Been a long time reader of WSO and I have to say it has been helpful. I thought I would give way to those wanting to explore corporate venture capital more to ask questions. Quick background: sr. associate at a corporate vc fund (TMT F500) in an emerging market. Have a total of 4 years experience; 2 spent in a biz dev role with a growth phase startup, 2 as an investment analyst in a diversified holding co in their early stage portfolio, set up the whole operation from scratch alongside MD. Been almost a year in my CVC role and again I was called on board to build the operation with a senior corporate officer- it's a small market with a few professionals so although I had it easi(ER), I wouldn't say I had it easy-. CS undergrad from a good school in said region. Direct any questions and let's see what I can answer without giving myself away.
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Thanks !
1) My in office day is divided between 50% DD work, research, brainstorming sessions within the company to drill down more on fields that we want to invest in. 30% doing admin work - that's the bad side of corporate- ie: clearing out payments, support services to portfolio companies etc and about 20% meeting new entrepreneurs, reaching out to execs etc.
My out of office day -usually 2-3 a week- is usually a couple of visits to the portfolio companies that I am monitoring to help on pricing, strategy, biz dev, planning etc.
2) It's not quite smooth, because for them they see us swanning in and out of the office, with a relatively huge budget and comparably higher pay checks. But we do interact heavily with finance & commercial functions. The first for controllership duties and the later to help our port co's partner with the company on revenue generating projects.
3) Quite frankly i somehow am in an operational capacity with them albeit not on a full time basis. The markets we operate in are quite nascent and the entrepreneurs need some structure & handholding so I have devised a system that works for me. I meet with the management teams once weekly to help them problem solve and carry out some projects related to pricing, biz dev, etc but once i feel like I am doing their work for them i step back for a couple of weeks until they get back to an abstract level. But eventually I would rather start my own company.
4) A CVC has a couple of benefits and a couple of drawbacks from my experience, maybe mine is different than yours.
Benefits: - You become more focused on a specific industry/vertical thus you can start developing a deep understanding of said industry and can easily figure out opportunities to build a company of your own - It's definitely much more laid back since we have a target number of investments per year, once you hit that you are good - I can originate my own deals, don't need a partner to back me, we have a quarterly investment committee where we present our deals and we go through a grueling session with the CXO's and those who pass the session get a green light - You have the first BIG client for your port co's and you can give them access to your distribution channels, marketing channels, etc
Drawbacks: - unless you have a separate budget things will move a bit slower - You are constrained to invest in companies that would potentially stimulate the core business of the company - With time you can get a bit laid back since it's the general attitude - At the end of the day you are a high salaried employee, no carry included
I hope that was helpful