Corporate Venturing Insider

Can landing a big corporate customer put your startup at risk? Benji Coetzee, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at KPN, joins Nicolas Sauvage to explore the gap between corporate timelines and startup survival.

Drawing on her experience as a founder, Benji shares how a paid pilot helped keep her business afloat—and what entrepreneurs should ask before committing to a major customer. They discuss identifying problems worth solving, finding effective internal sponsors, setting limits on time and resources, and knowing when to walk away.

Recorded July 13 at 8:00 AM for Corporate Venturing Insider.

What makes an investor’s network useful to a founder? Nicolas Sauvage speaks with Lu Zhang, founder of Fusion Fund, about building relationships around a startup’s actual needs. Lu explains how Fusion Fund’s CXO, Expert, and experienced-founder communities help the firm understand corporate priorities, connect founders with relevant advisers and potential customers, and share knowledge that gives members a reason to participate. They also discuss where corporate venture investors can help startups—and when a partnership may pull a founder away from their priorities.

Recorded April 8, 2026.

Recorded on July 24, 2026, this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider features Nicolas Sauvage in conversation with Sriram Viswanathan, Founding Managing Partner at Celesta Capital and an early member of Intel Capital.

Sriram shares lessons from Andy Grove, Intel’s ecosystem-building strategy, and the “pizza” framework for strategic investing: capture more of an existing market, expand it, or create a new one. He also explains why superior technology alone rarely wins, why corporate venture capital is entering a golden age, and how the India Deep Tech Alliance aims to build the talent, capital, partnerships, and infrastructure needed for truly lasting innovation.

Filmed at the GCVI 2026 Summit in Monterey, Corporate Venturing Insider #126 features Nicolas Sauvage in conversation with Barbry McGann, co-head of Workday Ventures. Barbry shares how a career in enterprise software product leadership led her from PeopleSoft, Oracle, and Workday into corporate venture capital. She explains how product thinking shapes Workday Ventures’ investment strategy, why the team moved away from seed investing, and what she looks for in product-led founders. The episode also explores AI’s impact on enterprise software, market sensing inside corporations, and how Workday Ventures uses a provocative weekly newsletter to educate executives.

Interviewed March 25th, 2026

Interviewed March 25th, 2026 at the GCV Monterey Summit

In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, Nicolas Sauvage speaks with Ana Lopes of IBM Ventures about her journey from astrophysics and MIT tech transfer to startup building, GE Ventures, and IBM Ventures. Ana shares lessons on translating science from lab to market, why founders should start with the problem rather than the technology, and how corporate VCs can provide “capital plus” through customer access, strategic validation, and go-to-market support. They also discuss IBM Ventures’ focus on enterprise AI, hybrid cloud, and quantum computing, plus how CVC teams can bring market signals back to the mothership.

Bobby Franklin joins Nicolas Sauvage for a conversation on venture capital policy, the rise of corporate venture capital, AI regulation, and the future of innovation. They explore why exits matter, how Washington misunderstands startups, and why stronger alignment between VCs, CVCs, and policymakers is increasingly critical to sustaining entrepreneurship and technological leadership.

Interviewed March 18th, 2026

In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, recorded on March 24, 2026 at the Global Corporate Venturing Innovation Summit in Monterey, Nicolas Sauvage sits down with Hoolie Tejwani to unpack one of the most unconventional models in venture today.

With over 600 investments since 2018, Coinbase Ventures has taken a radically different approach—prioritizing speed, breadth, and ecosystem development over concentrated ownership and control. Tejwani shares how the firm scaled from a decentralized experiment into a high-velocity investment platform, why conviction matters more than consensus, and how Coinbase Ventures operates as an “API” for founders rather than a traditional lead investor.

The conversation explores the tradeoffs behind investing at scale, the role of corporate venture alongside traditional VC, and how Coinbase Ventures supports founders without imposing structure too early.

Tejwani also reflects on the importance of humility, continuous learning, and regularly “disrupting” internal frameworks to stay adaptive in a fast-moving market.

For investors, operators, and founders alike, this episode offers a candid look at how venture models are evolving—and what it takes to build at the edge of an emerging ecosystem.

In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, Nicolas Sauvage speaks with Laurel Buckner, head of BHP Ventures, about what it takes to step into and lead an already established corporate venture fund. Laurel shares how she approached her first 30 days, aligned with senior leadership, and built on a high-performing team without disrupting momentum. The conversation explores BHP Ventures’ integrated model, its focus across the mining value chain, and how corporate VCs can balance strategic alignment with financial discipline. Laurel also discusses emerging opportunities in AI, critical minerals, and the evolving role of corporate venture capital in today’s innovation ecosystem.

Interviewed February 11, 2026

In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, Nicolas Sauvage speaks with Mirella Lisboa, Head of AgroStart LatAm at BASF, about how large corporations can turn startup collaboration into real business impact. Mirella explains how AgroStart operates as an open innovation platform connecting BASF business units with startups tackling real agricultural challenges. She discusses how the team structures partnerships around clear problems, measurable KPIs, and disciplined proof-of-concepts to avoid “innovation theater.” The conversation also explores AgroStart’s role as a venture client and how its work feeds insights to BASF Venture Capital. The result is a practical look at how corporates can build internal capacity to respond to innovation.

Interviewed February 10th, 2026

In this episode of Corporate Venturing Insider, recorded January 6, 2026, Nicolas Sauvage speaks with Francesco Di Lorenzo of Copenhagen Business School about the evolution of corporate venturing. Drawing on a decade of research, Francesco explores the shift from traditional CVC to venture clienting, examining why collaboration models are gaining traction. He challenges the hype around venture clienting, highlighting hidden OpEx costs, governance friction, and risks of short-termism. The discussion unpacks CapEx vs. OpEx, power law vs. distribution thinking, and how boards should structure venturing for long-term resilience. A thoughtful, critical look at where corporate venturing is headed next.