Sit in on a corporate venture investment committee meeting before a term sheet goes out, and you’ll hear a specific kind of conversation. Is the founding team strong enough to execute? Does this deal open a channel, a technology, or a capability our parent company couldn’t get any other way? The financial model is on the table too, but it alone doesn’t decide the room. A corporate writes the cheque because the strategic case is worth something beyond the multiple.

But when the deal closes, somewhere between the term sheet and the first quarterly business review, that strategic thinking quietly leaves the room. READ MORE