How to build a successful venture studio: Evaluating founders

There is no way around the fact that the success of a new venture is dependent on the founders leading the ship. The founders set the vision and direction for the company, and are responsible for bringing together the necessary resources and team to execute on that vision. By understanding what qualities make a strong founder, you can make more informed decisions about who to lead your next venture. Here are seven criteria to consider when evaluating founders for a corporate venture. 

Founding experience 

The experience of having started a company before is undoubtedly highly valuable. While the actual success of the earlier ventures are not that important, the fact that the individual has taken the initiative to build something from scratch, certainly is. 

Entrepreneurial spirit

Having an entrepreneurial spirit means being resourceful, innovative, and proactive in finding ways to create value. A founder must be able to identify problems and come up with creative solutions, and then take action to implement those solutions with limited resources. 

Leadership skills

Being a founder also means being a leader. A good leader is someone who inspires and motivates their team to work towards a shared vision, while also providing guidance, support, and resources to help them succeed.

Resilience

Leading a new venture can be a long, hard process, and there will inevitably be setbacks and challenges along the way. Founders need to have a strong inner drive to be able to bounce back from these challenges and keep pushing forward.

Growth mindset 

A founder does not have to have all the answers, but must be honest and transparent when they don’t, and ask for help when needed. Being open for new suggestions and acknowledging the work and ideas of others are valuable traits to look for. 

Corporate politics

Founders of corporate startups should be able to clearly and effectively communicate their ideas and vision; not only to their team, but to corporate stakeholders as well. Building trust and respect is fundamental to navigating the corporate landscape. 

The right expertise

Apart from the more general characteristics mentioned above, it can be valuable for a founder to have expertise in areas that are relevant to develop the venture. It can be industry specific knowledge for complex markets, or technological understanding for advanced products. Furthermore, the founders should also ideally have complementing competencies, making them a strong core team.

Unsurprisingly, the success of a new venture ultimately depends on the vision, leadership, and resilience of its founders. By considering key criteria such as founding experience, entrepreneurial spirit, leadership skills, resilience, growth mindset, corporate politics, and the right expertise, venture studios can make more informed decisions about who should lead their next venture and enhance the overall success of the venture studio.