An article on Fast Company states that “Startups get all the glory when it comes to innovation, but intrapreneurship – or, creating from within an established company – is much trickier.” It is true entrepreneurship is being portrayed as the cool thing to do these days. It is like the .com days in the 90s. Those days, if a company had “.com” in its name, it had to be great. These days, if you are starting a company, you may be the next big thing. Well, I hate to tell you this but most entrepreneurs of today will go the same way as many .coms of the 90s.
Intrapreneurs, on the other hand, thrive and perform their skills in large organizations. These days, most large organizations are shying away from big (i.e., risky) investments. With large cash reserves, they are waiting for the right moment to step on the accelerator, so to speak, for innovation.
In a few earlier posts (check out this, this and this), I shared my opinion on what makes an intrapreneur successful. The article on Fast Company is a nice complement to my experience and observations. More importantly, it is indicating that the time of intrapreneurs is approaching.
To re-iterate what I said in an earlier post, large organizations that recognize the value of intrapreneurs and allow them to leverage the strengths of the organization can become the catalysts of innovation. I believe that intrapreneurship will become an important area to focus for companies in 2013.
I welcome your comments on my blog. Please feel free to contact me at ferhan@ferhanbulca.com with relevant comments, ideas and thoughts.
Ferhan Bulca, Ph.D. 