How to move mountains as a corporate entrepreneur by Wilf

HOW TO

MOVE

MOUNTAINS CORPORATE AS A

ENTREPRENEUR

FOREWORD “Stick your head above the parapet. Be willing to be shot down, [or] you’re not being radical enough”. Sounds like advice straight from a startup founder in Silicon Valley or Tech City. But it’s not. Introducing the corporate entrepreneurs, or intrapreneurs as some prefer. There’s nothing radical in the name, but it’s not easy to be nimble and move mountains when you are one. And as with startup entrepreneurs, many adopt the moniker, but far fewer make things happen. At OneLeap, we spend our time helping the world’s leading organisations be more entrepreneurial by working with the world’s best entrepreneurs. This means bringing in proven entrepreneurs from across 35 countries to help corporate leaders tackle their biggest challenges. Working together they achieve amazing results, developing new ventures and revenue streams and getting real customers within weeks. But long-term impact only happens when external entrepreneurs have corporate entrepreneurs to partner with. That being the case, we thought it’s time to celebrate some exceptional corporate entrepreneurs whose stories and advice we hope you’ll find inspirational. A huge hats off and thank you to Paul, Alexi, Joe, David, Neil, Diego, Luke, Bhav, Zubin and Gonzalo! Interested in finding out more about how OneLeap can help you and your organisation? Click here. oneleap.com/enterprise

CONTENTS luke mansfield

alexis oger

joe dobler

samsung

dell

microsoft

diego dzodan

paul campbell

bhav singh

sap brazil

phillips

pearson

david neil meredith goulbourne mtv staying alive foundation

virgin care

zubin gonzalo karkaria martin-villa kuoni & vfs global

wayra

what I do

mytips tips my

1. Recruitment is everything. The European Product Innovation team at Samsung Electronics leads the development We have a multi-disciplinary of new products and services tailored to team ranging from architects European markets based on consumer & manufacturing to corporate needs. Luke leads a multi-disciplinary team finance. Recruit a team with of experts working closely with consumers real-world skills and a focus on and customers to develop differentiated, delivery. It’s the most difficult task commercially successful new products such in corporate innovation. as the ‘Galaxy S4 Active’ and the new 2013 Samsung Smart TV Platform. Before joining 2. Work to your strengths. Samsung, Luke led the development of an award winning mobile banking platform Entrepreneurs leverage for South-East Asia and their agility and flexibility. developed successful Corporations have market products for a range different strengths, it’s of blue-chip partners. important to identify Luke is a guest lecturer Dietrich Mateschitz of Red Bull and leverage yours, on Corporate Innovation at turned an energy drink into a rather than wishing London Business School. lifestyle brand, then a lifestyle you were someone brand into an international (or somewhere) else. From experience many marketing machine. Red Bull innovation leaders shy have become the benchmark for Realists prevail in corporate innovation. experience marketing. away from measuring their impact through KPIs 3. Insight is more important and return on investment (ROI) arguments. than execution. It’s important to view measurement as a tool for maintaining executive support for your Innovation is about solving activities. Executive fatigue is the number problems. Focus on preserving the one cause of innovation teams folding. insight through the development Treat your business stakeholders like an process and ensure solutions entrepreneur would treat investors and solve the problem, don’t be remember ROI from innovation launches dogmatic about a specific should be into the ‘000s execution with feasibility issues. of percent. Without sight of huge rewards in the future it’s difficult to remain invested. Only an audacious goal and a credible path to reach it can keep people supportive long enough for your efforts to bear fruit.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

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lukemansfield

head of product innovation, samsung.

my tips 1. Focus on a long term vision. Successful and sustainable change is driven by your focus as a leader. • How: Align yourself and your team behind a well-articulated long term vision; be identified as the “man/driver” of this vision. Provide regular updates on status, step by step. Be persistent. • ROI: This should become the “one thing” you will be famous for and the first step to building your personal brand.

