Corporate Engagement

Last week, I joined Tim and John for a Pingar pitch to two corporates. These two are 'global' in every sense of the word. The situation made me think.

Let's first be frank. Pingar is a 'start-up'. There are no ifs, no buts. We have great potential and we are building a great team. A corporate though, we are not.

25 years ago, I worked for a corporate. I was on a payroll and I received a pension. We only engaged with other corporates. That was the way that business was done then.

Today, that has all changed. Corporates know that in order to remain competitive in today's market, they need to become more agile. Often than not, that means working with start-ups that have created enough niche to make a difference. Pingar falls into this category.

We can make a difference and the enterprise market will soon know this. Connecting in this way creates opportunity for start-ups that was not available years ago. Though business cultures remain a challenge, the ability to connect does not. A great example of this corporate - start-up dialog was launched by Microsoft in October 2007. It is called the Microsoft Start-up Accelerator Program.

It provides start-ups with access to Microsoft resources to provide for rapid growth and connection with Microsoft's own enterprise teams. Size is not a barrier. How different from 25 years ago. But then what did corporates know then?

25 years ago, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison were all start-up pioneers looking for corporate engagement. A number of the then big boys did not want to know. The rest, as they say, is history.