study 2: Acumen

Another compelling case study is the impact investing efforts of Acumen, a non-profit global venture fund that invests in companies serving low-income communities in developing countries. Working in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and energy, Acumen provides patient capital to entrepreneurs who are addressing pressing social and environmental issues in their communities. One notable success story is d.light, a company that provides affordable solar-powered lights to off-grid communities in Africa and Asia. By investing in companies like d.light, Acumen is not only increasing access to essential products and services for marginalized populations but also demonstrating the potential for financial sustainability and scalability in the impact investing space.

Conclusion

The rise of social impact investing presents a unique opportunity for organizations to align their financial interests with their social and environmental values. By investing in projects and companies that are creating positive change in the world, organizations can not only drive meaningful impact but also build long-term value for themselves and their stakeholders. As the social impact investing revolution continues to gain momentum, organizations have the chance to lead the charge in building a more sustainable and equitable future for all.

Bottom line: The Change Planning Toolkit™ is grounded in extensive research and proven methodologies, providing users with a reliable and evidence-based approach to change management. The toolkit offers a comprehensive set of tools and resources that guide users through each stage of the change planning process, enabling them to develop effective strategies and navigate potential obstacles with confidence.

Image credit: misterinnovation.com

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Effective Collaboration Strategies for Startups and Small Businesses

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Effective Collaboration Strategies for Startups and Small Businesses

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

Collaboration is a key component of success for startups and small businesses. By working together, teams can achieve greater results and overcome challenges more efficiently. However, collaboration is not always easy to achieve. It requires good communication, trust, and a shared vision. In this article, we will explore some effective collaboration strategies for startups and small businesses, as well as two case studies of successful collaborations.

1. Clear Communication: One of the most important aspects of effective collaboration is clear communication. Teams must be able to communicate their ideas, goals, and concerns openly and honestly. This can help avoid misunderstandings and ensure that everyone is on the same page. Regular team meetings, emails, and project management tools can all help facilitate clear communication within a team.

Case Study 1: Startup A is a small software development company that specializes in creating mobile apps. The team at Startup A struggled with communication, which led to missed deadlines and low morale among team members. To address this issue, the team implemented a daily stand-up meeting where everyone would share their progress, challenges, and goals for the day. This simple change in communication helped the team stay on track and build stronger relationships with each other.

2. Build Trust: Trust is another crucial element of effective collaboration. Team members must trust each other to do their work effectively and have each other’s backs when things get tough. Building trust can take time, but it is essential for a team to function well. Encouraging transparency, respecting each other’s opinions, and celebrating successes together can all help foster trust within a team.

Case Study 2: Small Business B is a marketing agency that works with various clients to create marketing campaigns. The team at Small Business B struggled with trust issues, as team members were often working in silos and not sharing their work with each other. To address this issue, the team implemented a project management tool where all team members could track their progress, share files, and communicate with each other. This improved transparency and collaboration within the team, leading to more successful campaigns and happier clients.

Conclusion: Effective collaboration is essential for startups and small businesses to succeed. By implementing clear communication strategies and building trust within a team, businesses can achieve greater results and overcome challenges more efficiently. The case studies of Startup A and Small Business B demonstrate the positive impact that effective collaboration can have on a team’s success. By prioritizing collaboration, startups and small businesses can create a strong foundation for growth and innovation.

Bottom line: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: misterinnovation.com

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Innovation Strategies for Small Businesses

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How to Compete with Big Players

Innovation Strategies for Small Businesses

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Small businesses often find themselves facing tough competition from larger, more established players in the market. However, with the right innovation strategies, small businesses can not only stay afloat but also carve a niche for themselves, attracting customers and giving the big players a run for their money. In this article, we will explore two case studies showcasing how small businesses used innovation to compete with big players in their respective industries.

Case Study 1: Warby Parker

Warby Parker is a renowned eyewear company that disrupted the traditional eyewear industry by offering an innovative solution to a common problem – the high cost of eyeglasses. Before Warby Parker, purchasing prescription eyewear was a time-consuming and expensive process. Warby Parker revolutionized the industry by designing and manufacturing stylish and affordable eyeglasses, eliminating the need for costly intermediaries.

