How to build a successful venture studio: Creating an inflow of ideas

Despite what some entrepreneurs might want you to believe, great business opportunities do not just appear out of thin air, waiting for the right person to seize them. They are the result of continuous research and brainstorming. In order to arrive at one good idea, you must first come up with hundreds of bad ones. Creating a steady stream of new ideas is therefore paramount to establishing a successful venture studio. 

Perhaps the most important aspect to creating an inflow of ideas is to foster a safe and open environment. Employees should be encouraged to think creatively and continuously come up with, and share, new ideas. Promoting a large number of ideas is often more important than their quality. Furthermore, since not all employees in a corporate venture studio necessarily come from an entrepreneurial background, creating an environment that encourages risk-taking and experimentation becomes especially important in order to inspire them to think outside of the box. 

But even with an A-team brainstorming thousands of ideas each month, some insights will always remain undiscovered. For that reason, you ought to bring in outside perspectives. New and valuable insights can come from within the corporation, by listening to customers, or from various individuals in your network. Regularly bringing in multiple perspectives will help to open up your mind and spark new ideas.

Lastly, time and space must be allocated to brainstorm ideas. If employees are too busy with other tasks to consider or explore new initiatives, none of the rest matters. Make time for research and look for inspiration in emerging trends, other industries, and among competitors. Conduct regular brainstorming sessions where employees can come together to generate ideas on a specific topic or problem. 

Once you have begun to cultivate an environment where new ideas are naturally generated, you must create a space where ideas can be shared. It can be a dedicated channel on Slack, a physical space in the office, or an online platform such as Hives where ideas can be organized and shared effortlessly among team members. 

As a final note, it is important to reward the time and effort employees spend on generating new ideas so that their investment becomes worthwhile. It doesn’t always have to be monetary, a few encouraging words can go a long way. By providing the right environment, constantly being exposed to new perspectives, and allocating the necessary resources, your venture studio will be able to create a steady inflow of innovative and original ideas to drive the studio forward.