The First Quantitative Study on Corporate-Startup Partnering

Prof. Dietmar Harhoff Ph.D, Managing Director

Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation und Competition

Big and small working together - that is nothing new, is it? It has existed since the inception of the corporation in 1347. Why, then, are innovation professionals now coining terms like Venture Clienting, Startup Partnering, and Collaboration?

Why do we need to talk now about corporations and startups working together?
The simple answer: because it is by collaborating with startups that corporations can afford the inevitable mistakes of innovation. 



We inevitably make mistakes when creating anything new. Corporations do not like mistakes; they are expensive. Startups, on the other hand, are designed to learn from mistakes effectively in terms of cost and time.

With emerging challenges such as global warming, changing consumer expectations, and resource constraints - just to name a few - the demand for innovation (or change) in corporations is increasing. Small companies, or startups, offer this innovation.

The number of startups founded each year is growing; last year, about 1.3 million new companies were founded, supported by $285 billion in venture capital. However, with millions of new startup products out there, how do corporations know which ones they need? The answer lies in a structured testing approach.

This study sheds light on the best practices of corporations by adding the missing quantification of the phenomenon at scale, to inspire further academic research and economic policy.