The company’s innovative “Try at Home” program allowed customers to select five frames online, try them on at home, and purchase the pair they liked the most. This unique approach gave Warby Parker an edge over traditional brick-and-mortar stores and large eyewear chains. By leveraging e-commerce and cutting out middlemen, Warby Parker offered quality eyewear at a fraction of the price, attracting customers who were tired of overpriced options.

Additionally, Warby Parker’s social mission played a significant role in its success. For every pair of glasses sold, the company donates a pair to someone in need. This socially responsible approach resonated with consumers, and the word-of-mouth marketing generated from their mission further fueled their growth.

By combining innovative business models, leveraging e-commerce, and having a socially responsible brand, Warby Parker successfully competed against large players in the eyewear industry.

Case Study 2: Square

Square, the mobile payment solutions provider, is another impressive example of a small business competing with big players. Before Square, accepting card payments was often expensive and required complex setup processes. Square disrupted the industry by introducing a small dongle that could be attached to smartphones or tablets, transforming them into mobile card readers.

This innovative solution allowed small businesses, such as food trucks and local vendors, to accept card payments without the need for expensive equipment or contracts with traditional payment processors. Square simplified the payment landscape by making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Furthermore, Square expanded its offerings beyond mobile card readers. They introduced additional services such as invoicing, online payments, and point-of-sale systems. By continuously innovating and adapting to market needs, Square has become a trusted brand for small businesses looking for reliable and affordable payment solutions.

Conclusion

In summary, both Warby Parker and Square utilized innovative approaches to compete with big players in their respective industries. By identifying gaps in the market, leveraging technology, and offering unique value propositions, these small businesses gained a competitive edge and attracted a loyal customer base. As a small business owner, by adopting similar innovation strategies and continuously adapting to market demands, you can also compete with the big players, thrive, and grow in your industry.

Bottom line: Futurists are not fortune tellers. They use a formal approach to achieve their outcomes, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to be their own futurist.

Image credit: Pixabay

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The Anti-Bureaucracy Toolkit

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Removing Roadblocks for Internal Startups

LAST UPDATED: February 2, 2026 at 12:54PM

The Anti-Bureaucracy Toolkit

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In most large organizations, the immune system is hyper-active. It is designed to find anything “foreign”—a new business model, a non-standard procurement request, or a disruptive technology—and neutralize it. While these systems excel at protecting the core business and maintaining operational excellence, they are the primary cause of death for internal startups.

To innovate at the speed of the market, we must move beyond the “Innovation Theater” of colorful sticky notes and beanbag chairs. We need to dismantle the invisible fences of bureaucracy. This toolkit is about creating a “Green Lane” for innovation—a set of protocols that allow internal ventures to bypass the friction of the legacy machine without breaking the company.

The Core Components of the Toolkit

1. The “Metabolic Rate” Alignment

Bureaucracy thrives on annual budget cycles and quarterly reviews. Internal startups, however, operate on a weekly or even daily metabolic rate. Removing roadblocks starts with shifting from “Annual Budgeting” to “Metered Funding.” Instead of a massive upfront investment, provide small tranches of capital tied to the validation of specific hypotheses.

2. The Legal and Procurement “Sandbox”

Nothing kills a pilot faster than a 60-page Master Service Agreement (MSA) for a $5,000 experiment. The Anti-Bureaucracy Toolkit requires a pre-negotiated “Lite” contract framework. This allows internal teams to engage with external startups or vendors in days rather than months.

3. Governance as a Service (GaaS)

Instead of the innovation team seeking permission from HR, IT, and Finance, these departments should provide dedicated liaisons whose job is to say “How can we make this happen?” rather than “Here is why you can’t.”

Case Studies in Bureaucracy Busting

Case Study A: The Global Financial Services Pivot

A major European bank struggled to launch a mobile-first micro-investment app because the internal IT compliance checklist involved over 200 security gates designed for core banking systems. The innovation lead implemented a “Risk-Tiering” model. Since the app didn’t touch the core ledger in its Alpha phase, they bypassed 80% of the gates. Result: The app launched in 4 months instead of the projected 18, capturing a demographic the bank had previously ignored.

