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The Venture Imperative - The Fear of Venturing: Shedding the Misconceptions

Many corporates have pulled back from the venture business, having moved too quickly and too deeply into the market during the boom. But, say Tim Rohner and Heidi Mason of the Bell-Mason Group in this extract from their book The Venture Imperative, published by Harvard Business Press, venturing is important to the successful growth of a company.

‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,' said Franklin D Roosevelt. If corporate venturing is a strategic necessity in our technology driven economy, and if there are proven models to pursue it, then why aren't more companies doing it, and doing it successfully?

Click here to view extract (pdf 57.5kb)

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Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business School Press. Excerpt of The Venture Imperative: A New Model for Corporate Innovation copyright 2002 Heidi Mason and Tim Rohner. All Rights Reserved.

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Tim Rohner is a managing director at the Bell-Mason Group, a provider of venture strategy and tools to independent and corporate ventures and venture programs. He brings nearly 20 years of corporate strategy, technology, and new venture experience to his clients. Heidi Mason, a Fellow with DiamondCluster International, is Managing Director of the Bell-Mason Group, which provides venture strategy and tools to independent and corporate ventures and venture programmes.