Strategic Investment Assessmentsm
Split into three phases, Synchrony’s Strategic Investment Assessmentsm (SIA) takes a client through the entire development & design process of a CVC program, from determining its viability given the client’s particular situation through developing a complete blueprint for the operation of a CVC unit. The SIA is typically broken into three phases, with decision points after each.
Phase 1: Opportunity Assessment
- Analyze Industry and value chain
- Review corporate R&D, product, acquisition and partnering roadmap
- Analyze Innovation Ecosystem as it applies to steps one and two
- Identify Innovation gaps, complements & hedges
- Recommend and prioritize areas of potential high-impact investment
Decision Point: With a concrete sense of the most viable areas of VC activity, management can decide whether it makes sense to further invest in creating the strategy for a CVC program
Phase 2: CVC Strategy Development
- Identify specific areas of value-chain impact for a CVC program
- Create detailed value-model for capital investment, partnering, & allocation of internal resources
- Create templates for interaction between business units and portfolio companies
- Create an inventory of capabilities required to execute the program
Decision Point: Knowing and understanding the potential impact on the firm’s value chain and the requirements for internal capabilities to successfully partner with portfolio companies allows management to decide if the investment in developing a blueprint for a program is worthwhile
Phase 3: Program Design
- Create a blueprint/business plan for the CVC unit
- Project administrative and overhead costs for effective execution
- Profile ideal co-investors
- Identify existing deals that fit the framework (if any)
- Create process and framework for day-to-day management, and for interaction with business unit managers.
Decision Point: A solid business plan arms senior managers with solid expectations of what to expect from their investment, and how to measure and manage the unit should they decide to pull the trigger on the new initiative.