Case Study B: Manufacturing Giant’s Procurement Hack

A Fortune 500 manufacturer found that its internal startups were failing because they couldn’t buy specialized components from non-approved vendors. The solution was the creation of a “Strategic Experimentation Fund” with its own corporate credit card and a modified compliance charter. This empowered teams to source materials instantly, reducing prototype iteration time by 65%.

“Innovation is not a department; it is the byproduct of an ecosystem that values velocity over validation and curiosity over compliance. If your processes are designed to prevent failure, they are simultaneously designed to prevent growth.”

— Braden Kelley

The Real Cost of Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is often invisible to those who benefit from it. For internal startups, it shows up as endless approvals, premature financial scrutiny, and rigid processes that assume certainty where none exists.

Every extra form, meeting, or gate sends a signal: avoid risk, avoid attention, avoid change. Over time, innovation teams stop behaving like startups and start behaving like survivors.

The cost is not just speed. It is lost insight, missed markets, and talent that learns to stop trying.

Designing Governance for Exploration

The goal of anti-bureaucracy is not chaos. It is alignment. Exploration requires different constraints than execution. Leaders must intentionally design operating models that reflect this reality.

The Anti-Bureaucracy Toolkit focuses on enabling movement while maintaining trust:

Exploration charters that define boundaries instead of permissions
Incremental funding tied to evidence, not forecasts
Pre-approved tools and vendors for rapid experimentation
Executive sponsors who remove friction in real time
Metrics that reward learning velocity

The Leadership Imperative

Anti-bureaucracy is a leadership behavior, not a process initiative. Leaders must actively protect internal startups from being measured by the wrong standards at the wrong time.

This means rewarding teams for evidence over polish, curiosity over certainty, and progress over perfection.

If bureaucracy is left unchallenged, it will always win. If it is redesigned with intent, innovation has a fighting chance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest roadblock for internal startups?

The primary roadblock is often “organizational friction”—legacy processes in procurement, legal, and IT that are designed for risk mitigation in the core business rather than the speed and agility required for new ventures.

How can an innovation speaker help change this culture?

An innovation speaker like Braden Kelley provides the external perspective and framework necessary to align leadership, helping them see that bureaucracy is a choice and providing the tools to dismantle it.

What is metered funding?

Metered funding is an investment approach where capital is released in small increments based on the startup hitting specific learning milestones, rather than providing a large lump sum upfront.

Image credits: ChatGPT

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Chief Intrapreneur – A New Role for the Modern C-Suite

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LAST UPDATED: December 13, 2025 at 10:09AM

Chief Intrapreneur - A New Role for the Modern C-Suite

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

In most established organizations, the C-Suite is designed for execution, optimization, and defense. The CEO drives overall vision, the COO manages efficiency, the CFO controls resources, and the CMO owns the market message. But who owns the necessary creative destruction? Who is the executive dedicated not just to sustaining today’s business, but to building the profitable version of the business five years from now? The traditional Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) role often gets bogged down in R&D or incremental IT improvements. What we need is an executive champion of the internal entrepreneur: The Chief Intrapreneur (CInO).

The CInO’s mandate is not product development, but cultural orchestration. They function as the internal venture capitalist, allocating seed funding, securing resources, and, most crucially, shielding disruptive projects from the antibodies of the core business. This role is the organizational answer to the reality of Human-Centered Innovation, recognizing that the biggest barrier to innovation is not external competition, but internal bureaucracy, short-term financial pressure, and political turf wars. The CInO ensures that the organization not only tolerates internal challenges but actively cultivates them. We must unlearn the habit of punishing failure and replace it with a system that rewards calculated, iterative risk-taking.

