4 min read

Startup-Corporate Experiments: Finding Success with Proof-of-Concepts

500 Global Team

Published

03.01.20

Over the past decade, corporations have made large strides in pushing innovation efforts to protect against disruption and new entrants in their markets, whether that is hosting hackathons, internal innovation contests, or developing their own corporate accelerators. Most large multinationals at this age have dedicated teams to exploring innovation or searching for high potential ecosystem partners to collaborate and experiment with. 

But the pandemic and now recession have now exacerbated what are often perceived as cost centers, compelling teams to consider how to restructure their teams and processes for maximum efficiency to produce the outcomes desired by executives.

 500 Startups believes that following a crisis like that of 2020, doubling down on innovation through startup collaboration is more important than ever.  However, these initiatives must be structured and executed with expert care and diligence to minimize waste and for corporates to maintain their reputation in the startup ecosystem. 500 set out to interview a selection of twelve prominent innovation practitioners from a range of  industries to see how internal stewards of innovation are trying to make it happen and what best practices they might share with their peers.

Want all the Do’s and Don’ts of POC Management? Download the full report here.

500 Startups programs (including accelerator programs), investor education services, strategic partnership consulting services and events are operated by 500 Startups Incubator, L.L.C. (together with its affiliates, “500 Startups”) and the funds advised by 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. do not participate in any revenue generated by these activities. Such programs and services are provided for educational and informational purposes only and under no circumstances should any content provided as part of any such programs, services or events be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 startups or any of its affiliates.
The views expressed here are those of the individual 500 Startups personnel, or other individuals quoted and are not the views of 500 Startups or its affiliates. Certain information contained herein may have been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by 500 Startups. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, 500 Startups has not independently verified such information and makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of the information in this post or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements or links; 500 Startups has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, tax or accounting advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation, offer to sell or solicitation to purchase any investment securities, or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by 500 Startups. (An offering to invest in an 500 Startups fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by 500 Startups, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. 
Charts and graphs provided herein are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Unless otherwise expressly stated, figures are based on internal estimates and have not been independently verified. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. All logos and trademarks of third parties referenced herein are the logos and trademarks of their respective owners and any inclusion of such trademarks or logos does not imply or constitute any approval, endorsement or sponsorship of 500 Startups by such owners. 

500 Global Team