I was part of the Texas Evening MBA (TEMBA) Class of 2004 at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas, Austin. Given my interest in early-stage investments, I looked at various MBA research topics in entrepreneurship. I finally decided to explore the world of corporate venture capital (CVC).
Specifically, I looked at the considerations involved in structuring a CVC group within a large corporation. How do the organizational aspects of CVC programs affect their strategic and financial outcomes? I reached out to hundreds of professionals involved in corporate investments into startups. Many were kind enough to agree to participate in my survey. This helped me collect the raw data for my MBA thesis. I then conducted qualitative and quantitative data to identify correlations that connected CVC strategy to monetary and business achievements.
2003-McCombs-MBA-Thesis
The table below summarizes the forward-looking expectations from professionals involved in venture investments.
The key finding from my MBA thesis was that cultural and political factors are as important to CVC success as are technical and commercial considerations. The more alignment between management objectives and team incentives, the more durable was the CVC initiative and the better it performed.