The Three-Part Mandate of the Chief Intrapreneur

The CInO’s responsibilities extend beyond the traditional R&D lab and into the core operations and culture of the enterprise:

1. The Barrier Breaker: Cultural and Political Shielding

The most important function of the CInO is to act as the executive shield. New ventures are fragile and can be easily destroyed by core business metrics (e.g., demands for unrealistic quarterly returns). The CInO reports directly to the CEO, giving them the authority to push back on operational leadership and create dedicated, protected spaces — “skunkworks” or innovation sandboxes — where new ideas can be measured by learning speed, not profit alone. This requires strong political capital to override the objections of department heads who see innovation as a threat to their budgets or control.

2. The Resource Orchestrator: Internal Venture Capitalist

Unlike a traditional CIO who manages the IT budget, the CInO manages an internal Venture Fund. They allocate capital based on lean experimentation models, prioritizing small, rapid funding rounds over large, slow appropriations. They treat internal ideas as a portfolio of startups, measuring success by the validated learning generated. This requires fluency in venture capital metrics like speed of validation, pivot capacity, and option value, not just traditional financial forecasting.

3. The Competency Builder: Unlearning and Re-Skilling

Innovation requires new ways of working (Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Agile). The CInO is responsible for fostering a culture of intrapreneurial competence across the entire organization. This means creating rotational programs, mentorships (connecting internal entrepreneurs with executive sponsors), and training pathways that teach employees how to identify white space, run disciplined experiments, and communicate failure as a valuable learning outcome. The goal is to embed intrapreneurial DNA into the workforce, making innovation a shared capability, not a siloed department.

Case Study 1: Transforming a Legacy Financial Institution

Challenge: Stagnation and Fear of Regulatory Disruption

A large, centuries-old investment bank (“CapitalCore”) suffered from Status Quo Bias and political resistance to change. Teams were generating good ideas for fintech platforms, but these projects were consistently killed by the Compliance and IT departments, which prioritized regulatory safety and system stability over growth.

CInO Intervention: The Innovation Sandbox and Direct Reporting Line

CapitalCore appointed a CInO with a direct reporting line to the CEO. The CInO established a fully compliant “Innovation Sandbox” — a ring-fenced technology and regulatory environment where new platforms could be tested with real customer data but without risking the core system. The CInO had the authority to compel the Head of Compliance and the CIO to provide resources for the sandbox, turning them from internal blockers into necessary partners.

The CInO’s team, using the sandbox, successfully launched three new products in 18 months, compared to zero in the previous three years.
The success was achieved because the CInO de-risked the regulatory challenge politically and technically, protecting the intrapreneurs from the inevitable friction of the core business.

The Innovation Impact:

By establishing the CInO role, CapitalCore shifted its culture from one of fear-based gatekeeping to one of controlled experimentation. The CInO did not invent the products; they invented the process and authority structure that allowed the internal teams to succeed — the essence of Human-Centered Innovation.

Case Study 2: The Intrapreneurial Talent Pipeline

Challenge: High Turnover of High-Potential Talent Seeking Autonomy

A large manufacturing firm (“ManuFuture”) kept losing its best young engineers and marketers to startups because these employees felt their ideas were too slow to implement and that the organization offered no path for autonomy and internal ownership.

CInO Intervention: The Internal Incubation Fund and Equity System

The CInO at ManuFuture established an Internal Incubation Fund (IIF) with clear criteria for submission and funding. Crucially, the CInO worked with HR to create a new compensation structure: if an intrapreneurial project spun out into a successful new business unit, the founding team members were granted a phantom equity stake tied to the new unit’s performance.

This created a clear, financial incentive for employees to take risks internally, directly mirroring the startup environment’s reward system.
The CInO personally mentored the IIF teams, providing air cover and brokering access to existing suply chain and distribution resources that a true startup could never access.

The Innovation Impact:

ManuFuture saw a dramatic decrease in the attrition of high-potential employees, and the IIF successfully launched two new product lines that targeted adjacent markets the core business was ignoring. The CInO became the executive champion who provided both the capital and the career path necessary for internal entrepreneurs to succeed, transforming talent retention into a disruption engine.