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what I do

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

Being a corporate entrepreneur means being invited to have an active “seat at the table” as a My favorite corporate trusted partner for your entrepreneur quote is from customers or business Larry King: “I remind myself every morning: nothing I say this stakeholders. It’s also 2. Deliver on about how you manage day will teach me anything. So, promises. if I’m going to learn, I must do it your state of mind. You by listening.” And yes, a French measure success by how Share what you will do, you feel and by the qualiman can sometimes quote an do what you have shared. ty of the interactions with American TV show host. :) the people around you. •How: Be clear / manage You know you’re successful when expectations top down and you can help your customers and bottom up. Say “no”. stakeholders challenge their own thinking. They need to know that •ROI: Trust/confidence. It is critical you’re in it with them - and for them. to be reliable. One of the biggest opportunities for a corporate entrepreneur 3. Give 1 to get 2. is in establishing mutual understanding between • How: Manage your customers, different organizations and network and team members with people. For this, listening is a “how can I help you” mindset. vital. It’s not by accident Never betray your manager. that we have one mouth and two ears! And if you • ROI: The more you give to are not listening properly, you shut people, the more you will get. off much of your learning potential.

alexisoger

france marketing director, dell

INTRAPRENEUR OR CORPORATE ENTREPRENEUR Noun. Def:

An employee who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services and systems, who does not have to follow the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usual routines or protocols.

what I do Joe Dobler is a passionate and dynamic professional with experience ranging from longshoring, cold calling, and marketing, to piloting new programs and forming new teams. Joe has spent the last 11 years working in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in Marketing Management and Business Development. After leading the German PC Marketing and Business Development team for Microsoft for more than four years, Joe returned to Redmond to accept a role as Field Engagement Director for the OEM Worldwide Field Sales Team.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

joedobler

I am an admirer of Elon Musk. Following early success with PayPal he went on to found SpaceX in 2002 which developed the first privately funded liquid-fueled vehicle to put a satellite in orbit and went on to win a $1.6B contract with NASA. Closer to my heart is his exciting work with the revolutionary Tesla Motors. The Tesla Roadster was a proof of concept electric car with high performance and traditional range. This was followed by the Tesla S. A car which has not only been rated by Consumer Reports as the best car they have ever reviewed, but which has quickly gone on to become the best-selling luxury auto, and stands to transform the auto industry.

Field Engagement Director OEM WW Field Sales, microsoft.

my my tipstips 1. understand. Understand your corporate strategies and priorities and how these can uncover new opportunities. Make pitches for pilot projects to test these opportunities. Pitches should outline how the projects support the overarching corporate strategies and priorities. Of course pitches should have a clear outline of costs, resources, timelines and success metrics. Pitches are best made at the start of the fiscal period (year, half or quarter) before budgets are committed. Come in with a few different scenarios which allow you to scale according to the funds available. 2. Get big. An amazing world of Big Data is available. Take advantage of it. Whether you are using company data, purchased reports or free external sources (Mary Meeker’s “Internet Trends” presentation from the D11 Conference is but one example of a great resource available to anyone). These can help anticipate and capitalize on trends or uncover other opportunities for your product. Personalized news feeds are another great way to aggregate and stay on top of topics which matter to you.

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3. BE GREGARIOUS!

Talk to people in your company. Find out what they do. Even casual connections can prove invaluable when trying to find “someone who…” The more people you know the more you will be able to connect the dots.

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what I do I work on strategic partnerships to raise funds and awareness for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, an international content-producing and grant-giving organisation dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV among young people.

