Prior to Maxis, I was a Program Director for Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), leading their accelerator programs which included the Global Accelerator Program (GAP), UNDP Youth Co:Lab and e@Stanford. During my time there I realised that startups faced a lot of challenges when trying to work with corporates, yet having corporate buy-in for their products or services is substantial to the startup’s validation and growth. I wanted first-hand experience of what it was like being on the other side of the fence and that was how I ended up at Maxis which just started their Innovation department at the time. I thought I would share some of my key learnings from doing corporate innovation in Malaysia as an Innovation Specialist for the past 2+ years:
Corporates are not out to steal your ideas
Contrary to what some entrepreneurs believe, corporates do not create Challenges and Hackathons to collect great ideas for them to steal. There have been cases where similar ideas have sprouted but this happens everywhere in the ecosystem as ideas are not distinctly unique. If a corporate is drawn to a certain solution, rather than trying to recreate it, they are likely more interested in forming a collaboration with the startup by giving them market access either through white labelling or even investing in the startup so they can expand on their customer offerings. Corporates are also likely not aware about what the startup’s concerns are when submitting their pitches so they do not normally prepare NDAs or the sort.
It takes very long to onboard and pay a vendor
Procurement processes like vendor registration could take months as it requires a lot of paperwork and financial statements that startups probably do not even have, so many would not be able to pass the vendor selection criteria unless special approval is given. Payment processes also takes a while as Finance would usually prefer to extend payment up to 3 months. What startups can do is propose different payment options: Quoting a higher price for 90-day payment or a cheaper price to be paid within 30 days. Rigid processes are clearly something that needs to be innovated if the corporate is planning to engage with startups.
It’s challenging to work on your solution within working hours
For corporates who are trying to build intrapreneurs, it’s not about having an idea bank or a fancy innovation lab, but rather to assess the current corporate entrepreneurship landscape in the company which can be done through surveys or interviews to determine what issues need to be solved FIRST – be it the lack of funding, no middle management support or employees just overwhelmed by day-to-day tasks and processes with no time to initiate innovation. Also, if given the opportunity to lead a new venture, would the intrapreneurs be ready to jump into being full-time entrepreneurs and leave their comfortable position and corporate salary for something that is uncertain? Having clarity on their expected journey will help intrapreneurs make their decision better.
Although corporate innovation is still at an early stage in Malaysia, some companies are embracing it more quickly than others. Collaboration between ecosystem players like startups, government agencies, corporates, investors and foundations are needed for growth and expansion. The more they understand each other the smoother the collaboration will be. I see myself as an innovation and startup ecosystem builder, I move around between different organisations to learn their perspectives in order to build a thriving ecosystem and community.
(Originally published as my LinkedIn article on June 7, 2021)
