Planned Obsolescence in Venture Building: Why We Want to Make Ourselves Redundant

The term "planned obsolescence" usually raises eyebrows. It’s a concept that describes designing products with a built-in expiration date—either because they physically break down or become irrelevant in the face of newer versions or better processes. Think smartphones that slow down over time or appliances that seem engineered to fail the moment the warranty expires. This approach gets a bad reputation, and rightfully so. It wastes resources, frustrates customers, and prioritizes short-term gains over long-term value.

But what happens when you take that same idea—becoming "obsolete"—and flip the script in a positive way?

Why Obsolescence is the Only Way to Successful Venture Building

As venture builders, we enter the picture to help our corporate partners explore uncharted business territories. They might see and feel the urgency to diversify their portfolio, due to a declining core business, but they usually lack the playbook and/or resources. That’s where we come in. We’re the ones laying the foundations for these bold new ventures, setting up the strategy, support structures, processes, or oftentimes we also are the ones that actually go out and build the ventures for and with our clients.

But here’s the twist: our ultimate goal is to make ourselves irrelevant. Sounds counterintuitive, right? It’s the only way, however, to ensure our clients truly succeed.

At the start of a partnership, the reliance on us is usually heavy. We provide the expertise, the workflows and the legwork to kickstart ventures. Naturally, costs are higher in these early stages because corporates are essentially outsourcing parts of their innovation function.

Over time, though, things start to shift. Alongside creating the first success cases, we help our partners build their own in-house venture-building team. This involves hiring, training, and embedding the knowledge and processes we’ve refined. Bit by bit, our role diminishes. Eventually, we step back into a more specialized support role—focused on hard-to-build capabilities like MVP development, smoke testing, performance marketing and other experiments that might be operational "firsts" for our partners & staff. By the end of our journey together, our clients have everything they need to take the wheel themselves.

The Business Case for Obsolescence

Why do we do this? Because it’s in our partners’ best interest. Long-term, it’s simply more sustainable, and more cost-effective, for corporates to own their innovation capabilities rather than depend on an external partner indefinitely. We also know it is convenient, outsources risk, brings in learnings, keeps an organization more flexible, but can be expensive.

That’s why the cost of a corporate venture portfolio is higher at the beginning. But as in-house teams are built and developed, costs gradually decline.

This handover process doesn’t just empower our partners—it’s also how we measure success. The sooner we make ourselves obsolete, the better we’ve done our job.

So Why Not Just Build Up Your Internal Team from Day One?

Timing is key, as we know from venture building and innovation. Do things fast, but don't rush them. One of the biggest mistakes we see is that our partners start hiring and can't find experienced people early on. The temptation to hire a motivated, but rather inexperienced team is something that we see often.

Mostly, this happens out of impatience or because finding seasoned venture builders wanting to join one's team is like spotting a shooting star: you know they exist, but good luck catching one when you need it.

While enthusiasm, motivation, and drive are vital, they can’t compensate for the deep expertise needed to navigate the complexities of venture building. Where are they gained? In practice, and only there. Without experience, early missteps in identifying opportunities, validation, or scaling can lead to costly delays or even complete failure. That’s why it’s crucial to strike the right balance: pairing motivated team members with experienced venture builders who can provide guidance and direction from the start. Experience isn’t just an asset—it’s a safeguard for your venture’s success.

Conclusion: Why We Aim to Make Ourselves Redundant

• We build to hand over: Our mission isn’t to create dependency but to empower corporates to own their venture-building capabilities.
• Obsolescence equals success: If we’ve done our job right, we’re no longer needed for the day-to-day—only for specialized support when necessary.
• Outsourcing is a launchpad, not a crutch: Early reliance on external expertise is mostly unavoidable, but it should pave the way for long-term internal capability.
• Costs decline over time: Initial outsourcing may seem expensive, but as internal teams grow, the cost of managing a venture portfolio reduces significantly.
• Empowerment is the goal: By building processes, transferring knowledge, and coaching internal teams, we leave behind a self-sufficient, innovation-ready partner.
• Experience is non-negotiable: Hiring a junior team too early can jeopardize success; seasoned venture builders are essential to avoid costly mistakes.

Making ourselves redundant isn’t a loss—it’s the ultimate win for both our partners and us. It’s proof that we’ve delivered a system, not just a service.