In this episode, I sat down with Simon Ratcliffe, Venture Building Director at DNV, and our CEO, Elliott Parker, to explore how a 160-year-old global quality assurance company is transforming its approach to innovation—by building, funding, and spinning out new digital ventures.

Simon’s journey from mechanical engineer to leading DNV’s venture building and spinout efforts is a compelling case study in corporate transformation. We discussed the evolution of DNV’s innovation model, the realities of spinning out ventures from a large organization, and the lessons learned from both successes and failures along the way.

Meet Our Guest

Simon Ratcliffe | Venture Building Director, DNV

Simon leads DNV’s venture building and spinout initiatives, working at the intersection of corporate venture capital, startup partnerships, and internal innovation. His background as an engineer and product builder gives him a unique perspective on the challenges of scaling new businesses within a global enterprise.

Episode Highlights & Takeaways

• From Engineering to Innovation: Simon’s early career at DNV involved classic engineering roles, but his curiosity and drive to improve processes led him into digitization projects and, eventually, innovation leadership. His first digital product failed due to a lack of customer understanding—a lesson that shaped his approach to venture building.
• Building the Venture Spinout Model: Simon described how DNV’s innovation efforts matured from isolated pilots to a hybrid model that blends internal incubation with corporate venture capital. This structure enables DNV to fund, scale, and spin out promising digital businesses that don’t fit neatly into existing business units.
• Spinout Successes and Learnings: DNV has spun out several ventures, with Simon emphasizing that autonomy, the right team, and aligned incentives are more critical to post-spinout growth than brand or corporate resources. The ability to attract external investors has also served as a key validation point.
• Challenges and Advice: Executing a carve-out from a large corporate is complex, involving everything from team dynamics to unwinding legacy agreements. Simon’s advice for other corporate innovators: learn to sell your value proposition internally, experiment within your constraints, and don’t hesitate to bring in outside help when needed.
• Customer Understanding Is Critical: Early innovation efforts failed when DNV’s team misunderstood customer workflows. Deep customer discovery is essential before building new products or ventures.
• Hybrid Innovation Models Unlock Growth: Combining internal incubation with a corporate venture capital approach enables more scalable funding and greater autonomy for new ventures.
• Autonomy and Incentives Drive Success: Ventures grow faster post-spinout when given freedom to build their own teams and align incentives—sometimes more so than access to corporate assets or brand.
• External Validation Matters: Attracting outside investors is a powerful proof point for both internal stakeholders and the market, signaling real value beyond internal belief.
• Pragmatic Experimentation: Innovators should experiment within their constraints, use external consultants when needed, and be flexible with spinout criteria to seize opportunities as they arise.

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If you’re interested in exploring how your organization can build, fund, or spin out new ventures, let’s connect.