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schistosomiasis parasite。 Hale and her team believe that that there are
huge inefficiencies in the way Western world drugs are currently devised
and produced; and with 140 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation they intend to improve on that situation。
Intrapreneur
The Economist of 25 December 1976 carried a survey called ‘The ing
entrepreneurial revolution’ in which Norman Macrae; the magazine’s
deputy editor and considered by many as one of the world’s best economic
forecasters; contended that methods of operation in business were going to
change radically in the next few decades。 The world; Macrae argued; was
probably drawing to the end of the era of big business corporations; it would
soon be nonsense to have hierarchical managements si。。ing in skyscrapers
trying to arrange how brainworkers (who in future would be most workers)
could best use their imaginations。 The main increases in employment
would henceforth e either in small firms or in those bigger firms that
managed to split themselves into smaller and smaller profit centres that in
turn would need to bee more and more entrepreneurial。
Two years later; in an article headed ‘Intra…Corporate Entrepreneurship
– Some Thoughts Stirred Up by A。。ending Robert Schwartz’s School for
Entrepreneurs’; Gifford Pinchot III and his wife Elizabeth S Pinchot began
the process that would lead to their coining the word ‘intrapreneuring’。
Their organization; Pinchot & pany (pinchot); based around
the proposition that you don’t have to leave the corporation to bee an
entrepreneur; advanced the idea that the way for big business to adapt was
to create an environment where managers could behave as though they
were entrepreneurs; but within the business; using its resources。 By 1992
the term intrapreneur had been added to the third edition of The American
Dictionary of the English Language。 3M’s Post…It Note; a product of an
Entrepreneurship 219
entrepreneurial team ‘bootlegging’ pany resources; is an example from
one of Pinochet’s list of Fortune 500 clients。 Others include Apple; DuPont;
Cable & Wireless; Nabisco and Proctor & Gamble。
Intrapreneurs; unlike entrepreneurs; don’t have ‘doing their own thing’
at the top of their list of motivators。 They feel happier in the fort zone
afforded by a corporate structure and the resources and respectability that
provides。
Corporate venturing entrepreneur
Sinclair Beecham and Julian Metcalfe; who started with a £17;000 loan and a
name borrowed from a boarded…up shop and founded Prêt à Manger; were
not entrepreneurs content with doing their own thing。 They had global
ambitions and it was only by cu。。ing in McDonald’s; the burger giant; that
they could see any realistic way to dominate the world。 They sold a 33 per
cent stake for £25 million in 2001 to McDonald’s Ventures; LLC; a wholly
owned subsidiary of McDonald’s Corporation; the arm of McDonald’s that
looks a。。er its corporate venturing activities。 They joined forces with the
corporate venturing arm of a big firm。 They could also have considered
Cisco; Apple puters; IBM and Microso。。; who also all have corporate
venturing arms。 Other corporate venturers include Deutsche Bank; which
set up DB eVentures to get a window on the ‘Digital Revolution’; Reuters
Greenhouse; which has stakes in 85 panies; and even the late and unlamented
Enron had venture investments (totalling 110m)。 For an entrepreneur
this approach can provide a ‘friendly customer’ and help open
doors。 For the ‘parent’ it provides a privileged ringside seat as a business
grows and so be able to decide if the area is worth plunging into more
deeply; or at the least provides valuable insights into new technologies or
business processes。
Recent research into corporate venturing by Ashridge (ashridge。
org。uk 》 Research and Faculty) Business School concluded that less than
5 per cent of corporate venturing units created new businesses that were
taken up by the parent pany。 Moreover; many failed to make any
positive contribution whatsoever。 There are some success stories; however。
McDonald’s offloaded its Prêt stake to Bridgepoint; a private equity firm。
Bridgepoint bought a majority stake in 2008; including McDonald’s 33 per
cent shareholding; for £345m。 That would suggest that McDonald’s at least
quadrupled the value of its initial stake。 Nokia Venture Partners (NVP);
which makes significant minority investments in start…ups in the wireless
internet space; had as its biggest success to date the initial public offering of
PayPal; in 2002。 At a conference in July 1999; they and Deutsche Bank used
Paypal’s (then called Confinnity) encryption technology to send founders
Peter Thiel and Max Levchin 3 million in venture capital as their initial
stake; via a Palm Pilot。
220 The Thirty…Day MBA
Corporate venturing entrepreneurs think big and are happy to cut others
with cash in on the deal; if it will help make them rich。 Independence for
independence’s sake is not a high priority。
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PRACTICE
Business schools usually teach entrepreneurship using the ‘Action Learning’
approach。 This generally takes the form of having a handful of inspiring
alumni entrepreneurs back to talk about how they got started。 At
Cranfield the stars would include a couple of big hi。。ers; Karan (now Lord)
Billimoria of Cobra Beer fame; for example。 Cass wheels out Stelios Haji…
Iannou; founder of easyJet; and London Business School has Tony Wheeler
who graduated in 1972 and together with his wife Maureen founded
Lonely Planet Publications。 Then they will invite a cross…section of those
entrepreneurs who have interesting stories to tell; say about raising money;
hiring and firing or selling up; or who are recent leavers that switched career
paths from; say; big corporate lives to small business。 At IMD; in Lausanne
on Lake Geneva in Switzerland; the emphasis is on family businesses; and
Warren Buffe。。; whose son looks set to take over at Berkshire Hathaway; is
typical of the speakers there。
The spirit of the teaching is around