We are putting together what we know and have experienced about collaborating with startups in large companies or Technoparks through acceleration, scouting, venture building, etc., into a playbook. For those interested in the previous parts, here's a link -> > Click
In Part III, we shared that we designed and managed a startup collaboration program over 7 sub-areas . The first of these areas is ' Pipeline Development & Outreach Plan' . When designing this area, we center around two key questions: What kind of startups are we looking for? How do we reach and attract the startups we are looking for? To find answers, we use a tool called "Team Consensus." We manage a data-driven discussion process with the team in the company who will co-manage the program and the innovation team working on where the company needs to drive in the next 20 years. This usually takes days, involving data-driven analyses.
The reason we seek consensus is to align the program management team on ' goals and how to achieve these goals through initiatives '. Here are the six questions we use:
What is the purpose of the program? In which technological verticals, what concrete outputs do we expect?
What is the "ideal enterprise" archetype that will lead us to this purpose of existence and outputs?
What value can we offer to this initiative? What are the realistic benefits we will explain to the initiative?
How and with what type of content should we present these benefit and value propositions?
How often will we publish content? What will be the depth of this content?
On which channels will we broadcast it?
These are challenging questions that seem simple! Let's assume we are designing a startup collaboration program for a large holding focused on Solar PV technology. To discuss the answer to the first question on a meaningful basis, we first conduct a deep data analysis. At this stage we use different tools and methods, for example Patent Landscape Analysis . We list intensive and emerging technology areas by creating patent heat maps of newly developing technologies in solar PV technologies. This provides us with critical data to align the technology focuses and program objectives globally. It also allows us to see companies that are new entrants to the company's technology area.
We prepare the data visually on TECHIN2B; The system is connected to hundreds of data points on the back end. Another important point is the dynamic nature of the data we use; it's not static like a market research report. Innovation and technology monitoring is a continuous task; static reports are like taking a photo, showing you the snapshot of the technology area at that moment. Data is dynamic, with new patents and startups being added to the technology area you are working on every day. The image below is a dynamic and interactive TECHIN2B graph that shows investments in startups in the Solar PV area, detailing which year, which startup received how much investment.
When you, as the team managing the program, can discuss and clarify the answers to the 6 questions above, an 'Outreach Plan and Calendar' emerges. You schedule the actions to be taken 60-90 days before your program start date at a macro level.
This step should not be rushed, as it will influence the overall performance of the program.
To support our case with a good practice example, the team managing the acceleration program at Bilişim Vadisi also organized a workshop before the Mobility Acceleration Program to discuss the program setup and roadmap. This year's workshop was attended by 93 professionals from 82 mobility companies!
Comments