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E-Portfolios:WhenToInvest,WhenNotToIntroductionWhenIntelCapitalstartedupinthe1990s,theventureinvestingarmofthecomputerchipmakerhadfairlylimitedobjectives.Itmainlytargetedcompaniesthatwerepotentialsuppliersorcustomers.Inrecentmonths,however,IntelCapitalhasexpandeditshorizons.ItsbeliefnowisthatanycompanythatcontributestothedevelopmentoftheInternetisapotentialinvestment.Asaresult,Intelisevenfundingonlinecontentproviders—rangingfromWirtualnaPolska,aPolish-languageportal,toQuokka,aSanFrancisco-basedinteractivesportssitenamedafteramarsupialfoundontwoislandsoffwesternAustralia.“Westartedinvestingincompaniesthatcouldcreateademandforourproduct,”saidRobertManetta,anIntelspokesman.“Now,ourinvestmentssupportthegrowthoftheInterneteconomy.It’sthatbroad.”—FromtheFinancialTimesTheIntelinvestmentstrategyisbeingemulatedacrossthebusinesslandscapeasmorecorporategiantsgotoe-to-toewiththeire-competition.Nolongerwillingtostandbysheepishlyasthedot.cominterlopersrecreatethevaluechain,theseoncesleepinggiantsareseekingretribution.Theyaremovingquicklytoreplicatethespiritofthedot.coms—convertingtheirintellectualcapital,marketandcustomerknowledge,brandnames,andbuyingpowerintoprecioustoolsthatcanbeusedtoopen—andthenexploit—windowsofopportunityinemergingindustries.Thismovement,whichtheFinancialTimescallsthe“revengeofthecorporategiants,”requiresthesamesourcesofcapital,peopleandknow-howthatformthecurrencyofthestart-upworld.Yetforthegiants,capitalismoreaccessiblethankstoexpandingglobalmarkets,high-retirementsavings,lowinflationandattractiveinterestrates.Inthepast,largecompaniesinvestedmuchoftheircapitalinmanufacturingplantsanddistributionnetworkstothwartpotentialcompetitors.Today,morecompaniesaremakingventurecapitalinvestments.Indeed,thenumberoffirmsworldwidewithventurecapitalarmsorthatmakeregularventureinvestmentsrosefrom200in1999toabout350currentlyaccordingtotheNationalVentureCapitalAssociation.IntheUnitedStatesalone,corporateventureinvestmentstotaledUS$7.4billioninthefirsthalfof2000.Thenumberofhigh-profileexamplesofcompanieswithventure-capitalstrategiesisuniversal.ConsiderABB,Europe’slargestheavyengineeringgroup.IthasjoinedforceswithathrongofSwedishindustrialcompaniestosetupa1billioninvestmentfundspecializinginbusiness-to-businessInternetapplications,andithasdevisedathree-prongedstrategytoinvestinearlystart-upcompanies.Unilever,theAnglo-Dutchconsumerproductsgroup,hascreatedadedicatedresourcetofundstart-ups,notablyiVillage.comandmyhome.co.uk.Chevron,theUnitedStates’secondlargestoilcompany,haspledgedUS$60millionforinvestmentsinbothventurecapitalfundsandearly-stagecompanies.Eachinvestmentistargetedtomeettwocriteria:First,itmustbenefitChevron’sexistingbusinesses,andsecond,itmusthavethepotentialtoonedayprovideareturnoninvestment.Similarly,Intel’sVCarm,IntelCapital,controlsaportfolioworthUS$7.5billionofwhichawhoppingUS$4.6billionrepresentsecuritiesgains.The“quakes”thatshookupdot.comsinSiliconValleyduring2000havebarelyquelledtheexu-berance.Infact,lastyear’smarketdownturninhigh-techstockswasgoodnewsforthecorporategiants.Whileitdashedthehopesofmanystart-upstoselltheirfirstshares,establishedcompaniesthatmovedquicklywereabletosnapupbargains.Inthispaper,wediscusstheinsandoutsofcorporateinvestingintheneweconomy.Wetalkaboutoptionvalueversusnetpresentvalue(NPV).Weoutlinethecriteriaforinvestingine-ventures,includingdeterminingwhentoinvestandwhennottoinvest.Finally,weoutlinefourvalueleversthatarefundamentalforsuccessonthee-ventureplayingfield.Bypullingthesevaluelevers,alongwithimplementingasolide-venturestrategy,corporateplayerscanbeatthestart-upsattheirowngame.E-Portfolios:WhenToInvest,WhenNotTo..-ItisonethingforcorporategiantstodonaVChatandobtainthecapitaltoinvestinstart-ups.Itisanothertoactuallycompetewiththestart-ups.Fewcorporationsareequippedtocompeteintheneweconomybecausetheyusetoolsdesignedfortheoldeconomy.Forexample,corporateVCsmustbeabletoproperlyassessthepotentialsuccessofane-venture.Yettraditionalcorporatestrat-egytools,whichcorporationsusetodeterminebusinessviability,donotworkfore-ventures.Toolssuchasportfolioanalysis,NPV-basedvaluationsofbusinessunitsandEVA-basedperformancereviewsarenotable,bythemselves,topinpointthewinnersandthelosersintheneweconomy.Afterall,itwastraditionalcorporatestrategytoolsthatfailedtowarnBarnes&Noble’smanagementteamthatAmazon.comwouldreshapetheindustryandachieveahighermarketvaluewithouteverturn-ingaprofit.And,asOracle’sCEOLarryEllisonsoaptlyputsit,“nooneeveraskedChristopherColumbuswhathisROIwasfordiscoveringAmerica.”Moreover,corporateVCsareseldomknownforembracingthemoretraditionalportfolioman-agementtechniquesusedbyindependentVCs—suchasinvestinginnon-relatede-businessventuresasawaytodiversifyrisk.Corporationshaveadifferentsetofrequirements.Theytypicallyinvestinapoolofe-businessventuresthatfocusontheircorebusinessesandleveragetheircorecompetencies.Finally,executivesatlargecompaniescompeteinatraditionalenvironmentandareunderWallStreetpressuretodeliverconstantl