5 Ways to ID a Corporate Entrepreneur

Robert Wolcott and Michael Lippitz write on Fast Company about entrepreneurs who thrive in a structured corporate environment. They claim that in order to foster entrepreneurship — qualified by them as a “crucial economic driver”– large companies must attract and retain “people with the determination and skill to build bridges to future growth.” The authors use Apple and Google, as well as companies such as Cargill, DuPont, Baxter, and Wawa as examples of corporations that have successfully leveraged entrepreneurial talent to create “game-changing new enterprises.”

Wolcott and Lippitz go on to list five ways to recognize an Entrepreneurus Corporatus.

I agree that the entrepreneurial spirit can thrive in a corporate environment, although my hunch is that it happens more rarely than the authors would care to admit. It takes a rare breed of human to be able to “build bridges for future growth” while navigating complex politics and unwieldy policies and procedures. Just look at Microsoft: it is known to hire very smart and entrepreneurial employees. However, the company is struggling to keep up with smaller and nimbler competitors in a number of categories.

A friend of mine, who ran a large multinational corporation’s venture arm once told me: “My company is a ship that is too large to maneuver and too risk averse to truly innovate; when we want true innovation in a category, we buy it.”

Large companies will have to learn to internally nurture Entrepreneurus Corporatus if they want to survive in an environment where smaller, nimbler companies have access, more than ever, to tools and resources that were formerly only available to the giants. Judging by the number of acquisitions that have resulted in failure, buying innovation might not be the best way to achieve future growth.