SCALE - High-volume, high-impact, highly efficient
SCALE - High-volume, high-impact, highly efficient
Goal: Deliver 20-100 PoCs per year, focusing on efficiency, selectivity, and strategic alignment.
Mindset: Operate like a well-oiled business unit.
Timeline: infinite
Budget: 500k +
Key actions & success factors:
- Run at volume: target 20-100 PoCs/year depending on team size, budget, and maturity.
- Be highly selective early in the funnel: only take on PoC leads with strong business impact potential and strategic relevance.
- Leverage reputation & word of mouth: by now, 100-200+ people in your organisation likely know about Venture Clienting. Positive experiences will generate a steady inbound lead flow from:
- Repeat pain point owners (often returning with bigger challenges)
- Internal ambassadors actively spotting opportunities
- Informal conversations (“lunch marketing”)
- Double down on proven lead generation channels: focus on the campaigns, formats, and outreach activities that have consistently delivered quality leads.
- Diversify your portfolio: don’t cluster PoCs in one area. Spread across:
- Support functions
- Production & operations
- Customer-facing units
- Strategic innovation areas
Operational excellence:
- Run your unit like a business: measure ROI, track KPIs, and demonstrate consistent positive business impact.
- Align with strategic priorities: position Venture Clienting as a key tool for delivering on corporate objectives (e.g., digital transformation, sustainability, operational excellence).
- Work closely with core functions:
- Procurement: to streamline contracting and budget approvals
- IT: for smoother integrations as more PoCs move toward implementation
- Transformation teams: to embed solutions deeper into the organization
- Decentralize execution: explore shifting more responsibility to business units, procurement, or IT so they run parts of the process while you oversee quality and outcomes.
Watch out for:
- Spreading too thin: high volume must not come at the cost of quality or success rates.
- Losing sight of business impact: every PoC should clearly support strategic or operational goals.
- Budget battles: continuous proof of ROI is essential to secure (and grow) budgets.
Hi, I'm Madlen, and I lead the Venture Clienting solutions at GlassDollar. At GlassDollar, we empower corporations to quickly identify and test cutting-edge startup technology. Our outstanding team of Venture Clienting experts is committed to helping corporations harness startup innovations and drive growth at any stage. Whether you need strategic consulting, support in establishing a Venture Clienting unit, or assistance in operating and scaling it, we are your ideal partner.
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Everything you need to know about Venture Clienting
Welcome to Venture Clienting
Learn what Venture Clienting is (and what it isn’t), where the model came from, and why it’s become a fast path to measurable business impact. It also clarifies the differences to CVC and Venture Building, shows how the three can work together, and closes with practical “golden rules” to start with the right problems, win early PoCs, and build the trust you’ll need to scale.
Getting Started
A quick on-ramp into Venture Clienting: a checklist to see if your organization is actually ready, the minimum setup you need (one owner, a starter budget, and light leadership backing), plus a plain-English glossary so everyone—from business units to procurement—uses the same terms and avoids confusion from day one.
The 3 Phases of Venture Clienting Units
A practical maturity map for how Venture Clienting Units evolve over time — from START (prove the model with a few high-impact PoCs), to GROW (make it repeatable and expand reach), to SCALE (run high volume with strong selectivity, efficiency, and strategic alignment). It clarifies what to prioritize in each phase: budgets, timelines, lead volume, stakeholder setup (procurement/IT/legal), and the specific habits that drive momentum without burning quality.
The Venture Clienting Process
A practical, end-to-end guide to running Venture Clienting in real life — from uncovering internal pain points and qualifying PoC leads to sourcing startups, running focused demos, executing lean PoCs, and turning successful pilots into real implementations with measurable business impact.
Advanced Topics
This chapter covers advanced Venture Clienting topics you’ll face once the basics work: managing PoCs as a portfolio, working effectively with IT, accelerating projects through alternative contracting models, and securing lasting C-level support. It shows how to reduce bottlenecks, allocate resources smarter, and turn Venture Clienting into a strategic, scalable capability.