Start Up From Within

When you think of what value an incubator or an accelerator offers perspective entrepreneurs you can boil it down to a few key services: access to capital, access to talent, development coaching, free coffee and donuts, networking and atmosphere of diverse talents to inspire and serve as sounding boards.

Is it possible that a corporation can offer the same things? The answer is a resounding, but qualified, yes. Odds are that you will be more successful starting something up where you are based rather than heading out to Silicon Valley, even if where you are is a big company. 

Small, medium, and especially large organizations are primed to internally incubate ideas, grow innovations, and harvest the fruit of their investments. The challenge is that they are likely not structured for efficient innovation and they lack the internal culture to nurture entrepreneurs. However, if they take the leap and make the investments they can compete with the most famous incubators and accelerators for talent and ideas. Consider these:

Access to Capital: If you need cash you need not look further than large organizations. Cumulatively they are sitting on $1.68 trillion. Stockpiles of cash are like potential energy and only generate value when put into motion in a thoughtful way. Like funding internal innovation development.

Access to Talent: The bigger the organization the higher probability you will have a wide range of talent to partner with and learn from. Not just talent quality,  but skill-sets and perspectives on product and project development.

Developmental Coaching: Typically an HR department will provide some coaching and training. We are not referencing the biannual interpersonal communication training. With a variety of easily accessible experts, budding entrepreneurs can get coaching from financial, legal, and engineering experts, sometimes simultaneously.

Connections: If you develop an innovation within an organization you basically have your first customer built right in. Moreover, depending on your organizational structure, you can reach out to other departments and engage them to use and adopt the new application.

Like an incubator, it will take a fair amount of time and effort to develop an entrepreneurial community within your organization. Establishing a structure, attracting interested participants, and funding projects are just the starting points.

So before you pack your bags for Silicon Valley, or your local incubator, take a moment to look at where you are first. Explore how fertile the ground is where you are and consider what you can cultivate.  

Randal Moss and David J. Neff are co-authors of IGNITE Setting Your Organization’s Culture on Fire With Innovation. It is a field guide on how to start up an innovation center within your organization.