Venture building is a relatively new approach to new business development for organizations. The idea of venture building is, to create a framework in which new business ideas can be developed in the long run. Venture builders do not create one specific product, but are able to draw from a pool of dedicated resources to develop new products continuously.
Benefits of working with an experienced Venture Builder
The great thing about working with a venture builder is that we nourish the resources within our teams in a very different fashion. There are a number of strong consultancies that offer venture building services. However, their teams generally do not have the longevity and experience that a venture builder can offer. That is because a venture builders long term goal is to create a strong team; a team capable of founding “any” type of business.
Therefore, an experienced team of venture builders, marketing and IT-specialists have made their fair share of mistakes and are experienced founders. A good venture building team is able to draw knowledge and resources from the team when needed. When developing a new product or project, there are various stages. In each of these stages (building, scaling, consolidation and hand-over), the organization will need different resources. And maybe more importantly, different types of employees to get the most out of that stage.
The greatest benefit of working with a venture builder is the ability to draw from different talents at these stages. Whether or not you have the resources and man power to do just that in your organization, will determine whether you should in-house or outsource your venture building activities.
In-house Venture Building can work well
Technical projects can benefit a lot from in-house venture building. Business development ideas that require in-depth expert knowledge can strive especially well when done in-house.
Deciding for or against outsourcing venture building activities is not an easy question to tackle, though. I believe that it is not so much about deciding to either: make or buy, but knowing what the core competences of organization truly are.
What is it that your organization and your employees are good at? Are your employees great product managers and project managers?
Or just simply excellent industry experts? When your organization has a strong team of experts, who are not afraid to get their hands dirty, you have a great starting point. Industry knowledge can be a key asset to any venture. What is important to note though, product development is not the same as business development or marketing.
In-house venture building means bringing all parts of your organization together with dedicated resources. If you want to make in-house venturing work, you will need a strong and clear strategy for doing so. Next to that, be prepared for a bit of resistance from your departmental heads. But if done right, it can certainly pay off. Not to mention, create exciting new roles within your organization and raise your employee satisfaction.
Why not do both
A venture is a long term endeavour – a road to success, more than one finished product. Creating a new product from scratch, requires a teams full attention. It is absolutely crucial to the success of your business to work with dedicated resources on important projects.
Hence, you need to take a decision on whether your best resources can be missed on your current projects and business.
A combination of a dedicated swat team within your organization, that is responsible for business development, paired with venture building support could work wonders. The in-house team is able to bring the expert knowledge to the table. And when needed, the venture builder can provide for the necessary infrastructure and stage-specific resources.
When we work with VCs, Corporates and Business Owners, the initial question is usually regarding in- or outsourcing. Of course a lot can be said about keeping a strong knowledge base within the company itself. Hence, we have developed a way of working that is focussed strongly on sharing knowledge and education; at all stages of the ventures that are build.
Product development, validation and business scaling are areas that require specialists. As a venture builder it is important to understand where you can provide your customer with the highest benefits. And in all fairness, this varies from project to project. Hence, we sometimes simply take on the role of coach, project manager or provide last minute project resources.
If you have some ideas for your organization that you would love to discuss, simply reach out to us to have a chat.
