In this podcast episode we had the honour to speak with Linda Yates, the Founder and CEO of Mach49 about the opportunities and challenges of corporate mentoring.
Linda Yates is the Founder and CEO of Mach49, which partners with the Global 1000 to drive venture-driven growth through building ventures, investing, and strategic partnerships, focusing on scalable execution and innovation. With over 30 years of experience, she has also served on numerous boards, authored the acclaimed book "The Unicorn Within," and is known for her environmental activism and advocacy for 21st-century education.
Chapter:
00:12 Guest Introduction
00:54 Risks for Legacy Companies
01:33 Corporate Venturing
01:47 Linda's Journey to Mach49
07:37 Need for Corporate Venturing
11:05 Culture in Corporate Venturing
12:05 Building a Growth Engine
12:05 Practical Steps to Corporate Venturing
16:25 Creating Space for Ventures
17:32 Addressing the Cultural Clash
19:54 Large Companies in Problem Solving
20:21 Understanding the Need for Change
20:35 Assessing Internal Talent
20:47 Four Types in Venture Building
21:43 The New Venture Board
24:18 Understanding the Role of Growth Advocates
25:53 Tapping into Corporate Assets
26:56 Overcoming Internal Friction
32:15 Understanding Customer Pain
36:39 The Process of Venture Building
37:25 The Role of Corporate Venture Capital
39:58 Incubation Phase
41:02 Acceleration Phase
41:49 Importance of Valuations
43:23 Venture Building vs Venture Investing
43:53 Importance of Business Execution Plan
44:35 Venture Investing
46:00 Importance of Design in Venture Investing
46:19 Five Key Elements of Acceleration
47:04 Importance of Financial Impact
49:54 Strategic Partnering
50:16 Leveraging Assets
56:40 Venture Driven Growth
59:09 The Importance of Looking Forward
59:57 Risk and Venture Building
01:00:51 Role of Leadership
01:01:41 Role of the C-suite
01:03:19 Importance of Execution
01:03:40 Closing Remarks
01:04:38 Outro
Guest:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-yates-19550249/
The St. Gallen Business Model Navigator:
https://shorturl.at/nkgmx
The following three books are all relevant to the topics which where discussed in the podcast:
Jim Snabbe’s book: Dreams and Details:
https://shorturl.at/knaoS
Professor Huggy Rao and Professor Bob Sutton’s (Stanford) book: The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder, about removing friction and seizing advantages:
https://shorturl.at/MrLII
Professor Vijay Govindarajan (Dartmouth) and Professor Venkat Venkatraman’s (Boston University) book: Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI will power the Industrial Future. It covers using AI and data to address customer needs:
https://shorturl.at/oXJCA
Link to the website on Linda Yates´ book:
https://www.mach49.com/book/the-unicorn-within
Linda’s book, The Unicorn Within — How Companies Can Create Game-Changing Ventures at Startup Speed, published by Harvard Business Review Press in October 2022, has been widely acclaimed. Featured in major media outlets, it was named one of Forbes' Top Ten Business Books of 2022 and one of “7 Startup Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read.” It was the top new release on Amazon in Strategic Planning and Venture Capital and is now used as a textbook worldwide. The book is also on the Harvard Press All Time Ideas with Impact List.
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