kbs Ventures Blog How Corporate VCs can Service Their Portfolio

With the rise of micro VCs, an increasing number of corporate VCs (CVCs), and numerous family offices investing in startups- there are several new sources of capital for entrepreneurs outside of traditional VC funds. While there are benefits to having a mix of "hands on vs. hands off" investors, several VC funds are actively looking to define their own strategic value - often in a newly minted "Platform" role which is intended to support the portfolio in a helpful, scalable way. Each fund has its own approach to how they're defining this initiative - it often focuses on founder needs such as talent recruitment, community building events, BD, marketing, or accounting support, educational resources or customer introductions.As a strategic CVC, this idea of servicing our portfolio is something we think about a lot. Our core business is servicing Fortune 500 brands; we see our portfolio as an extension of our client roster. Being domain experts in the advertising and media world, we believe our investment thesis should be fueled by the white spaces we identify in the market - and thus, want to partner with the entrepreneurs that are pioneering the evolution of Madison Avenue. This connected ecosystem between our portfolio companies and our main agency business enables us to align, test, and learn from some of the most forward thinking companies in our industry. We've developed several internal processes to achieve this vision - and often help other investors unlock their own unique selling points. Below are the best practices we've found successful as a CVC:1. Create an onboarding process and company Playbook for your foundersEvery CVC has numerous layers and complexities to their core business- it can be a minefield for startups to navigate. Help founders understand the role of each department, the main points of contact (creating internal advocates is key!), and how they can leverage those skill sets. Being part of a global advertising holding company- we want our founders to be able to efficiently identify prospective brands or mentors so we can make introductions in an effective, streamlined way. Connecting our companies with prospective customers is our main value add. This Playbook not only welcomes the founders into our network, it gives them more transparency into the resources available as their business needs evolve.2. Think of your company's employees as a massive focus groupKbs+ has a global footprint with 800+ people with experience across all facets of media, PR, creative, content, CRM, brand strategy, web development, etc. This creates of treasure chest of invaluable insights for early stage startups to tap into and learn from. Leverage the company's expertise for brainstorm sessions or focus groups for your startups - it'll often prove to be rewarding and enjoyable for both sides, while helping your portfolio company better understand the dynamics, industry, or workflow of their customers.3. Schedule monthly (or quarterly) report backs with senior executivesEach month we share highlights on the progress of our portfolio, bubble up any introductions on our founders' "Wish list", and discuss new investment opportunities in our pipeline. While senior leadership isn't involved in investment decisions, it creates a more vested interest in the success of our companies and helps identify new collaboration opportunities across our brand network. Additionally, it feeds into our own internal culture of innovation and invention, while giving our venture team a fresh perspective on the companies.4. Create Venture Ambassadors through grassroot educational initiativeskbs+ Ventures Fellows is course we teach twice a year about venture capital and entrepreneurship. Employees of all levels can choose to take this 3 month class. We recently revamped the course and made it a more authentic experience to teach the students how to turn ideas into businesses. Throughout the semester, we weave our portfolio founders into the curriculum - so they're able to connect on a deeper level by learning about their personal journey about the highs and lows of building a company. We've found this not only helps our employees have more empathy to better understand and collaborate with startups, but creates relationships that can extend into mentoring or new business opportunities for the portfolio.Each CVC and venture fund needs to think about what's right for their respective organization, but with the funding landscape becoming more and more competitive for the best deals- funds need to clearly define their own unfair advantage.- Written by Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, principal at kbs+ Ventures