To Innovate Like a Startup, Make Decisions Like VCs Do

The model for creating new growth that we see in successful innovation hubs everywhere involves two sides: the entrepreneurial side, responsible for managing the discovery, validation, and development of new businesses, and the venture side, responsible for managing a portfolio of these businesses with the use of investment theses and funding decisions. Applying a lean approach in your organization is getting half of the model right, but it is not enough. For enterprises to create successful new growth systems, they need more than just lean startup methodologies: They also need venture capital investment mindsets and mechanics. They need what we call a growth board, a group of senior executives within an organization that meet regularly to review, discuss, and fund or kill growth initiatives. They function as the enterprise equivalent of venture capital and use many of the same mindsets and lenses that VCs do in evaluating and deciding on opportunities.