Venturing Towards a Kinder Future

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” so goes the old adage about getting through tough times.

Clearly, the global macro environment is difficult, and everyone is facing challenges, yet this climate is also when innovation can thrive.

New technologies, products, and services are needed at inflection points, offered in novel ways that create reality-aligned value.

And venture-type structures are perfect for exploring those without the corporate overhead tax and speed-reducing processes.

It’s a perfect opportunity to build new ventures that are future-ready…

… meaning creating profitable products and business models that are socially responsible and environmentally sustainable. How it should be.

If you want to get going, start scrolling through my curated innovation insights and don’t hesitate to write back with any thoughts.

– Sebastian Mueller, Co-Founder and COO at MING Labs

Featured article

How building new ventures can lead to better insights than strategy consulting

Exploring new markets through venture building instead of strategy consulting, by Sebastian Mueller (MING Labs) & Wright Partners.

“There is a widening gap between strategy and execution. Companies spend lots of money on research, analyses, and strategy papers, which never turn into material business improvements or actual revenue streams - because they are divorced from execution.”

– Sebastian Mueller

7 min read?

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Related article?

Why European corporates should venture build in Asia.

6 min read?

Main Takeaways

• Asia is a vital growth engine for the global economy with significant potential in terms of markets and labor forces.
• European companies need to adapt their approach and strategies to succeed in Asia. A European-designed product may face several critical challenges in the local markets.
• Venture building allows for local-for-local innovation and creating new ventures leveraging corporate advantages.
• Venture building can be a better option for European corporates to build trust relationships in Asia through a capable venture team and local autonomy.

With many countries in Asia being attractive growth markets for the next decades to come, foreign multinationals will need to switch up their strategies if they want to be part of this next chapter.

Sebastian Mueller

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer at MING Labs

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Related article?

Building net positive corporate ventures.

5 min read

Main Takeaways

• Corporations need to go beyond net-zero CO2 emission targets and aim to become net positive contributors to the planet and society.
• The challenges of managing the sustainability transformation in a company's supply chain and modifying its business model make the goal of sustainability transformation difficult to achieve.
• Corporations need to explore new business models that could work radically differently and have a Triple Top Line profile to become sustainable.
• Corporate venture approaches can introduce much-needed optionality and the ability to explore many potential futures with small, incremental bets while not betting the house.

In uncertain economic times, when growth forecasts go out the window, and more frugal innovation is required to build new growth engines, corporate venture building is a tool that corporates should evaluate more closely, as it has a great risk-reward profile.

Sebastian Mueller

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer at MING Labs

Explore Here

Phrase of the month

Capital Efficiency

Capital efficiency refers to the ability of a startup to use its resources effectively and generate high-quality recurring revenue, and it is becoming increasingly important for investors as they seek higher returns on their investments in a challenging economic environment.

(Source: wrightpartners.medium)

Related article

Your innovation process is killing your returns.

7 min read?

Main Takeaways

• Large companies aim to reduce variability and manage known operational risks by creating procedures, which can be detrimental to innovation management.
• The corporatisation of innovation has led to a focus on processes, tools, and artefacts that hinder the exploration of new ventures by imposing rigid, overbearing structures.
• Companies should focus on building quality ventures that support their corporate goals instead of prioritizing an arbitrary number of ventures.
• Companies should consider leveraging outside expertise, exploring equity and optionality from the early days, and benchmarking their processes against innovation drivers to improve their innovation outcomes.

Having a solid process is important, but knowing when NOT to follow it is critical. Especially if you want to innovate successfully. There are certainly "best practices" or "next practices" to consider, yet whatever those are, they will box you into a set of outcomes.

– Sebastian Mueller

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer at MING Labs

Explore Here

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For further exploration

Wright Partners

EDB corporate venture launchpad 2.0 - Explained?

2 min read?

McKinsey

Why Business building is the new priority for growth?

12 min read

Forbes?

How to drive corporate innovation and outpace startups?

5 min read?

Sifted

Could venture builders be the key to building successful startups in a downturn??

4 min read?

Social media commentary

Samuel Hall

CEO, APAC Venture Studio at Rainmaking

?? ?? Current and emerging trends in the #VentureStudio and #VentureBuild industry:

?? significant growth in studios, studio participants, and those that 'want-in' to this way of building

?? rapid evolution of IP, approach and methodology

?? re-branding of incubators and other startup support functions as 'venture builders' ...is this riding the wave? ?? ♂?

?? growing interest among some VCs and private capital in moving up the value chain to build (literally) their own dealflow

?? more investors (that don't yet participate) asking themselves "how does this fit with what we are doing?"

Read on here?

Meme of the month

What's Next?

We sincerely hope that the insights compressed in this little digital mailer will help you make your case and venture forth with resolve.

MING Labs and Wright Partners are also an appointed venture studio for the Corporate Venture Launchpad 2.0 of the Economic Development Board of Singapore. If you want to learn more about that, please?get in touch with us.

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