We fight HIV the smart way. We support innovative projects in the areas that need it most and invest in their creative and ambitious young leaders to fight the epidemic on the ground. At this level, our endorsement and permission to use the MTV logo to promote their work makes them instantly recognisable among young people, gaining their trust and respect while also opening doors to potential strategic Most recently, Natalie Massenet partners. We then take the learnings from these comes to mind. It really is projects remarkable how she has turned grassroots and use them to shape the world of luxury shopping on ground-breaking media its head. She followed her heart and beliefs, and simultaneously content, such as the 1. corporate muscle award-winning Shuga proved doubters wrong. She series, which we air showed that there is a market for Identify assets/networks free-of-charge across luxury goods online. internally that you can the MTV Networks. We leverage. produce this content rights-cleared so that third party broadcasters can also air them, taking our message to hundreds of millions 2. Network internally. of households around the world.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

my tips

All around you are amazing people with amazing skills, so get to know them! 3. Power in numbers Never underestimate the power of a group of committed individuals.

The overall result is smart action being taken locally, with over 400 grants awarded in more than 60 countries, and creative content and ideas distributed globally, reaching 100% of the top 50 countries affected by HIV and AIDS, to help us achieve our vision of an HIV-free generation.

davidmeredith

Director of Strategic Partnerships, mtv staying alive foundation.

social intrapreneurs are demonstrating to the world how business can be a force for good. - Richard Branson

what I do

my tips my tips 1. Be strategic.

As a former NHS GP and policy advisor, I’ve been lucky enough to see healthcare through It’s easy in our fast-paced world both ends of the telescope. The NHS has to let tactics overwhelm strategy. strengths that we can all take pride in, and You can only achieve impact in has become part of the character and fabric your work with at least a medium of our nation. But the challenges faced by it, term view. and by all care systems across the Western World, are profound and exponential. Our 2. Be thoughtful about ageing population and growing life expechow decisions tancy require not inare made in your cremental but seismic organisation. change in how care is delivered and organised. Leading our in- Richard Branson. Not only because he’s In the commercial novation and strategic my boss, but because of what he’s done. world, return on projects team at Virgin Admittedly, being the head of a massive investment is key, but convincing Care, I’ve been in a great global corporation isn’t the same as decision makers isn’t position to draw lessons being a more junior entrepreneur necessarily linear or from the Virgin family, within it, but he has a knack of process driven. especially Virgin Atlancutting straight to what’s important tic and Media. They’ve and I’ve seen myself his humility and 3. Be brave: helped us reconsider genuineness. He still has amazingly how we engage staff high ambitions: solving climate change, and patients in design- and flying into space to name just two. You can only make ing care, making rapid He’s an inspiration to the thousands of a difference if you’re willing to stick transformation a realVirgin employees across the world. your head above ity, whilst using provthe parapet, try something new en productivity techniques such as Lean to and be willing to be shot down drive out waste and focus on value. At the or proved wrong. If that never same time, we’re introducing some of the happens, you’re probably not technologies that have been talked about but being radical enough! not delivered in the NHS for a long time (the ‘just do it’ category) such as online access to clinical records and appointment booking. Our innovations have all required the negotiation of budget and buy-in, a leap of imagination, and an embrace of the risk and sometimes the reality of failure. But that is what the pressing challenges in healthcare demand.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

neilgoulbourne

head of corporate development & innovation, virgin care.

my tips

what I do

I am very disciplined and seek to constantly improve the process in everything I do. Throughout my Define a management model career, I have learnt some successful based on REMM (Resourceful formulas for getting the job done, Evaluative Maximizing Model), be and I use them as foundations for clear about rules and policy with new projects. For me, learning employees, control results and is continuous. I work hard alongside apply this mindset employees. within the company to reach greater 2. relentless I admire Jorge Paulo Lemann, who heights in business improvement. founded Banco Garantia many and in my career. years ago and who, along with his Constantly search partners Marcel Telles and Beto Since the early days for improvement on Sicupira, drives GP Investimentos of my position as SAP your processes. It is – the equity fund. They’re Colombia president, important to always be responsible for Inbev foundation I’ve considered REMM prepared to learn, and and for investment in several (Evaluative Resourceful never be satisfied with businesses, including the recent Maximizing Model) a winning model. acquisition of Heinz, with Warren as a foundation of my Buffett as their partner. relationship with the 3. be lean and team. Today, in SAP measure often. Brazil, I ask for a versatile attitude of constant process evaluation and Obsession for disciplined, results maximization from everyone. consistent execution, for exacting In this way, the team are able to metrics and for efficient processes. solve problems autonomously. The focus is doing more with less Concurrently, I apply a rigid resources – the movie “Money layer of control and incentives, Ball” is a good reference in this as personal interests need to be case. aligned with company interests. 1. be a leader.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

diegodzodan

president, sap brazil.

