Corporates and startups are somewhat perceived as opponents. What else could they be, considering all the big differences in approach, mindset, and, more importantly, in the ability to adapt quickly? From a corporate point of view, considering startups a competitive threat is more than understandable. They appear seemingly out of thin air, powered by digitalization to drive major innovations and disrupt entire industries in no time. But is this all there is to it?
Corporates & Startups: Everlasting Rivals or Potential Partners
Will they keep on being everlasting rivals, and companies better be quick to learn how to keep up with the disruptive force of startups? No, that can’t be all. And the corporate world has long altered this assumption. Many corporates and startups realized that partnering up and combining their resources, more often than not, leads to benefits for both of them. And it creates more value for their consumers as well as whole industries!
Shaking up established processes and developments with fresh ideas and new approaches while relying on experiences, market knowledge, networks, and resources sure do sound good. This might be well-received now, but what remains is where to start? Where to find the right collaboration partners? How do you know that this is a fit both draw value from? Especially in this data-driven world, finding data is not the problem anymore but rather being able to manage and sort the data in a way it gives you the answer you are looking for.
That is where the Startup Radar comes into play.
How to Find a Match Made in Heaven
or, in other words, how to find a match that fits the criteria you are looking for in a startup.
The Startup Radar allows companies to set up and search for a pool of potential startups to collaborate with. Keep track of the startups you already successfully worked with and the ones you want to partner up with in the future. It is as easy as that.
CrunchBase: The Wikipedia of the Startup World
CrunchBase provides the data basis for the Startup Radar, the leading startup database collecting all to know about the startup world. It can be seen as the Wikipedia of the startup scene, allowing everyone to add and enhance information at all times. The advantage lies for startups: By having an informative profile at CrunchBase, they can easily be found by investors and potential collaboration partners. So, it is not only about finding but also about being seen.
Startup Scouting: Finding, Evaluating, and Collaborating
Innovation trumps pure efficiency as a driver for long-term success. And innovation comes from inside and outside the walls of a corporation. By including employees, customers, and partners in innovating, corporates improve their ability to innovate fast and market-oriented. The chances are that you already have some tool that helps you tackle challenges and find solutions together with a diverse network of customers, employers, or other partners along the values chain. Establishing an open dialog with startups is the next logical consequence of stepping up the innovation game. Above all, it offers the opportunity of getting insights into new market developments early on.
On the most basic level, the Startup Radar accesses the CrunchBase database. It translates this data into a radar chart, making it easy to get a clear overview of existing startups and compare them. But there is more: The Startup Radar does not only allow you to search for startups in general but also to specifically propose selected ones as a partner to an already existing or future innovation project or challenge. The fit can be defined and evaluated by individually selected dimensions and visualized in a structured radar chart. There might also be a selection of startups worth considering. The radar chart simultaneously displays several startups and helps to compare them following the chosen criteria.
Had there already been a previous collaboration with a startup, a description can be added containing important facts like Who was involved, the most crucial characteristics of the startup, how well the collaboration worked, the outcome, and so on. That helps to assess future fits and adds to the overall thoroughness of the database. Thus connections between existing ideas, projects, and startups can be drawn, laying the foundation for more ideas, projects, and collaboration.
Fostering Long-Term Win-Win Situations
When it comes to partnerships between corporates and startups, there is a tendency to focus on the benefits for the corporates. But as mentioned before, done right, this can also benefit startups and cad up in long-term partnerships. First of all, by maintaining and updating their profile at CrunchBase, startups do gain the visibility they need to enter in collaboration in the first place. As soon as they partnered up with a company, the Startup Radar lies the foundation for establishing long-term collaborations. The Startup Radar provides an easily manageable overview that forms the basis for value-creating partnerships by collecting, storing, and linking data.