Corporate venture-building has drifted too far from the core business in an attempt to emulate startups and explore untapped markets. This approach often neglects the inherent advantages of large enterprises, resulting in elusive innovation ROI and struggling venture-building efforts.
In response, forward-thinking companies are rediscovering the value of the “Spin-In” approach. By staying closer to their core businesses and experimenting in adjacent markets, these companies leverage their existing strengths while maintaining enough independence to foster innovation. At Peer Insight, “The Science of the Spin-In” provides a balanced approach, offering autonomy for early success while ensuring strong ties to core advantages for profitable integration.
Key insights include:
- Innovation that targets unexplored opportunities often leads to financial losses. Leveraging core strengths improves success rates threefold.
- Mimicking startups can be misguided, as it may breed cynicism towards the core business, potentially undermining Spin-Ins. A balanced approach is essential.
- Partnerships should function like plug-ins — temporary and opportunistic. When partnerships become overly permanent or complex, the focus often shifts from mutual value creation to partnership sustainment.
- There are six potential exit strategies for corporate innovation, yet many teams are unaware of them or their best option.
Join us on August 21st at 12 p.m. ET for a candid discussion with Clay Maxwell and Josh Clayton of Peer Insight. We’ll discuss how Spin-Ins address the new realities of corporate organic growth.
Speaker Bios
Clay Maxwell, Managing Partner, Peer Insight
An expert in corporate innovation and entrepreneurship, Clay has spearheaded complex new growth initiatives, designed innovation systems and structures, and advised corporate leaders and entrepreneurs on all aspects of disruption strategy. From enterprise SaaS to fintech and digital health, Clay has led a multitude of product, service and experience design projects. In so doing, he has worked with and built businesses for the likes of Intel, Nike, Fidelity, Kimberly-Clark, DTE Energy, Capital Group, Baker McKenzie, Goodyear, AARP and the NIH. He founded PX Venture Studio and serves as Managing Partner of Peer Insight + PX.
Clay is also an active investor, advisor and board member to a number of startups and holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University.
Josh Clayton, Partner, Peer Insight
With a background in launching startups and building new ventures inside organizations, Josh thrives on designing new products and services and seeing them through to their first dollar of revenue. As Partner at Peer Insight, Josh has accelerated growth initiatives with clients as varied as Johnson & Johnson, AARP, The Capital Group, Baker McKenzie, The Project Management Institute, Canon, Expeditors, Leading Educators, Goodyear, and more. At Peer Insight, Josh has worked both upstream, helping companies develop and explore an innovation portfolio, and downstream, leading efforts to build MVPs and find market traction. Before joining Peer Insight, he was the Director of Innovation and Design at iMentor, a national, non-profit organization, where he designed and incubated new products and services before scaling them at iMentor and to partner organizations. This intreprenuerial role provided Josh with deep insight into the complexity of standing up new initiatives within an existing organization and network. Josh has a BS in Business Administration from the University of Missouri and an MFA from Rutgers University.