Conclusion: The CInO as the Integrator of Change

The creation of the Chief Intrapreneur role is a strategic acknowledgment that innovation is a political act that requires C-Suite authority to overcome organizational gravity. The CInO is the architect of the environment, not just the ideas. By shielding projects, orchestrating resources, and building true intrapreneurial competency across the firm, this executive ensures that the organization remains capable of self-disruption. In an era of accelerating change, having an executive whose success is measured by the growth of tomorrow’s revenue — even if it competes with today’s — is not optional. It is the core requirement of sustainable Human-Centered Innovation. The CInO is the future of corporate longevity.

“Innovation dies not from lack of ideas, but from lack of executive air cover.”

Frequently Asked Questions About the Chief Intrapreneur (CInO)

1. How is the CInO different from a traditional Chief Innovation Officer (CIO)?

A traditional CIO often focuses on technology implementation, R&D, and incremental process improvements. The CInO has a broader, higher authority mandate focused on internal disruption and cultural change. They act as a cross-functional venture capitalist and political shield, ensuring new business models can scale without being suffocated by the core business.

2. To whom should the Chief Intrapreneur report?

The CInO must report directly to the CEO. This is crucial because their primary function is to resolve cross-departmental conflict and override the objections of other executives (CFO, COO, CMO) who prioritize short-term returns. Without the direct authority of the CEO, the CInO’s disruptive projects will be easily marginalized or defunded.

3. What is the most critical cultural shift the CInO must achieve?

The most critical shift is moving the organization from punishing failure to rewarding validated learning. The CInO must establish metrics that celebrate rapid, low-cost failure when it generates high-value insights, ensuring that internal entrepreneurs are incentivized to test risky assumptions quickly, rather than concealing problems until it’s too late.

Your first step toward intrapreneurship: Identify the top two most promising new ideas currently stuck in political or budgetary limbo. Assign them an executive sponsor (ideally the CEO or a CInO if one exists) whose formal job description now includes removing the next three barriers for that idea to progress.

Extra Extra: Because innovation is all about change, Braden Kelley’s human-centered change methodology and tools are the best way to plan and execute the changes necessary to support your innovation and transformation efforts — all while literally getting everyone all on the same page for change. Find out more about the methodology and tools, including the book Charting Change by following the link. Be sure and download the TEN FREE TOOLS while you’re here.

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The Venture Client Model

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Bringing the Outside In for Internal Disruption

LAST UPDATED: November 13, 2025 at 1:23PM
The Venture Client Model

GUEST POST from Chateau G Pato

For decades, large corporations have wrestled with a critical innovation problem: how to access the speed and agility of the startup ecosystem without choking it with bureaucracy or overpaying through premature acquisition. Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) offered a financial window, but often failed to translate investment into operational change. The solution is not more capital; it’s a new engagement model built on a human-centered relationship: the Venture Client Model.

The Venture Client Model transforms the relationship between the corporation and the startup. Instead of acting as a passive investor, the large company acts as a first, paying client — a crucial lighthouse customer. The startup receives a contract (not just equity) and the opportunity to pilot its technology within a real, complex industrial environment. The corporation, in turn, gains early, de-risked access to disruptive solutions and the ability to test future technologies for internal applications.

This model is inherently human-centered because it focuses on solving real, internal pain points with external ingenuity, forcing a necessary friction between established internal process and external disruptive speed. It moves innovation from the periphery of financial investment directly into the core of operational value creation, where change truly impacts the customer and the bottom line.

The Three Pillars of the Venture Client Advantage

The success of the Venture Client Model hinges on its unique structure, which addresses the primary failures of traditional internal R&D and CVC:

1. De-Risked Operational Access (The Speed Multiplier)

Traditional procurement processes are an innovation killer. They are designed for stability, not speed. The Venture Client Unit (VCU) operates with its own streamlined legal and commercial framework, allowing for the rapid deployment of proof-of-concept projects. This structure allows a startup solution to enter the corporate environment in weeks, not months, dramatically accelerating the time-to-value.

