Risk Management in Incubators

Selected papers from the Tenth International Conference on Management of Technology. New ventures based on untested technology carry a great deal of risk for founders, investors, and employees. In many ways, leading a new entrepreneurial venture is comparable to managing a high-risk R&D project for an established corporation. This contribution is a practical introduction to risk management for technology incubators—one of the most exposed forms of VC funding—and outlines some of the similarities that exist with traditional corporate R&D projects. We see incubation as a new evolving paradigm for large corporations dealing with technological and financial uncertainty in internal R&D projects. Lessons drawn from managing risk in incubators can be applied to the management of high-risk project teams.