Some of the world's biggest tech companies started at the turn of the millennium and are spearheading major innovations that replace established technologies and existing business models, writes Thomas Kohler in her article "Enterprise accelerators: Building bridges between companies and startups."
Kohler argues that sustaining innovation requires harnessing external and internal ideas, and that 'corporate accelerators provide a unique platform for long-term growth and innovation; while providing mutual benefits for companies and startups.
It outlines the ways established businesses are building structured programs to harness their entrepreneurial power, ranging from hackathons and business incubators to corporate ventures, mergers and acquisitions.
It then identifies the ten most important characteristics of successful enterprise accelerators, including those associated with Samsung, Orange, and Cisco.
He says: “Our research proposes a series of questions that corporate accelerator leaders need to answer, and these are broken down into four design dimensions: Proposition (what do you want to achieve) Process (how will you do it) People (what initiatives will you accelerate and how will you engage) Presence (where should they be hosted)
Successful enterprise accelerators share the following characteristics:
- Maintain ownership of startups
- Focus on specific industries
- Tighten the innovation cycle
- Balance structure with flexibility
- Give autonomy with meaningful interactions
- Choose starters carefully
- Ensure corporate compliance
- Encourage networking and mentoring
- Enhance personal interactions online
- Feed Serendipity