2. Focused Pain Point Sourcing (The Value Anchor)

Unlike traditional CVC, which often chases market hype, the VCU starts by rigorously identifying the top five systemic pain points within the parent organization (e.g., slow supply chain traceability, high energy consumption in a factory). They then source startups specifically to solve those problems. This ensures that every pilot project is anchored to an immediate, quantifiable operational return, overcoming internal resistance by delivering proven, tangible value right away.

3. Internal Cultural Catalyst (The Mindset Shift)

The most profound impact of the Venture Client Model is internal. When a lean, external solution fixes a multi-million-dollar internal process in six weeks, it creates a powerful cultural catalyst. It shows internal teams what is possible outside the traditional, risk-averse framework, directly increasing the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) of the workforce. It changes the mindset from “we can’t do that” to “who outside can help us do this?”

Case Study 1: The Automotive OEM and Process Optimization

Challenge: Inefficient Factory Floor Logistics

A major European automotive manufacturer was suffering from production bottlenecks due to outdated manual logistics tracking on its assembly lines. Traditional internal R&D struggled to find a quick, cost-effective solution that could integrate with decades-old legacy systems. The internal solution required a full-scale IT overhaul, demanding years and hundreds of millions.

Venture Client Intervention:

The manufacturer’s VCU identified a small startup specializing in computer vision-based inventory tracking. Within a specialized procurement sandbox, the VCU ran a three-month pilot. The startup’s off-the-shelf software was integrated with existing CCTV infrastructure to track component flow automatically. The result was a 15% reduction in assembly-line bottlenecks and an immediate, visible ROI. The manufacturer then scaled the solution across five factories within the next year.

The Human-Centered Lesson:

The success was not just technological; it was methodological. The Venture Client process forced internal operations teams to collaborate with a nimble external party on a real, immediate problem, breaking down “Not Invented Here” bias and proving the viability of external solutions.

The Crucial Distinction: Client vs. Investor

The Venture Client is fundamentally different from Corporate Venture Capital (CVC). CVC focuses on a financial return in 5-7 years, often funding startups outside the corporation’s direct operational sphere. The Venture Client focuses on an operational return in 6-12 months. The contract is for a product or service (not equity), though VCU often has an option for future equity if the pilot is successful. This immediate operational focus ensures that the initiative remains aligned with core business needs, securing necessary internal sponsorship.

Case Study 2: The Infrastructure Firm and Predictive Maintenance

Challenge: Reactive Maintenance in Remote Infrastructure

A global energy infrastructure firm maintained thousands of remote assets (pipelines, wind farms) and relied on scheduled or reactive maintenance, leading to costly downtime and emergency fixes. The internal data science team was too small and too focused on existing predictive models to develop a radically new solution.

Venture Client Intervention:

The VCU scouted a specialized startup utilizing acoustic sensing and advanced machine learning to detect micro-leaks and component wear in real-time, long before traditional vibration sensors flagged an issue. The firm acted as the first commercial client, providing the startup with critical, large-scale training data from their assets. The pilot demonstrated an increase in lead time for critical fixes by three weeks. The firm then moved from a pilot contract to a large-scale, multi-year vendor contract, securing a strategic advantage in predictive asset management.

The Human-Centered Lesson:

This highlights the mutual value exchange. The corporation gained a strategic, proprietary solution and validated a technology stream. The startup gained a massive, credible reference customer and the data necessary to rapidly mature its AI model. It’s a win-win built on the human-centered need for speed (startup) and stability (corporation).

Conclusion: Scaling External Ingenuity

The Venture Client Model is the ultimate tool for scaling external ingenuity for internal disruption. It turns the largest corporate asset — its scale, its budget, and its pain points — into a magnet for innovation. By establishing a dedicated, de-risked commercial channel, corporations can access game-changing technologies on their own terms, transforming innovation from a high-stakes financial bet into a continuous portfolio of strategic pilots that accelerate organizational learning.

“Stop waiting for the big acquisition to disrupt your business. Start paying the right startups to solve your most urgent problems today. That is the Venture Client Model.” — Braden Kelley

Your first step toward building a Venture Client capability: Identify the single biggest operational bottleneck in your organization that costs over $5 million annually, and commit to finding an external startup solution to pilot it within 90 days.

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