what I do

mytips tips my

1. Corporate An expert on corporate Entrepreneuring is an entrepreneurship, Paul is SVP ATTITUDE: of Innovation at Royal Philips Electronics, responsible for its Embrace entrepreneurial accelerator, Open Innovation and approaches to create new Emerging Business programs. He businesses, motivate inventoris also CEO of Start-Up Genie, a employees and accelerate consulting firm which designs innovation. corporate entrepreneur programs; co-founder of the Silicon Valley 2. deconstruct: Innovation Executive group, and a guest lecturer at UC-Berkeley Haas The one difference School of Business. Paul between startups and has invested in over 50 corporate entrepreneurs startups/projects across is the need to corporate IT, entertainment rethink and improve Larry Page: CEO, Google. technology, consumer (deconstruct) existing Larry has succeeded as an electronics, healthcare devices and consumer IT. entrepreneur and as a corporate operations to meet increasing customer entrepreneur, successfully demands in new maintaining a startup culture markets. Many CEOs and innovation within Google even though itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leaders know their a $50B company. Today, Google 3. Radically improve is the most entrepreneurial innovation programs productivity and company on the planet. failed to help them avoid effectiveness: the recent downturn. As we rebuild now in the e.g. use Big Data to quickly improving economy, we must be find quality partners for open more entrepreneurial than ever, innovation, venturing and experimenting with our approaches technology teams. to innovation. To me, this means we should extend the reach and quality of external partnerships, use big data to rapidly identify new market and revenue opportunities, and refocus on flexibility, speed, and returns in all our innovation programs.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

paulcampbell

SVP INNOVATION, Philips electronics.

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1. Surround yourself with “rockstar” talent.

Great sports teams succeed because they are built on exceptional players who understand the role they take in the team. I aim to build my teams with that same mentality – I bring highly motivated generalists and specialists to the table. These are people for whom delivering beyond the “norm” is what drives them to succeed.

what I do Bhav Singh embodies the entrepreneurial spirit as someone that has successfully scaled and grown businesses exponentially. As President of the English & Informal Learning divisions, he oversees the management and direction of all the English language brands in the Pearson portfolio globally. He is also developing a new division within Pearson that focuses on Informal Learning teaching and using non-traditional methods and settings to deliver education to all parts of the world. Bhav also oversees all of Pearson’s educational work in India, including Tutor Vista, the world’s leading online tutoring and education company.

Before coming to Pearson, Bhav was the MD/EVP of Emerging Markets at Viacom for 8 years, where he lead the development Too much hierarchy in an organization is Sir Martin Sorrell – WPP. A true of Viacom’s portfolio of entertainment demotivating and slow. In visionary who has recreated brands including a meritocratic company, an entire industry though his MTV, Nickelodeon, where people are vision, savvy deal making and Comedy Central, VIVA, encouraged to take risks, sheer determination! VH1, and COLORS. innovate and achieve, you see real change, real growth. “Education has the power to change people’s People see the value that they lives, and the magnitude of that is never lost bring to the organization and are on us. Through super serving millennials, driven to innovate. Successes anywhere, in a creative and agile manner are recognized and rewarded at our brands are challenging the way people all levels, which inspires people think about education. We are developing to achieve great things. I want to new ways to create and deliver encourage leaders to groom their products so that every person own successors and “outgrow” around the world who wants their day jobs. to learn has that opportunity. Technology and the closure of the 3. change. digital divide allows us to focus on different informal techniques As an organization you have to including edutainment, edugaming embrace change and implement and experiential learning.” new ways of thinking - quickly. 2. Meritocracy Drives Success.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

bhavsingh

Pres. of pearson English & Informal Learning, pearson.

what I do

my tips my tips 1. Challenge The Status Quo.

