# Implementation Vehicles and Organizational Buy-In

## The vehicle spectrum

Vehicles run from extending the core to buying new competencies. Present the spectrum, then recommend one or two vehicles that fit the specific goal, the problem-area scores, and the organization's appetite. A vehicle chosen before the problem is specific is a solution looking for a problem.

| Vehicle | What it is for | Canonical example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Research & Development** | Typically extending the core or the next generation of products | ExxonMobil |
| **Innovation Lab** | Idea generation or prototyping | Johnson & Johnson |
| **Incubator** | Prototyping to development of new business models or a new entity | Alphabet |
| **Venture Fund** | Survey the landscape to learn new technologies and business models; accelerate the path forward | M12 (Microsoft's venture fund) |
| **Licensing** | Maximize investment (sunk cost) | Disney |
| **Partnerships** | Can create across the board; less investment, speed to market, increased competencies | Walmart + Humana |
| **M&A** | Augment market position or develop new competencies | UnitedHealth Group |

**Lighter-weight value creation moves** (short of a full vehicle): LP investment in VC funds · sponsoring an accelerator or incubator · Entrepreneurs-in-Residence on call for domain expertise · hackathons.

## Common corporate entrepreneurship programs (the full menu)

Recommend supporting program elements alongside the primary vehicle:

- **Internal R&D:** traditional R&D · mechanisms for R&D grants · skunkworks.
- **Idea sourcing:** crowdsourcing · competitions and innovation challenges · hackathons.
- **New venture creation:** incubator · internal accelerator · independent business unit · company/venture builder · technology licensing.
- **Investment vehicles:** bespoke startup accelerators · corporate venture capital (CVC) · venture builders or foundries · strategic investments · fund of funds · mergers and acquisitions.
- **Partnerships:** joint ventures · general partnerships · university partnerships.
- **Innovation strategy:** internal strategic consulting teams · innovation audit teams.
- **Physical space:** open office design · welcoming cafe spaces · corporate coworking.
- **Employee culture and training:** talent acquisition and development programs · innovation process training · hackathons · internships.
- **External connectivity:** alumni networks · coworking spaces for external parties · design thinking studios and cocreation.

## Organizational buy-in

The closing question of the audit: **where do we start, and at what point do we seek board approval?**

Work it concretely with the executive:
- The starting move: small enough to run without permission, real enough to produce evidence. Tie it to the binding problem area and the chosen vehicle.
- The escalation path: what result earns the next conversation, and with whom.
- The board moment: at what point does this require board approval (a budget threshold, a new entity, a firewall decision, an acquisition), and what evidence must be in hand when that ask is made.
- Who must be bought in before the board: the executives whose operating system the firewall touches.