Intrapreneurship and Corporate Venturing: Building New Ventures in Organisations – Dubai, 16–20 Aug 2027

Programme overview

Technical depth: Conceptual · Practical mode: Case study

Introduction

Established organisations generate plenty of ideas, yet few turn them into new businesses. Promising ventures stall inside annual budgeting cycles, approval rules designed for the core business and career systems that penalise failure, while competitors and startups capture the growth. This Core Concept course gives senior leaders the governance, funding and talent models needed to build new ventures alongside the core business, from internal intrapreneurship programmes to corporate venture capital and venture building. Participants test each model on cross-sector cases and leave with a Corporate Venturing Blueprint for their own organisation.

Course Objectives

• Assess an organisation's innovation ambition and venturing readiness using the Innovation Ambition Matrix and the Three Horizons model
• Select the corporate venturing vehicle that fits a strategic intent, from internal ventures and incubators to venture studios and corporate venture capital
• Establish venture governance, including venture boards, metered funding and stage-based investment decisions consistent with ISO 56001
• Design intrapreneur selection, incentive and career pathways that attract and retain entrepreneurial talent
• Evaluate venture risk, cannibalisation and parent-venture conflict, and decide when to scale, spin out or stop a venture
• Present a Corporate Venturing Blueprint that an executive committee can review and approve

Target Audience

• Executives accountable for corporate strategy and new sources of growth
• Heads of innovation and corporate development responsible for venture portfolios
• Business unit leaders sponsoring new ventures alongside the core business
• Finance and investment leaders who approve funding for new ventures and minority stakes
• Human resources and talent leaders shaping entrepreneurial culture and incentive schemes

Course Outline

Day 1: The Case for Corporate Venturing

• Growth Gap Analysis with the Three Horizons Model
• Innovation Ambition Matrix: Core, Adjacent and Transformational Balance
• Organisational Ambidexterity: Exploit and Explore Units
• ISO 56000 Innovation Management Principles and Vocabulary
• Venturing Readiness Assessment Using ISO/TR 56004 Guidance

Day 2: Venturing Models and Structures

• Corporate Venturing Spectrum: Intrapreneurship Programmes to Spin-Offs
• Internal Venture Units and Corporate Incubator Design
• Corporate Venture Capital Fund Structures and Strategic Returns
• Venture Studio and Venture Building Operating Models
• ISO 56001 Requirements for Innovation Initiatives and Portfolios

Day 3: Governing and Funding New Ventures

• Venture Board Charter and Decision Rights
• Metered Funding and Stage-Based Investment Tranches
• Lean Startup Build-Measure-Learn Evidence for Investment Decisions
• Venture Thesis and Business Model Canvas Review at Board Level
• Intrapreneur Selection, Incentive and Career Pathway Design

Day 4: Risk, Conflict and Exit Decisions

• Parent-Venture Conflict: Brand, Cannibalisation and Shared Resources
• Real Options Valuation for Uncertain Ventures
• Venture Risk Register and Kill Criteria
• Scale, Spin-In, Spin-Out or Stop Decision Framework
• Innovation Accounting Metrics for Venture Portfolio Reviews

Day 5: Case Work and the Corporate Venturing Blueprint

• Industrial Group Case Study: Choosing Between a Venture Capital Fund and a Venture Studio
• Financial Services Case Study: Rescuing a Stalled Internal Venture
• Venturing Vehicle Selection Matrix for an Own Organisation
• Corporate Venturing Blueprint Drafting
• Mock Investment Committee Review and Blueprint Defence

Skills You Will Gain

• Venture Portfolio Governance
• Corporate Venture Capital Oversight
• Innovation Investment Appraisal
• Entrepreneurial Talent Management
• Strategic Growth Planning
• Venture Risk Oversight
• Ambidextrous Leadership

Why Attend This Course

• Leave with a Corporate Venturing Blueprint for an own organisation, tested before a mock investment committee
• Judge which venturing vehicle a strategic goal calls for, and challenge proposals that choose a structure first
• Recognise the governance and funding habits that quietly smother new ventures inside large organisations
• Exchange approaches with executives from other sectors and countries running similar venturing programmes

Conclusion

New ventures rarely fail for lack of ideas; they fail because the parent organisation governs, funds and staffs them like the core business. The course moves from the growth gap and venturing readiness, through the main venturing vehicles and the governance that suits each, to the conflicts, valuation questions and exit decisions that test executive judgement. The final day turns this into a Corporate Venturing Blueprint that participants take to their executive committee, giving them a structured basis for deciding where, how and how much to venture.