Inside Ecosystems: Corporate-Startup Partnering

In a panel that I led on corporate-startup partnering, following a brief overview of some of the key ideas in my book — including the paradox of asymmetry (the very differences that make corporations and startups attractive to each other also make it difficult for them to engage), Jeremy Basset, founder of Unilever Foundry and CEO of CO:CUBED, and Sruthi Kannan, Head, Cisco Launchpad, provided wonderful insights into their work with The Unilever Foundry and Cisco LaunchPad, respectively. Great questions from the audience as well.

A key takeaway from Jeremy and Sruthi’s input was the importance of being result-oriented in pursuing corporate-startup partnering so that both parties recognize the value being created for them by collaborating with each other.