The Do's And Don'ts For Corporates Wanting To Work With Startups A corporation should "never look at a startup as a CSR activity," and instead bring the startup into their core business activities.
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In the 1950s, the lifespan of large corporations was around 60 years. Fast forward to 2018, and the lifespan is less than 20 years, with 40% of startups failing within the first four.
The goal of Dubai Chamber's Dubai Startup Hub is to bridge the gap between corporations' means and market access, and startups' innovation, drive, and flexibility to make the changes they need to thrive. This is a chance not only for startups to gain the leverage they need to succeed, but also an opportunity for corporations to drive change at the core of the organization rather than merely on a surface level.
Quoting Telefonica, Dubai Startup Hub's Natalia Sycheva says that a corporation should "never look at a startup as a CSR activity," and instead bring the startup into their core business activities.
Corporations can look at the plans for the next three-to-five years and decide on which verticals they're looking to deliver on. From there, they can gradually introduce innovation from the startups they have partnered with.
Dubai Startup Hub's leadership paves the way for the implementation of a true public-private partnership, which is the heart of its Market Access program. The goal is to get the government and private companies working together very closely to grow the economy. Market Access creates and runs multiple programs at once, making it possible to measure those programs' impact better while also providing a gateway to improvement and further iteration.
Both the corporate side and the startup side need to do their homework, and because they speak different languages, they need to have the right players around the table to do the translation job. This is what Market Access is all about.
To learn more about the Market Access Program and apply as a startup or corporate, visit: www.dubaichamber.com/dubaistartuphub/marketaccess/.
This article was originally published on Dubai Startup Hub and has been reposted on Entrepreneur Middle East based on a mutual agreement between the websites.
Related: Listen Up, Corporates: Working With Startups Is Not Your CSR