Zubin Karkaria is the Chief Executive Officer of VFS Global, and a member of the Executive Board of Kuoni Group. Kuoni entered Nothing is permanent. Nothing is India in 1996 and grew rapidly between then sacrosanct. Continuously question and 2011 becoming one of India’s largest and the existing logic and belief. most respected travel companies. Zubin Only then can you continuously played a pivotal role in driving this growth, innovate to stay ahead of the pack. holding various leadership positions – including CEO & Managing Director effective 2. Your employees are your 2005. His greatest achievement has been greatest asset. the launch and the growth of the VFS Global business from a comAim to develop each pany with operations in employee to her/his full India only in 2001 to a potential systematically. company with operations Inspire them, empower across 89 countries and them and truly N. R. Narayana Murthy serving 44 sovereign gov- Executive Chairman of Infosys engage them with the ernments today – a clear Limited, one of India’s largest company’s mission, global leader in its space. and most respected software vision and values. Develop a winning team. services companies, he coWe developed VFS Global founded the company thirty from a single core compe3. Nurture the years ago to develop a new tence related to our travel industry which has subsequently entrepreneurial business and created not powered India’s famed services spirit. just a new company but a sector. He has always believed completely new industry. that honesty, transparency and Building a large The joy of creating someorganization does not moral integrity are the key thing was immense, how- factors in business. A highly mean you have to curb ever I feel our true achieve- respected entrepreneur with a this spirit. You must ment has been our ability nurture it. Make it a part strong social conscience. to rapidly scale-up from 3 of your core values. visa centers in Mumbai India to over 900 visa centers across 89 countries, and institutionalize the organization. It has become a market leader which is virtually setting industry benchmarks and best practices as it goes along. Our biggest success factor has been our ability to build a happy and winning team and it has been an honour to lead them. Strong focus on customer service, data security and developing robust systems & processes have been the other key drivers.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

zubinkarkaria

ceo, vfs global. exec board, kuoni

my tips

1. Mandate from the Top . The CEO must be a key supporter, without him or her on side, bending the rules is much more of a challenge – hampering your ability to move quickly. 2. COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE.

what I do Gonzalo is the global CEO of Wayra, Telefonica’s global business designed to work closely with and incubate digital start-ups. Gonzalo was educated in Madrid and Georgetown, USA before joining Telefonica as a lawyer sporting two degrees in Law and an MBA. From there Gonzalo was given the opportunity to work all over Latin America and Europe, building a powerful global network and a trusted reputation. These assets have proved vital to Gonzalo’s success in his role as an innovator.

MY FAVOURITE ENTREPRENEUR:

Not having the speed or flexibility of a smaller organisation, Telefonica Fear or mistrust in formed Wayra as a The thousands who aren’t yet corporations is often famous for anything. They’re at response to their need caused by lack of the coal face working incredible to innovate and grow. understanding and hard, evolving new models daily Wayra moves with the exposure. Spend agility necessary to and daring to try new things. time influencing, establish partnerships communicating and helping key and collaborate with the fragmented, stakeholders internally ‘get’ the fast-moving digital startup world. evolving digital world as it relates In only two years Gonzalo and his to their business. team have already made over 240 investments in start-ups globally. 3. Be humble Gonzalo’s freedom to break the rules has driven Wayra’s success Humility with entrepreneurs, – without Telefonica’s corporate partners and process and rigour, risks investments is key. Be flexible, have been taken that would corporations should not always otherwise have been shied seek to be the dominant partner away from. Gonzalo’s but develop trust and belief in reputation also allows smaller outfits. Be honest about him to cut past process good and bad things and open and checks when persuading about problems. and influencing internal figures.

gonzalomartin-villa global ceo, wayra.

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