Can a corporate start-up?
The idea of building something from scratch has always appealed to me. I’m more of a starter than a completer (don’t tell anyone) so I jumped at the chance to join a start-up building start-ups. It’s the fourth time I’ve been asked to join a start-up within a corporate; the other three failed to get traction, so maybe people think I’ve got experience. Or perhaps they wouldn’t have asked if they’d known (again, don’t tell anyone).
But there is a lot to attract someone sitting, or preferably flying, within a corporate to the life of a start-up. Building something ground-up, something no-one understands quite yet; there’s a buzz and a different dynamic. But why not just join a start-up?
Start-up reality
Well there’s probably more personal risk for a start. And truth be told the life of a start-up, for all its fun, can be chaotic, it can be all-consuming, and it can be stressful, lurching from one funding round to the next. But for me, it’s because of what a corporate offers: scale.
The potential to make a real difference in the world. In BP’s case to meet the world’s increasing energy demand and to reduce emissions.
In theory, the corporate stands a much better chance of scaling change.
Creating change inside a corporate
In practice, it’s much, much harder.
1. The corporate has legacy; serious baggage that it carries about and often wields to block any new idea.
2. It also focuses heavily on the ‘what’, fixates even: “market entry into China”, “a new app”, “become the industry’s digital leader” etc. Meticulously planning every last detail, securing approval and budget, and only beginning after one or two years. Rather than focusing on how it can solve a pain point or exploit an opportunity, by harnessing talent, building and testing a quick prototype.
3. And finally, the corporate is motivated by risk management — how to mitigate or better still remove any risk to the corporate cash cow.
Disruptive start-up? I don’t think so. Much better to ignore. Dismiss. Or buy up and slowly strangle.
Corporate shift
But many corporates are trying to break this mould. They’ve seen what’s happened to the traditional sectors of retail, advertising, entertainment, banking etc etc — and want to get ahead of the inevitable disruptive tsunami.
Take the automotive sector. Hardly the poster child of innovation. Generation after generation it all looks pretty incremental. Internal innovation, stable competitor set, annual new product launch.
And then Tesla shows up. No-one can ignore, dismiss or afford to buy and slowly strangle. Pandora’s box has been wrenched open.
But to their credit the OEMs have taken note; they are collaborating, investing in start-ups, in new technology, in innovative business models. And suddenly, it’s less obvious who the winner will be. Because while Tesla has the tech, the ideas, and the capital, the OEMs have experience and valuable assets, like distribution channels, brands, global relationships.
A start-up builder
There’s hope for the corporate then? Possibly. Something is changing. And we are too. BP Launchpad is a start-up building new businesses that will become BP’s future business units — and play a key role in tackling the dual challenge.
We have listened to the experience of other sectors, from the best in private equity and venture capital, from accelerators and incubators — and we’ve learnt what’s gone wrong for us in the past.
And we are twisting all those bad things about being a corporate into good things, to build an unfair advantage for our start-ups — where they can access all the benefits we bring, but within a culture more like a start-up, fast-paced, agile, customer-focused, disruptive.
But it’s hard
Really hard. When all the white blood cells rush to preserve the status quo and resist any form of change.
Three things seem to be required:
1. A strong sense of mission and frequent reminders why it’s so important. This week one of our entrepreneurs in residence gave a talk about a bunch of other sectors. One thing particularly hit me — Tesla took an idea from its Twitter feed and implemented it within six days; in so many ways that is impossible for a corporate like BP — but rather than be defeated we need to be inspired by it
2. Cover from above — we’ve got the deputy chief exec as our sponsor which helps. But escalation doesn’t generally make for popularity, so we’re trying other ways to use him to inspire and coach. And, of course, we use his name a lot when we get stuck
3. Great people around you, persistent, focused on the mission, but with great communication skills to empathise and engage, who you hire is critical, a mix of external hires who have done similar things, and your own star employees, with the relationships and skills to navigate the company
So we’re making progress, faster in some areas, more painfully in others. The sense of responsibility to protect the corporate is strong. But so is the sense of responsibility to protect its long-term future.
Don’t write off the corporate just yet. It may take a while to turn like a tanker, but when it has, it makes waves.
