Corporate venturing and venture building drive innovation for large organizations, yet leading experts emphasize that how these initiatives are structured is just as crucial as where they are executed. The Mack Institute’s 2025 Corporate Venturing Report spotlights an emerging best practice: adopting a portfolio approach in venture building to generate stronger outcomes in today’s rapidly evolving and unpredictable markets.

Why Portfolio Strategy Delivers Results

According to the Mack Institute and prominent consulting firms, a portfolio approach—where companies develop, oversee, and scale multiple ventures in tandem—offers clear advantages:

• Risk Diversification: Managing a pipeline of ventures means that setbacks in one area won’t undermine overall progress. Major wins can also compensate for individual losses.
• Accelerated Learning: Each venture produces distinct market feedback, boosting organizational expertise and informing future launches.
• Efficient Resource Allocation: Centralized management helps prioritize high-potential ventures, ensuring resources are invested where they matter most.
• Strategic Alignment: A portfolio enables firms to synchronize new ventures with core business objectives—expanding markets, acquiring technology, advancing sustainability, and building ecosystems—so every project adds to long-term growth rather than being an isolated effort.

How Portfolio Thinking Fuels Growth

Organizations that adopt a portfolio approach can:

• Simultaneously launch, evaluate, and scale multiple ventures—eliminating underperformers and doubling down on winners.
• Build repeatable processes, talent pools, and partner networks that drive cumulative expertise for future ventures.
• Respond swiftly to market shifts by continuously testing new business models and value propositions.

The Bottom Line

The current best practice for corporate venture building is not just partnering externally, but actively cultivating a diverse portfolio of ventures. This approach maximizes learning, spreads risk, and sharply increases the likelihood of breakthrough innovation and lasting strategic advantage.